October – 2009 – Paranormal Magazine

UFO crop circle witnesses come forward

Friday, October 16th, 2009

In July of 1996 one of the most complex and spectacular crop circle designs ever seen appeared in a field opposite Stonehenge. The design became known as “The Julia Set” because it resembled the mathematical fractal called by that name. The formation was remarkable not only because of its complexity and beauty but also due to several anomalies associated with its discovery.

It arrived in daylight on a sunny day opposite a busy tourist spot surrounded by high traffic roads such as the A303. What is exceptional about this event is that it is the first time the window of arrival can be narrowed down.

The formation was first spotted from an aircraft at 6:15 PM. The pilot crossed over the field with a passenger (a medical doctor taking pictures) at 5:30 PM and both reported that there was no formation in the field at that time. This is corroborated by the security guards at Stonehenge who claimed the formation was not in the field earlier in the day. The pilot landed his plane at the nearest airfield, the passenger disembarked, and the pilot refuelled for another flight. The pilot took off again and crossed the field at 6:15 when he saw the Julia Set formation in the field. At about the same time (6:30) his previous passenger drove past Stonehenge to see cars pulled off the side of the busy road. These cars will prove important to today’s new release.

The airspace around Stonehenge is secure airspace due to the proximity of the top secret air base of Boscombe Down. This means that all flights are monitored and reports are made. In my investigations of the claimed events I made inquiries with security at Stonehenge, the flight tower at Boscombe down, and checked police logs at Hampshire & Wiltshire Police control rooms. There was no evidence of anything occurring in the field before the sighting at 6:15 PM. This is the first report of a formation created in broad daylight in a busy area with no witnesses. Or were there?

Other anomalies of this sight showed up during field investigations. I spent several days with a team of researchers examining all aspects of the formation; taking soil and plant samples, dowsing, measuring magnetic flux patterns, and interviewing people. We discovered that the design was energetically connected to Stonehenge by magnetic flux lines (below). When I interviewed the Wiltshire Police I was told that the police emergency lines received several 999 calls just before 6.00 PM reporting a large number of vehicles pulled off the road causing a hazard.

What has recently been revealed is that the people in those cars may well have seen the formation forming. According to researcher Lucy Pringle, a woman has come forward to say that a taxi driver and passenger were with the parked vehicles and the occupants could not believe what they witnessed. They stood for 20 minutes witnessing this large design form under a swirling cloud of mist. The full story can be read on Lucy Pringles website at (below).

According to Lucy’s report, she gave a talk in April, 2009 at Alton College in Hampshire. Shortly afterwards a friend telephoned her to say that “a friend of hers
had been in a taxi and had mentioned to the taxi driver that she had just been to a fascinating talk on Crop Circles. M, the taxi driver, said: I saw one appear opposite Stonehenge.” Lucy soon realized the formation being discussed was the Julia Set of 1996.

Lucy writes, “She mentioned that when people see maybe two cars or more pulled in and looking down into the field, other cars stop and gradually the traffic builds up and more and more cars draw in to have a look.” What the group saw is described: “There was an apparition, an isolated mist over it (the formation) and as the circle was getting bigger the mist was rising above the circle. As the mist rose it got bigger and the corn circle got bigger. There was a mist was about 2-3 feet off the ground and it was sort of spinning around and on the ground a circular shape was appearing which seemed to get bigger and bigger as simultaneously the mist gets bigger and bigger and swirled faster. It was gradual and you are standing there and you are thinking what is going on and everyone is discussing it and more and more traffic is building up and everything and you just think that all the time you don’t really realise what is happening and then you think then that’s it and the thing is getting bigger and you are thinking of the beginning and end. But you don’t realise what you are looking at. I didn’t understand what was happening.”

Lucy continues in her report to say that there was a clear space between the ground and the mist as the crop circle formed and there was no wind or dust.

Lucy’s witness reports that the event took about 20 minutes to form although they can’t be sure because they lost track of time. When they left the mist was still there and they can’t be sure the formation wasn’t still expanding. It may have taken more than 20 minutes to create.

[via: allnewsweb.com - Colin Andrews]

Halo cloud over moscow: UFO or natural beauty?

Thursday, October 15th, 2009

A strange halo cloud over Moscow had many in the Russian capital expecting a close encounter last Wednesday.

Millions witnessed an ominous ring-shaped cloud appear over Moscow’s western districts, prompting citizens to stop in their tracks to record the phenomenon and put it on YouTube.

The bizarre sight has taken the Internet by storm, so to speak.

However, scientists from the city’s weather forecast service dispelled fears of extra terrestrials landing in Red Square, saying the event was strictly environmental.

“It’s a purely optical effect, even if a spectacular one. You can see really strange things if you watch the clouds regularly,” weather officials told Russia’s Vesti 24. “Several air fronts have passed Moscow recently, including an inflow of cold air from the Arctic, and they combined to produce such a phenomenon.”

What do you think the cloud formation really is. Let us know by leaving your comment below.

[via - nydailynews.com, Eitan Gavish]

Pittsburgh UFO Conference

Tuesday, October 13th, 2009

The Pennsylvania Mutual UFO Network will present a UFO Conference on Saturday October 17, 2009 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.at the Westmoreland Community College, 145 Pavillion Ln, Youngwood, PA 15697.

Pennsylvania has been the epicenter of the world’s largest UFO wave since the summer of 2008. There have been over 350 UFO reports filed with MUFON from Pittsburgh to Philly over the past 12 months. John Ventre, the Pennsylvania State Director for MUFON stated, “We’re getting clusters of sightings from every town from Pittsburgh to Philly along the southern half of the state. We have 51 reports in the Pittsburgh-Westmoreland County area and 155 in the Philly area. I get reports of UFOs coming in from Lake Erie in Ohio and across Wheeling, West Virginia into the Pittsburgh area and they are seen minutes later on the Eastern part of the state. The Discovery Channel was in PA last summer to film a pilot show for a series entitled “UFO’s over Earth” that aired last November. The History Channel flew in this past March and filmed a show for their popular series, “UFO Hunters,” which aired this past May.”

The Conference will present a combination of expert Paranormal and UFO speakers. There will be speakers discussing the UFO phenomenon, Abductions, Bigfoot and the Bible and UFOs.

Speakers include Dr David Jacobs of Temple University, Rev. Barry Downing, who published the “Bible and UFOs”; Bill Birnes of UFO Hunters; John Ventre and Butch Witkowski of the Mutual UFO Network; Stan Gordon, who has investigated the “Kecksburg” incident and has appeared on numerous TV and radio shows will also speak regarding the 1973 UFO-Bigfoot wave that struck Westmoreland County; Eric Altman of the PA Bigfoot Society will also speak at Westmoreland.

“The quality of speakers at this Conference rivals the larger pricier conferences that take place around the country”, said Ventre. Professional presentations and vendor tables will highlight this conference in an academic setting. “We also have a few surprises for the audience and they are not Halloween tricks,” said Ventre.

Admission price is $15. Advance orders and the Conference agenda can be obtained at John Ventre’s website at www.johnventre.com or www.pamufon.com. John Ventre can be reached at 724 836 1266 or at jventre1@comcast.net.

The Mutual UFO Network was founded in 1969 after the US Air Force concluded their 17 year Project Blue Book study of UFO’s and concluded that UFO’s are not a threat to National Security. “They never said UFO’s don’t exist. There is overwhelming evidence that they do. I believe this is an aviation safety issue. The only reason there are not more collisions is because of their ability to maneuever, not ours,” said Ventre.

Mufon has 3,000 members worldwide and over 900 certified investigators. The Pennsylvania MUFON branch has 139 members and 29 certified investigators. Anyone interested in joining MUFON can speak to John Ventre or one of the many investigators that will be at the conference from Pa, WV, NY, NJ and Ohio. “One thing I know from conducting my investigations: if you’ve seen one, you believe,” said Ventre.

[via - xnewsnow.com]

Loch Ness’ mystery golf balls

Tuesday, October 13th, 2009

On a recent expedition to try and find evidence of the Loch Ness monster, U.S. research teams came across something quite unexpected – not a prehistoric creature of the deep but thousands of plastic covered golf balls.

Mike O’Brien of SeaTrepid explains: “At first we thought they were mushrooms, there were so many. But when we lowered the camera, we were surprised to see that they were in fact, golf balls.”

The smattering of balls were found roughly 300 yards from the beach and 100 yards from the shore where it is thought locals and visitors have been using the loch to practice their driving skills for quite some time.

One witness, conservationist Adrian Shine, told CNN he had seen locals launching balls almost 300 feet into the waters.

However, Shine doesn’t believe this to be an environmental threat: “Certainly it’s undesirable, but I don’t think it will have a significant environmental impact on the loch.”

It seems missing and discarded golf balls may not be bad news for all concerned. David Roston has built a career out of wading through rivers and diving in lakes to collect and re-sell discarded golf balls.

His online company www.lakeballs.co.uk have been retailing “lake balls” for almost 10 years, but even his powers of retrieval would be challenged by the monstrous task of recovering balls from the bottom of the loch.

“I’ve dived in various lakes and found 10 to 15 thousand golf balls at a time, it’s incredible – but we’ve never attempted to clear a loch!”

Bobbing along at a depth of 754 feet, it is unlikely these balls of Loch Ness will ever see the light of day again.

[via CNN.com, Christina MacFarlane]

Will mediums get rarer?

Friday, October 9th, 2009

A few weeks ago I was kindly invited along to take part in the Great Unexplained Debate. This is an hour-long recorded as live round-table discussion of all things odd hosted by the genial Karl Beattie – yes him, from Most Haunted.

The Debate is on twice a day on The Unexplained Channel, which used to be the Paranormal Channel but has changed its name (to widen its scope, I’m told, to include mysteries that aren’t strictly paranormal). I was invited in for two debates in which we discussed all manner of strange stuff, while Karl kindly saved me from shamelessly plugging the magazine by doing it himself. Cheers, Karl!

When it was first launched by a different publisher a few years ago, Paranormal Magazine was supported by Karl and his wife Yvette Fielding, with other Most Haunted regulars contributing. I understand this support fizzled out after a while. At any rate, there has never been any such link (other than some advertising) since the title was bought by Jazz and I took over as editor. Indeed, I am one of those who has always eyed Most
Haunted with some suspicion, largely because of the activities of its less than convincing mediums.

I was pleasantly surprised to learn, therefore, that there has been a major change of attitude over at Antix Productions, Karl and Yvette’s TV company, which owns the Unexplained Channel and still produces Most Haunted for Living TV. During the first debate I took part in, Karl warmed to the subject of mediums and announced to the world at large:

‘I came from a position of believing in psychics but having worked with them, I now realise I don’t believe in them. Outside of Most Haunted, none of the programmes I do or Yvette does will have mediums in it.’

Although he didn’t say so, and I wasn’t in a position to ask during an almost-live recording, I suspect this is because Living TV requires that Most Haunted’s successful format remains unchanged.

Fellow guests Andy Lewin, who runs Manchester Haunted investigation group agreed that he would ‘prefer not to use mediums’ and Hazel Ford, who runs the ghost hunting entertainment group Haunted Happenings, was critical of the psychological damage fake mediums can inflict on the vulnerable. Earlier in the programme Hazel had stated that her group now runs an increasing number of medium-free events ‘by public demand’.
So, even people seeking nothing more than an entertaining evening are getting fed up with mediums.

This is not to say that some psychics may not have genuine paranormal abilities – of some sort or another (see psychologist Dr Matthew Smith’s ‘Bookend’ this issue for more on this theme). But I remember the days when earnest mediums who worked through Spiritualist Churches would never dream of ‘performing’ for money – indeed they believed the spirit world would take way their ‘gift’ if they did so.

It’s too easy to call oneself a medium, or clairvoyant, or – the hedge-your-bets label – a sensitive (ie someone who’s a bit imaginative). And as Hazel pointed out, such people make themselves the focus of any investigation, spouting forth unverifiable information that detracts from other, perhaps more genuine, experiences that might have been witnessed by others in the group.

In investigation scenarios, mediums muddy the waters. I’m relieved to find that TV presenters, events organisers and the public as a whole are becoming disenchanted with them. I do hope mediums become rare. You never know, we might be left with some real ones.

by Richard Holland, editor

Tell the editor about your own experience with the paranormal. Email: editor@paranormalmagazine.co.uk or write to Richard Holland, The Editor Paranormal Magazine, Jazz Publishing, The Old School, Higher Kinnerton, Chester CH4 9AJ. Or submit your story through the EXPERIENCES section on our website by clicking HERE

Am I going gaga?

Friday, October 9th, 2009

That is the question I have been asking myself ever since receiving an email from the man who runs a website called BadPsychics.

As its name suggests, BadPsychics is largely dedicated to exposing ‘psychics’ and ‘mediums’ as nothing more than frauds and conmen (or conwomen); or at the very least as individuals who are deluded into thinking they might have paranormal abilities. The website also hosts a collection of forums on which members debate (or perhaps debunk) the latest psychic to grace our television screens.

The email was to inform me that someone had posted to one of the forums asking if Dr Matthew Smith had gone gaga as they had read that I had been quoted as describing a particular medium as ‘one of the most impressive mediums I have seen’.

You might wonder why anyone would care if I had gone gaga. Well it all stemmed from the fact that the good folks at BadPsychics knew me as a voice for the ‘sceptical community’ through my involvement on a TV show called Most Haunted. My role, as a psychologist and parapsychologist, was to put forward alternative explanations for apparently
paranormal occurrences that took place during an investigation of an allegedly haunted location. As far as this programme was concerned, I was the ‘voice of reason’ who did not believe in ghosts and was there to ensure that the rational explanation for any apparently ghostly phenomena was heard.

So to be quoted as describing a medium as one of the most impressive I’d seen clearly raised a few eyebrows. But being sceptical doesn’t, or at least shouldn’t, rule out being open to apparently paranormal phenomena. It is more to do with having a questioning approach to unusual and extraordinary claims.

Mediums claim to communicate with spirits of the dead. By anyone’s account, this is quite a remarkable claim and so it is reasonable to be sceptical. But I am also intrigued. Many mediums give messages that are rather vague and likely to apply to quite a few people, and so they do not provide compelling evidence that they really are receiving messages from the dead.

However, on the several occasions I’ve seen this particular medium perform, he has given messages that seem to contain both accurate and specific details such as names (first and last), dates, even addresses. He has even been known to provide such information under conditions that seem to rule out some of the more obvious non-paranormal explanations like cold-reading. So, yes, I am happy to be quoted as regarding this medium as one of the most impressive mediums I have seen.

The question I am now asking myself is, how does he do it? Is he really communicating with spirits of the dead? Is he drawing upon some other as yet unexplained power of the mind like telepathy? Or is there some other non-paranormal explanation for his apparent abilities?

These are the really interesting questions to ask. And sceptics should ask questions – they should seek to find answers – not make assumptions.

by Dr Matthew Smith

Matthew Smith is currently an Associate Professor of Psychology at Liverpool Hope University. He has conducted research on telepathy, precognition, luck, séances, and psychic pets, and was for a time the resident ‘sceptic’ on Most Haunted on Living TV. He is currently exploring the world of psychic development by seeing if he can develop his own psychic abilities.

Competition – closing soon!

Tuesday, October 6th, 2009

To celebrate the DVD release of French horror film, Inside, on the 12th October, we are giving away tickets to the Hallowe’en film festivals – Bram Stoker International Film Festival & The Fantasic Film Festival.

bram stoker film festival

Are you are a fan of fantastic horror films? If so, the Bram Stoker International Film Festival in Whitby and the Manchester-based Fantastic Film Festival are perfect for you.

We are currently giving away a pair of tickets to the fantastical opening night of the Bram Stoker Film Festival (more info on this event can be found here). We also have a pair of tickets to give away for the screening of Inside at the Fantastic Film Festival, as well as copies of the DVD for the two winners and a third runner-up. So if you would like to enter this great competition, just CLICK HERE and answer the question.

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