And the Winner is...

We have a winner!

Congratulations to Jennifer Jackson! Her poem Siren's Song is the winner of the paranormal writing contest. Be sure to check out her blog Everything it & Tales to see more of her work. She's pretty talented-it's worth a trip over there. :)

Here's the winning poem

Siren's Song

Follow my song

Gentle man for you

Are too long at sea

Steer your boat

Slowly along

So you may come to me

Your journey must be

Tiresome

Your burdens hard to bear

No one can love you

Like I can

Passion we will share

Speed your ship

Faster still

Oh, my savior, race!

I am much too

Delicate for such

An awful place

I am here

Near the rocks

Waiting to go home

So very hungry

I have become

And, like you, I am alone

Follow my song

Gentle man for you

Are too long at sea

Steer your boat

To the rocks

How happy I shall be

Jennifer, here's your graphic. You can post it anywhere you like.

Thanks everybody!

Weekly News Round-up 4/13/11

This weeks news..

A woman in Ausralia claims to have seen an animal that resembles a lemur running down the street. The Bulletin posted the article here.

A new 'Nightcrawler video has been circulating the internet. You can see it here. If you aren't familiar with the videos, they are basically strange looking white creatures that appear to walk across screen. There's a lot of debate about whether or not the videos are real. You can see what the original video looks like here and decide for yourself.

AOL News posted an article about a man opening a UFO hotline here.

Ghost Hunting 101: Matrixing

Today I thought I’d talk a little about a term used a lot in ghost hunting-matrixing. (Sorry guys, I’m not talking about the movie.) Matrixing is our brain’s way of finding familiar shapes and images in patterns or objects. Our minds are designed to look for shapes we recognize so we know what we’re looking at. It’s the same basic principle behind staring at clouds and finding shapes in them. Our minds see what they want to see. It’s also the basis for a lot of those holy figures in cheese sandwich stories that keep popping up in the news. People figure if it looks like a face it must mean something. Even if that’s not always the case.

It's easy to find shapes in clouds.

While this can be pretty cool, it can actually be a problem when you’re ghost hunting. You will be looking at a picture or a video and suddenly you notice something out of place. You stare to figure it out. Before long it takes on human characteristics and you have yourself a ghost. At least that’s what it looks like. The truth is, most of the time these ghostly figures are completely random. So when were investigating, we have to learn how to discern what is real and what our minds see.

One of the most common causes of these images are reflections in glass. Glass has this weird quality that causes reflections to take on all kinds of shapes. Any image that appears in windows or mirrors should be studied VERY carefully to make sure the image is actually paranormal. My team tries to take multiple shots of each photo so we can compare what can be seen in every shot. If something appears in one shot, then disappears in the next, it’s a little more interesting. This technique also helps us identify light sources and other possible explanations.

The 'faces' in this photo aren't ghosts-they're smudges.

If something in a photo looks out of place, you should try and determine if it’s part of the object(s) in the photo. Are there tree branches outside or patterns on a wall that form it? If so, it’s probably not paranormal. A true ghost is going to look separate from its surroundings.

The best way to avoid matrixing is to not jump to conclusions. Take time to study every video and picture in question. Once you understand what matrixing it, it becomes much easier to spot and understand.

So tell me, have you ever seen an image in a picture or video that you just couldn’t explain?  

Creature Feature: Mokele-mbembe

In the lush vegetation rich Congo River basin, both locals, occasional missionaries,

and travelers have claimed to see some sort of large reptilian creature in the river. It’s described as a large animal with a small head and long neck. Some accounts say it has a horn. Those who claim to have seen it say it makes a terrifying sound. Its description is similar to a type of dinosaur known as a Sauropod.

The people of Africa call it the Mokele-mbebme. Some people think the creature is more of a spiritual being that exists in the stories and traditions of the people. Others insist the creature is real. Numerous expeditions have been launched in search of Mokele-mbebmbe. Other than a few mysterious footprints, no solid evidence has been found to confirm its existence.

Perhaps there was a time when a small population of dinosaurs lived there and the stories were passed to each new generation. Or maybe people just let their imaginations get the best of them when they saw something they couldn’t explain. And, just maybe, there really is some undiscovered reptile wandering along the river.

What do you think? Do you think the Mokele-mbembe really exists? Could there be an undiscovered population of dinosaurs living somewhere in the world?

http://www.cryptozoology.com/cryptids/mokele.php

http://naturalplane.blogspot.com/2011/04/tracking-mokele-mbembe-legend.html

Weekly News Round-up 4/6/11

AOL News posted an article explaining that a recent string of UFO sighting in Chicago were actually caused by the release of some Chinese lanterns. It's a good reminder to not jump to conclusions!

News.scotsman.com has an article about a recent incident where worms fell from the sky on to the heads of unsuspecting students. You can read about it here.

Part April Fool's day joke, part educational mascot, a 'monster' was created by United Utilities. News and Stars posted the article here.

Product Review: The Green 30mw Laser Pointer Pen Style Star Holographic Projector and Laser Point

This past week I had my first chance to use a new bit of ghost hunting technology, the laser grid. A laser grid is basically a laser pointer that has thousands of small points that are cast on a wall or surface. Most of them are sold with clamps that allow the beams to stay lit. This allows you to leave a grid in a room with just a camera to monitor it. The idea behind using the laser grid is that it is supposed to help visually catch the movement of shadows in a space. People often claim to see strange shadows in haunted locations and this is a device that is designed to make those shadows easier to document.  Unfortunately we weren’t able to capture any activity with it.

We actually had several problems with the model we were using, The Green 30mw Laser Pointer Pen Style Star Holographic Projector and Laser Point (yes that’s its real name.) The main problem was that after turning the laser on, the beams would dim after several minutes and become almost invisible. We had to constantly restart the grid throughout the night. I looked at reviews on Amazon prior to writing this and many other people have complained about this problem as well. Also, the lights were invisible on our IR camera so even if we saw something with our eyes, we would have no way of documenting it on film.

Ultimately, while I think the idea of the laser grid is a good one, this is an object I would not recommend purchasing, unless you just plan on using it for a fun light show. I might have a better opinion of a stronger version of the laser grid. I give The Green 30mw Laser Pointer Pen Style Star Holographic Projector and Laser Point 2 out of 5 ghosts.

Creature Feature: Charlie Sheen

Charlie Sheen is the stage name for Carlos Irwin Estevez, a creature originally found in New York but that has migrated to California. Sightings of Charlie Sheen have occurred on TV and movie sets, seedy hotels, and brothels. This guy is mostly known for his roles as an actor but has lately become infamous for his erratic (and possibly drug induced) behavior.

Charlie Sheen has several calls including the phrase ‘winning’ and ‘tiger’s blood’ which may be used to attract a mate or potential advertisers. He is often found surrounded by both paparazzi and porn stars which makes him easy to track. Charlie recently enjoyed some extra attention in the media when he set a record for the most Twitter followers in the shortest amount of time. Obviously this is a creature who doesn’t mind being found so don’t expect him to be hiding in the woods any time soon. If you see this creature you may want to alert the authorities or get an autograph.

Ok, Charlie Sheen really isn’t a paranormal creature (I hope.) Happy April’s Fools Day everybody!  And thanks to Jennifer who supplied the idea for this post. J