Weekly News Round-up 12/29/11

MonsterTracker.com posted an article about the life story of a UFO and Bigfoot researcher named Stan Gordon. You can read it here.

An finger thought to possibly belong to a Yeti was out through DNA testing-turns out the finger is human. Huffington Post has the article here.

Phantoms and Monsters posted an article about how the Hitchcock film, The Birds, was based on an actual event. Turns out there's also a scientific explanation for what happened.

Weekly News Round-up 12/21/11

Gadling.com has a lit of the top 10 lake monsters (besides Nessie.) You can read it here.

Bernews.com posted an article about Ben Franklin writing of reports of a sea monster.

Huffington Post has an article about a UFO-like vehicle being shipped on a flatbed. You can read it here and see a video.

Also, there won't be a Monday post next week as I'm taking the day off from blogging to celebrate Christmas. I hope everyone has a great holiday!

UFO's & Aliens-Are they real?

I realized this morning that I’ve never done an actual post on UFO’s. I figure it’s probably about time to talk about them. The truth is, I’m not sure I believe that aliens really exist. I’ve never personally witnesses anything that could convince me that aliens are a real possibility. Of course, I would love it if they did end up being real (unless of course, they tried to blow up the planet or something) but it seems unlikely to me that we could be sharing space with really intelligent beings without truly interacting with them.

I have heard some pretty convincing stories from people who claim to have seen unidentified aircrafts (including one from a friend claiming a giant flying saucer stopped traffic on a major local highway) but it’s just as likely that those aircrafts belong to government agencies, or mad scientists. Of course, it’s also possible that the government is working to cover this stuff up, but why would they bother? That seems like a huge waste of time and expense. For now, I’m remaining a skeptic.

That’s where I stand on the issue. Where do you guys stand? Do you believe aliens are a real possibility? Have you ever witnesses a UFO?

Weekly News Round-up 12/14/11

 Mail Oline posted an article about an unkown animal that has been dragging geese under the water in Olympic Park. You can read about it here.

NASA cameras captured a video of a strange glowing object in space. While some people believe it is a UFO, NASA has provided a scientific explanation for the anomaly. You can see the video, and the explanation here.

Huff post has an interview with paranormal investigatior and writer Joshua P Warren that you can read here.

EMF's in Ghost Hunting

EMF’s are a poplar topic in ghost hunting today. The term stands for Electromagnetic Fields, which are a fairly normal natural phenomenon. I won’t bore you too much with a long scientific explanation of EMF’s. There’s a decent brief explanation you can read here, if you are really curious. I mostly want to talk about how they are being used in paranormal research.

Just about every ghost hunting group around has at least one EMF meter (my group has several.) There are a lot of theories that ghosts are made up of electromagnetic energy. If these theories are true, we should be able to detect ghosts using an EMF meter. The problem with this theory (besides the fact that it’s nearly impossible to prove) is that just about every location being investigated has natural EMFs. Anything electronic can potentially give them off and identifying sources can be tricky. I’ve been on investigations where our EMF meter was going crazy the whole night. Part way through we realized it was because of an electric line running directly into the top of the building. On another investigation our meter started going off when it got too close to some silverware set out on a table.

It would be pretty amazing if we could track ghosts using EMF’s. I have seen meters lighting up in what appeared to be direct responses to questions. And there’s something comforting about seeing physical evidence of something unseen going on.

But until we can completely eliminate the possibility of natural EMF’s, I’m not convinced that readings on EMF meters are anything more that coincidence. I’m willing to continue experimenting with EMF meters but it’s something my group rarely bothers to show our clients because there’s always going to be a possible scientific explanation for our readings. I think we need a better understanding of ghosts before this technology is really helpful in researching them.

Do you think ghosts could be made up of electromagnetic energy? Do you think it’s possible to detect ghosts using scientific equipment?

Weekly News Round-up 12/7/11

 Some strange lights were captured on video in New Zealand. You can check it out here.

The Gaurdian posted an article about Charles Dickens fascination with ghosts and his interest in a ghostly tale that seemed to be written bu both him and another writer at the same time.

Phantoms and Monsters posted a description of an event that supposedly inspired the movie E.T. You can read about it here.

Book Review: Destination Truth: Memoirs of a Monster Hunter

I wasn’t planning on posting two book reviews so close together, but sometimes you read something so interesting that you have to tell others about it. So this week, I’m reviewing Destination Truth: Memoirs of a Monster Hunter by Josh Gates.

If you aren’t familiar with Josh Gates, he hosts a show on SyFy called Destination Truth. His team travels the world searching for legendary creatures. I’m usually not a fan of books written by celebrities but I picked this book up because I thought it would be fun to get a behind the scenes look at the show. What I got was a total surprise.

This book is so much more than that. While there are stories and anecdotes from the show, at its heart, it’s really a book about the love (and importance) of travel. There are also sections on various monsters, photos from around the world, funny travel tips, and his life story woven throughout this book. There’s a lot going on but somehow Josh Gates ties it all together perfectly. There’s a lot of humor and heart in this book. It’s the kind of thing that stays with you, affects you. Makes you want to do, and be more. His message appears to be that most people don’t spend enough time exploring the world around them-and miss out on so much. Here’s a quote from the book to show you what I’m talking about.

“By staying home, we’re missing a grand opportunity afforded to us by those glimmering silver birds in the sky. The “golden age” of travel is right now. Jetting is no longer just for the jet set; it’s for everyone. The truth is that travel changes us, irrevocably, and mostly for the better. It can nourish the best parts of ourselves like nothing else. Travel broadens our perspective, adds texture to our lives, and makes us more interesting at cocktail parties.”

And he’s right. People should try and see the world around them. Exploration is important. Whether you are hunting for ghosts, or monsters or a better version of yourself, you should be looking.

Because this book is pretty close to perfect, I’m giving it a perfect score. 5 out of 5 ghosts.

Now go leave your house and explore. And maybe pick up this book.