Weekly News Round-up 2/29/12

This week a bigfoot photo has been circulating all over the internet. It's claimed the image was captured by a trail cam, but I'm pretty skeptical of this image. Most legit trail cam shots capture animals in the distance or a limb or section of an animal. This one is up close and centered. And it's just the back side of the bigfoot, which would make it really easy to fake. But, if you want to see it for yourself you can see it here, and read the story behind it.

Mail Online posted an article about an interview Anderson Cooper did with a family of self-proclaimed exorcists.

A family was terrified by a dark shadowy figure crossing the road on a cab ride. You can read about it here.

Auras

I was trying to think of a topic I haven’t covered before on my blog, and realized I’ve never really talked about auras. If you aren’t familiar with them, they are basically colorful energy lights emitted from living things. Some people believe that different colors posses different spiritual meanings.

Most people aren’t able to see them, which makes proving their existence difficult. Recently, aura reading machines have started popping up. As cool as they sound, it’s difficult for a regular person to tell if their aura is really being measured or if the machines are just an elaborate parlor trick.

I’ve never been able to see auras. I’m not sure they exist. But I have heard a lot of people adamantly insist they can see them, which makes me think they may be possible. I once read an article that said you could train yourself to see auras. I was curious, so I tried it. You basically had to stare at a colorful image for a long time. All I got out of it was some blurry vision. I’m pretty sure the ability to see auras (if it exists) is a gift, and not something that can be taught, but maybe someone can prove me wrong.

So I’m curious- have any of you ever had any experience with reading auras (or having yours read?) Do you think they are real?

Weekly News Round-up 2/23/12

A strange glowing ball has been appearing in the sky in Germany. You can see a video of it here.

In China, a woman's ghost was sold into marriage-twice. You can read about the interesting cultural practice here.

A family in England believes that the return of a painting has put their ghost  to rest. UK Auctioneers has the story here.

5 Things Not to do During a Ghost Hunt

1. Fall asleep. If a ghost is going to do something interesting, it will probably wait until your eyes are closed.

2. Say something stupid. During a ghost hunt everything you say and do is being recorded. Everything you say is on camera, and that stuff never goes away.

3. Brag about how awesome a ghost hunter you are. If karma doesn’t get you, the ghosts will.

4. Cry. There’s no crying in ghost hunting.

5. Run away screaming when something frightens you. Your teammates will never let you live it down. And they will play the footage over and over. And over.

Weekly News Round-up 2/15/12

Top Secret Writers.com posted an article about the Cryptozoology Museum in Maine. You can read it here.

A sonar image captured in Loch Ness earned a man a cash prize for best Nessie sighting. Inverness Courier has the full article here.

Also, my teams co-founder, Marcus, is going to be a guest on Blog Talk Radios Tod and June Broadcast with Shadow Chasers Investigations. You can check out the details here.

Ghost Hunting and Lawsuits

Ghost hunters have to be extra careful nowadays, and not just because of ghosts. Recently, lawsuits involving ghost hunting have become an unfortunate reality. Not long ago, a property in Ohio filed a lawsuit against a website because the site listed their property as haunted. The property owners claimed thrill seekers had been breaking into their property and that they had to spend a lot of money on additional security. The courts ended up awarding the property owners $150,000, although the website never showed for court. Things may have ended differently if the site had tried to fight the suit, but you never know.

It’s very, very important that if you are going to ghost hunt, you have liability forms to give to property owners. On ours, we always ask for permission to use our videos and evidence online (and they are allowed to say no) as well as waive liabilities for accidental damage to the property. Yep, someone once sued a ghost hunter after they fell through an old, rotting floor to cover the damage. We also make sure on our form that the property owners understand we are completely responsible for our own injuries and make sure the owners can’t hold us responsible for any paranormal activity that occurs after we leave.

As boring as it is, it’s important for both sides to understand their legal rights during a ghost hunt. We are always willing to sign their own release forms as well (at least until we see one that makes us run the other direction.) If you are going to ghost hunt, make sure you have your papers in order. You don’t want to end up on the wrong side of a law suit because of a bit of ghostly fun.

Weekly News Round-up 2/8/12

Strange creatures are being spotted all over this week!

Some people believe someone caught an unknown creature on video in Iceland. You can see the video here and read more about it here. I'm pretty skeptical of this one, because the video does a lot of jumping and you never get a good look at it, but you can decide for yourself.

Well, this isn't exactly paranormal, but it is interesting. Scientists discovered a giant shrimp off the coast of New Zealand. You can see it here. It does make you wonder what other things are out there that haven't been discovered yet.

A purple squirrel was found in Jersey Shore, PA. No one seems to know why it's purple. You can see it here.

A woman believes the image of her deceased brother was captured in the clouds.  NineMSN.com posted the story.

Phantom Music

One thing that sometimes comes up during a ghost hunt is phantom music. It can be the sound of a piano playing in the distance, an unseen voice singing or humming, or even the sound of a radio playing a familiar song. No matter what form it comes in, it’s always a little unsettling to hear. Usually, if we hear music during a hunt, we will go to great lengths to see if we can hunt down a logical source for the sound. But sometimes, we just can’t find an explanation.

In some ways, it makes sense. If ghosts are really people who once lived, I imagine they would still enjoy music and still want to hear and create it. Some ghost hunters even play music from older eras in attempts to attract ghosts from the past. When you hear phantom noises, It’s hard to say whether the sounds are being created by intelligent spirits or just residual noise that exists in our world. Either way, I love when I get to hear it!

Have you ever heard music you couldn’t find a source for?

Weekly News Round-up 1/1/12

Two guys claimed to have found a skull that resembles a thylacine in Tasmania. Monster Tracker has the full article here.

Io9.comj posted an article about early plans to turn George Washington into a zombie. Yeah, it's as weird as it sounds. You can read it here.

Gather News posted a video of a bird being struck by a strange flying orb.

People in the town of Battleford (and other places) have being hearing strange sounds. Some people believe it may be static noise but no one seems to know for sure. You can read about it here.