Issue date: Saturday, December 2, 2006 ------------------------------------------------------------ P A R A N O R M A L I N S I D E R ------------------------------------------------------------ Hi, Everyone! Last week I had the chance to do a little 'séance-ing' at a friend's house and although it was cut short by the arrival of some guests, we are definitely going to resume the session in the very near future. My friend Trish has been puzzled for many years over a vision she glimpsed one day, that of a man in mid 20th century clothing sitting in her basement in one of her chairs. She can describe him in great detail and has never been able to shake the feeling that this spirit is still present in her house. Just recently, she was telling this story to a neighbour whose family has lived in the rural neighbourhood for a few generations, and has extensive knowledge about the former inhabitants. This neighbour, when told of the spirit in Trish's basement, said the description sounded exactly like a former owner of the property and was able to give a name, so now the hunt is on for further data or photographs that would prove the man Trish saw is indeed the this same man in spirit form. This is not the first time Trish and I have attempted to contact this spirit. A few years ago, during another session, we didn't receive any immediate physical contact, but when we snapped photos of the room during our séance, I was not surprised that we found an orb exactly where I sensed this presence was standing at the time. None of the other photos of various locations around the room, all taken at the same time, produced an orb or anomaly. In any event, our latest séance produced plenty of cold chills and candle flame flickers, so I will keep you posted on any further developments. ------------------------------------------------------------ Ghostbusting Grrrrs It's pretty much accepted among paranormal investigators that ghosts are often evasive when they realize people are coming in to their space to investigate a 'haunting'. It is very common for photographic equipment and recording devices to mysteriously break down or malfunction in the presence of entities, and just when you want them to work the most. I recall an incident when I was visiting a highly 'haunted' home on an investigation and my SLR camera, which I had just loaded with a fresh roll of film, absolutely refused to work when I was trying to take photos of the area. The battery light started flashing, the flash wouldn't function, the whole camera simply 'balked', allowing me to only snap one picture with great deliberation and difficulty. As soon as I returned home, I took the camera out and tried it again, and it was in perfect working order. Hmm. Quite possibly, those spirits I was shooting at hadn't had a chance to touch up their make-up for a photo session, or perhaps they were afraid the photograph would steal their souls? *wink* During this same investigation, my watch, that I had been wearing constantly for years, suddenly stopped and although I didn't replace the battery for some days, I watched it in fascination as it began to move backwards and continued to do so for some time. A few years ago, I was doing a presentation at the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel in Alberta. I again experienced some major problems with my SLR camera, and when the film was developed, I was awestruck to see that a picture I managed to snap while the camera was malfunctioning, produced a photo that, while it may actually be a double-exposure, contained several misty images that look very much like deceased family members of mine. At yet another investigation I was part of, at a renowned historical college/convention centre in Ontario, I captured a misty figure that looks much like a ghost wearing a hooded robe. I snapped this image in what appeared to be an empty guestroom in the most 'active' wing of the build- ing. Interestingly, a short while after that photo was taken, a full investigative crew I was associated with went in at the college's request and set up a complete array of high-tech recording equipment for a thorough test. A locked off video camera malfunctioned wildly at about the same time the investigators tracked some ghostly voices and music on their sound system. The entire wing had been sealed off overnight and although the team was in another room at the time, it was quite clear when the evidence was examined later that the sound anomalies occurred at the same time the video recorder malfunctioned. If you have had any similar experiences, please post your stories to our forum at: http://archives.gophercentral.com/Forum.aspx?fid=14 or write to me at paranormal@zsuzsana.com if you wish to submit your story for potential publication in the Paranormal Insider. Now, on to some great reader submissions - I hope you will post any comments you may have for these readers to our forum. May all your ghosts be saying 'cheese':>), Zsuzsana ------------------------------------------------------------ Hi, I just read your November 4th issue and it was really very good. I live alone so I will probably avoid the mirrors in my house for a few days. : ) I myself have never had any paranormal experiences; how- ever, my late husband did. As much as he did not want to believe in them they were very hard to ignore. He saw a man in the doorway of our bedroom in one house and woke me up but I saw nothing. He swore there was a man just standing there and looking at us and he did not recognize the person. This happened over a period of time off and on. At the time he saw this apparition, our dog would start barking at the doorway. Scared the heck out of me but I saw nothing. I believe some people have this ability and others don't. In another house we owned he saw what he thought was the same man but wasn't sure. I always felt that perhaps it was his father who had died years ago. He said the features of the person were not clear but the fact that he saw this at two different homes made me think his father. Also, when his father passed away he was felt in the apartment where they lived. He is from an Italian family and they are very much into the supernatural and they believed that the persons spirit stayed around for 3 days and then left. Well, on the 3rd night the door between the kitchen and the dining room which was always kind of hard to open and close, suddenly opened up and no one was there so they think it was him leaving. Who am I to say other- wise? All I know is that the hair on my arms stood straight up. In another other house my late husband felt and smelled something and again the dog also did. He said it smelled like a perfume that he remembered from years ago and not sure who it was who wore it but it was a familiar smell. When this happened the dog would stand there and kind of whine, not bark. Again I smelled nothing but this seemed to happen usually when I was at work and he was at home. We worked different hours at that time. The last thing was something that I did see. In the first house that he saw this man, he wanted to use up some Polaroid film and was taking some pictures of our dog Tammy down the hallway from the bedrooms to the living room. He saw something on the first one that he couldn't believe so he took another one. It also had something on it but not as much or as clear. I was in the kitchen and I remember it like it was yesterday. He said, "Look at this." The picture had all kinds of faces on it. Both did, but the one was so clear I couldn't believe it. We didn't recognize the people but they were definite faces. Perhaps it was some kind of fault in the film but I can't imagine this producing clear human faces. We had this photo for years and then we moved from California back home to New York and then moved back to California and somewhere in those moves the picture was lost. Really upset about it because when we (now I) tell people about it they really don't believe it. Oh, well, I know. Again, our dog every once in a while would stand in that hallway and just bark and bark for a while and then stop and walk away. When my husband passed away several years ago I wondered if he would contact me. I am not sure but I think there were several times that he did. Nothing concrete but some little things that happened. One was when I was trying to remember the name of a store that we used to go to years ago that is no longer in operation and I just couldn't remember it. I told my friend that Chuck would. When I got home, I went into the bedroom to change my clothes and the name of the store popped right into my head. Coincidence? Perhaps. The other thing was a dream I had when I dozed off in the middle of the day. In my dream I went into the bedroom, and Chuck was lying on the bed just in his shorts as he sometimes did. I asked him why he was there; he shouldn't be. He just smiled and stretched out and at that point I woke up. I really felt it was him telling me he was okay and no longer in pain. It was so real I got off the couch and went to the bedroom, but of course he was not there. I have had nothing further since that day. Again, I really enjoyed my first newsletter from you and am looking forward to the next. Patricia Cash ------------------------------------------------------------ Black Orbs? I have a question for anyone that can answer. This concerns orbs or at least what I would call an orb. I believe ghosts exist. In fact, I am a ghost hunter in my area. I have my little group that goes with me at times and have some really interesting photos too, but I digress. I have ghosts in this house that I have lived in for years and most of the time we cohabitate with each other on friendly terms. Every great once in a while they act up and I threaten to bring a priest in which works on calming their antics down. Even have two ghost cats here, 1 black and 1 orange tabby. Later though I have had some odd sights that make me wonder what they are. It seems that I will catch, for want of a better term, black orb-like things that zip by within eye- sight. My wife even saw what she described as a black wisp that partially blocked the light from the lamp. I have seen different colored orbs but never black ones. Does anybody have any ideas on what these black balls are? a reader ------------------------------------------------------------ ARCHIVES: PARANORMAL INSIDER Archives ------------------------------------------------------------ End of PARANORMAL INSIDER - Another Gopher Central Publication http://www.gophercentral.com Copyright 2006 by NextEra Media. All rights reserved.