Sutherland, Scotland
Background: The  Earls of Sutherland have had a castle here since the 13th century. In 1845  Charles Barry, who built the Houses of Parliament, re-modelled the castle  but most of his interior was destroyed by fire in 1915. The castle was then  re-designed by Sir Robert Lorimer. From 1965 to 1972 it was a boys'  boarding school but is now owned by Elizabeth Janson, Countess of Sutherland.  This is the 14th Earl of Sutherland's daughter Margaret's story.
I worked at this location way back in 2008. I was very lucky to get the go ahead. Sadly though I had very little time  to conduct an investigation.Four hours  I had been given, five at a puch and also I had to be walked around by security officer. With everything said though it is a real wonderful place and I thank the owners and staff for all the help.
Origin of the haunting: 17th Century
Background of the haunted place: The present castle was built, by Sir William Hilton, between  1374 and 1420. There is nothing left of the original castle built in 1072.  Towards the end of the 18th Century the castle was abandoned and much of it was  demolished in 1862. The ghost of the Cauld Lad tells the story.
Ghost  story: I'm Robert  Skelton and I was a bit of a lazy boy. I didn't mean any harm but if the master  didn't keep me busy I got into mischief. I was a stable boy and one of my jobs  was to get the master's horse ready. One day I fell asleep and when the master  came to get his horse it wasn't ready. He flew into a terrible rage. He threw a  pitchfork at me and killed me.
He threw my naked body into the pond; it was  cold even for a ghost. I used to wander round the grounds shivering. Then one  day some servants left a cloak for me which kept me warm. Eventually my bones  were found in the pond and I was given a proper burial. Nobody has seen me  since. I am at peace and have no reason to haunt anymore - but who  knows?
Scarborough, North Yorkshire
Origin of the haunting: 14th Century
Background of the haunted place: This castle was built in the early 12th Century by  William Le Gros. It was practically impregnable and the Northern stronghold for  Kings and Queens for almost five centuries. It is not surprising that Piers  Gaveston, favourite of Edward ll, used this as a base when he was under siege.  His ghost tells the story.
Ghost story: I had so much power, Edward was so weak he  couldn't see who really controlled things. His father realised and had me  banished. But once he was dead Edward recalled me and made me Earl of Cornwall.  Nobody could tell me what to do. They tried to banish me again but I came back.  Sadly, once they rose against Edward and declared war; I became a  target.
It was here at Scarborough they finally  caught me. I was taken to Warwick and executed. But if they thought that would  be the end of me; they were sadly mistaken. It is here that I seek my revenge.  My headless ghost lures people up to the battlements, especially those  half-witted enough to visit at night. Occasionally, I lunge at them hoping  that one of them will leap out of the way and fall to their death.
I hope you are planning to visit soon.
 
ABBEYS
Whitby Abbey
Location of the haunted place: North  Yorkshire
Origin of the haunting: Unknown
Background: Whitby Abbey was built in 657 AD. It was a double monastery housing both women  and men. It was destroyed by the Danes during a Viking invasion but rebuilt by  the Normans in 1067. This is Constance de Beverley's story.
Ghost story: I was a nun in the Abbey. I broke my vows and was  punished. I fell in love with a knight, he was such a brave man. I know it was  wrong but my love for him was powerful and I couldn't stop myself. When my crime  was discovered, they bricked me up in the dungeon and left me to die. It was a  horrible death. I don't think I deserved that sort of barbaric punishment. I'm  still here hoping that someone will release me. Please, please, if you see me on  the stairway, release me.
Shaun Underwood has investigated Whitby Abbey 23 times in the past 9 years. Found this to be a very active location. This Abbey as history as long as your arm. Thanks to E.H who have given Shaun and his TRIPA UK team many locations to  research & Investigate and as much time needed. There will be a full diary of all the TOP CASES and W.A (Whitby Abbey) IS IN THE TOP 10.
Glamis Castle
Watch out for the tongueless woman ... Glamis Castle. Photograph: Britain on View

1. Highgate Cemetery, London

The spectacular gothic architecture on show at this Victorian necropolis is eerie enough but in the late 60s bizarre rumours circulated of a tall, dark figure with hypnotic red eyes terrorising passersby. Amid stories of fearful schoolgirls and mutilated animals, it didn't take long for received wisdom to declare the fiend a vampire.
At least as extraordinary as the idea of the undead stalking N6 was the bitter feud between two locals, exorcist Sean Manchester and occultist David Farrant, who both swore they would hunt down and terminate the ghoul. Nowadays, only the simultaneous opening of several gastropubs would cause a run on garlic.
· The Friends of Highgate Cemetery runs tours of both sides of the cemetery, although the eastern section can be explored unaccompanied. Admission to the more atmospheric western side is by guided tour only.

 

2. Borley Rectory, Essex

The 1944 demolition of this infamous haunted house hasn't diminished its status among supernatural enthusiasts. It's a legend based largely on the activities of Harry Price, a ghostbuster who became famous for a series of psychic investigations, including a not particularly scary-sounding tussle with a talking mongoose.
Price's thorough accounts of the Rectory's ghouls (most notably a murdered nun) brought the place national infamy until its virtual destruction by fire in 1939. No trace of the rectory remains although pilgrims still visit, to the irritation of some of Borley's long-suffering residents.
· The village of Borley lies on the River Stour, two miles north-west of Sudbury in Suffolk and 24 miles north-east of Chelmsford in Essex.

 

3. Pendle Hill, Lancashire

Fans of Living TV's Most Haunted go into raptures when remembering the episode that saw psychic investigators decamp to the scene of Britain's most famous witch trial. Ten of the so-called Pendle Witches were hanged at Lancaster Castle in 1612 (possibly just innocent victims of the whims of witchcraft-obsessed James I). Their ghosts reputedly haunt the village of Newchurch, which lies in the dark, brooding shadow of Pendle Hill and is where one of the witches is said to be buried. Depending on what you believe, the events in the much-eulogised Most Haunted episode were either TV presenters trying to scare themselves and their audience witless or the spirits still seething at a terrible injustice.
· Pendle Hill is located in Lancashire near Burnley, Colne, Nelson and Clitheroe. The village of Newchurch is a mile away from Rawtenstall and boasts a souvenir shop, Witches Galore.

 

4. The Red Lion, Avebury, Wiltshire

The British enjoy drinking in the afterlife as much as on earth, if the number of supposedly haunted UK pubs is anything to go by. If any boozer was ever going to lay claim to spectral regulars it would be The Red Lion, situated within Avebury's mysterious stone circle, long associated with paganism, witchcraft and superstition.
Apparitions served at the Red Lion include a woman named Florrie who pays particular attention to bearded customers. Ghostly children have also been seen and visitors have often reported orbs of light, weird shadows and cold spots within the 400 year-old inn, which is never short of visitors looking to test their nerves with an overnight stay.
· The Red Lion, Avebury, Marlborough, Wiltshire, SN8 1RF. Tel: 01672 539266. B&B costs £40 per person per night.

 

5. The Ancient Ram Inn, Wotten-under-Edge, Gloucestershire

Stories attached to this other West Country haunted hotspot make The Red Lion look positively benign. Murder, satanism and child sacrifice are just some of the light-hearted activities supposed to have taken place in this ramshackle building, dating from the 12th century and reportedly built on a pagan burial ground. Its inexplicably freezing temperatures and evil atmosphere have had even hardended ghostbusters quaking in their boots. Hardly surprising, given the horrific cast of residents, including an incontinent spectral cat. In an attempt to avoid swelling the ghastly ranks, a polite message on the Inn's website asks visiting mediums to desist from summoning any more evil spirits to join the party.
· The Ancient Ram Inn, Potters Pond, Wotton under Edge, GL12 7HF. Visits must be booked with owner John Humphries on 01453 842598.

 

6. Glamis Castle, Angus, Scotland

Nothing, it seems, guarantees centuries of angry haunting like a lifetime of secret incarceration. The imposing home of the current Earl and Countess of Strathmore is supposedly riddled with secret rooms. Residents include the so-called Monster of Glamis Castle (an unkind moniker for a deformed child held here in the 19th century), a tongueless woman running around the garden, and a wicked aristocrat who loudly bemoans a lost card game. There's also the mysterious Grey Lady. This isn't the late Queen Mother, born at Glamis in 1900, but rather Janet Douglas, executed on a trumped-up charge of witchcraft in 1537.
· Glamis Castle is open to visitors throughout most of the year.

 

7. The Tower of London

Harry Price called Borley Rectory the Most Haunted House in Britain but the title surely belongs to the Tower of London. Its history as a place of torture and imprisonment ensures no shortage of, often headless, souls hanging around, although perhaps none are as frightening as the admission fees or gargantuan summer crowds.
The Princes in the Tower, allegedly murdered by their uncle Richard III, are the best-known spectres. Also on duty are Lady Jane Grey, Anne Boleyn and the White Lady, whose supernatural signature is apparently the overpowering aroma of cheap perfume, which hints at a hitherto unrecorded snobbery among the undead.
 
 The Tower of London is open every day except Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Day. Tickets are £16 with children paying £9.50, family tickets are £45.
 

8. Culloden Moor, near Inverness

The last battle to take place in mainland Britain was fought on this barren moor in 1746 where the Jacobite rebellion was dealt a terminal blow and a grim era commenced of repression of Highland customs and traditions.
As befits such a bloody battle, where Jacobite prisoners and wounded were ruthlessly massacred on the orders of the notorious Duke of Cumberland, the dead do not rest easy and every year on April 16, the battle's anniversary, the landscape is said to echo again with anguished cries as phantom legions re-enact the slaughter.
· Culloden village is three miles east of Inverness. The battlefield, where there is a National Trust for Scotland visitor centre, is three miles south of the village.

 

9. Llancaiach Fawr Manor, near Caerphilly

Ghosts, by their ethereal nature, tend to be a tad elusive, but, at this place, they appear bold as brass, showing visitors around and brazenly pretending the English Civil War is still raging. Actually, this place is a living museum, frozen in the year 1645 and the people in period costume are actors but any reassurance this gives is invariably shortlived as the Tudor manor house is often described as the most haunted in Wales.
As well as the ubiquitous spectral children, some of the most noted paranormal activity is the constant chatter of disembodied voices around the house. One particular room is said to frequently cause visitors to burst into tears.
· Visitors to Llancaiach Fawr Manor can enjoy ghost tours on Thursday and Friday evenings, October-March. Tour £8, tour and meal £15.95.

 

10. Berry Pomeroy Castle, near Totness, Devon

What is it with castles and multicoloured female spooks? Ghost hunters calling at 12th century Berry Pomeroy Castle are spoilt for choice with both a Blue Lady and a White Lady plying their mournful trade and causing many people to feel inexplicably uneasy when visiting.
The White Lady is said to be Margaret Pomeroy, a renowned beauty who had the misfortune to fall in love with the same man as Lady Eleanor, her less beautiful but insanely jealous sister. Eleanor imprisoned Margaret in the castle dungeons and it is from here that her spirit is said to rise to the castle ramparts. Her partner-in-colourful-haunting, the Blue Lady, is also reportedly seen beckoning to visitors among the ruins. The consensus is that it's not a good idea to follow her.
· English Heritage looks after the castle, which is closed between November 1 and March 20. Admission is £3.80 adults and £1.90 children.
Copyright©Shaun Underwood2011/12
 
 

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Poltergeist Information & Cases

 
 
 
Question: What is a poltergeist?
 
Answer: "Poltergeist" is a German word meaning "noisy spirit or ghost" Current research indicates, however, that poltergeist activity may have nothing to do with ghosts or spirits. Since the activity seems to center around an individual, it is believed that it is caused by the subconscious mind of that individual. It is, in effect, psychokinetic activity. The individual is often under emotional, psychological or physical stress (even going through puberty). Effects can include rappings on walls and floors, the physical movement of objects, effects on lights and other electric appliances - even the manifestation of physical phenomena.


During a poltergeist experience, the agent, in an attempt to relieve emotional stress, unknowingly causes the physical disturbances using mental forces. The mental mechanism that allows the poltergeist agent to unconsciously cause these physical disturbances is called psychokinesis. Psychokinesis, PK, more commonly known as "mind over matter," is the human ability to mentally affect the physical environment. Because the psychokinetic activity of the poltergeist agent is recurrent and spontaneous, this form of psychokinesis is termed RSPK or recurrent spontaneous psychokinesis. Most agents are unaware that they are causing the physical disturbances, and even those with vague awareness usually have no conscious control over how and when the disturbances will occur.
The Poltergeist Experience: In poltergeist cases, typical reported disturbances include strange noises and knockings, and objects moving about as if under their own power. Objects have been reported to fly about in bizarre trajectories, to crash to the floor and break, to break or shatter in place, and to disappear and reappear, sometimes in different locations. Beds are sometimes reported to shake and furniture to rearrange itself. In more rare cases, small, innocuous fires have started, water droplets or bursts have fallen from nowhere, stones have pelted homes, and vague apparition-like forms have been seen. Whatever the nature of the physical disturbances, poltergeist phenomena can inevitably be linked to an "agent."
The Poltergeist Agent: Though the agent can usually be narrowed down to one person, in some cases the agent appears to consist of two or more people who co-create a psychological dynamic that causes one or more of the people to mentally "set off" the physical disturbances. Studies and investigations show that agents are typically experiencing repressed or unresolved emotional stress. Adolescence is commonly a stressful life period (psychologically and physically) and not surprisingly, the majority of reported poltergeist cases involve adolescent agents (the age range is from 12 or 13 to early 20s). However, people of all age groups are potential poltergeist agents (although there has been a noticeable lack of agents under 10 or 11). Studies have also shown that people with epilepsy or epileptic-like activity in the brain are sometimes associated with poltergeist activity. This does not mean that everyone under stress or with epilepsy will be a poltergeist agent. In fact, the phenomenon is very uncommon, even though minor PK events may occur throughout someone's lifetime. Even in severe cases of repressed stress or epilepsy, poltergeist activity rarely occurs.
Patterns and Metaphors of Poltergeist Activity: With the exception of rare lengthy cases, poltergeist phenomena generally last from two to six weeks (short term 1 week, long term about 18 months). Cases are nearly always reported in homes, offices or workplaces – wherever a dynamic of human interaction takes place. Poltergeist activity, with its connection to unresolved stress, appears to be a rare form of stress relief. Instead of the stress releasing itself in "normal" ways, the agent unconsciously "blows off steam" with the PK activity. Patterns found in the disturbances are generally symbolic and can give clues as to the identity of the agent and the nature of the unresolved stress. Often object and area focused activity occur whereby the disturbances tend to stay with certain forms of objects or in certain locations in the physical environment. The disturbances often appear as metaphors to the causes of stress. For example, sexual tension may be released through causing the bed to shake. Anger towards a certain person may be released by the agent causing items belonging to the target person to break. The rare outbreak of small fires may be associated with a general release of anger, whereas water is more often associated with grief (as in tears not being physically shed). More unusual cases involving guilt have resulted in the agent actually giving him/herself a psychokinetic "self-beating" displayed by the spontaneous manifestation of bruises or other marks of physical punishment. Other very rare poltergeist cases have involved sightings of apparition-like forms. These are not thought to be true apparitions (or ghosts – a consciousness operating outside of or after the death of his or her physical body). Rather, they are thought to be unconscious projections from the mind of the agent that are "picked up" telepathically by people associated with the agent (and of course, by the agent as well). These apparitional forms are often not human in appearance (in contrast to ghosts), and may even look like an archetypal "monster." As frightening as they may appear, these mental projections are harmless and are simply a reflection of the agent's inner psychological "monsters or demons." As with the physical activity, they are often a metaphor for the mental and emotional stress the agent is experiencing. More subtle forms of poltergeist activity involve micro-effects whereby the agent mentally, though unconsciously, affects the functioning of technology (these are effects that occur throughout our lives). It is now known that technology such as watches, computers, telephones, photocopiers, etc. are apparently susceptible to PK. Similar to the large scale poltergeist effects, these micro-effects appear to be a form of stress-relief or a reflection of the mood of the agent, and the type of effect is often a clue as to the nature of the stress.
Practical Problem Solving: Since poltergeist cases have psychological stress and emotional dynamics at their core, investigations involve detailed observation of the human interaction present in such cases. All family members or co-workers are interviewed separately and en masse in order to assess the nature of the disturbances and the emotional interplay. Many personal questions are asked, and in some cases, medical information may be requested. Patterns in the disturbances are noted and participants may be asked to re-enact scenes when the disturbances occurred. Because the investigation may alter the emotional dynamics, leading to difficulty in finding the agent, on some case the investigator(s) may request an extended stay on the premises in hopes that the dynamics return to their usual state. Throughout the study, "normal" disturbances are separated from those that may be "paranormal." Often the participants believe the disturbances to be the result of a ghost or outside entity. Because stressful emotional dynamics are at the core of such cases, this "ghost" is used as a scapegoat for the occurrences and even for the events or issues that are causing the stress in the first place. In addition, people are often more sensitive to anything out of the ordinary in the environment during such situations. In many cases, participants may misinterpret overlooked physical occurrences with normal, though not obvious, normal explanations. Finally, because there is often a ghostly scapegoat to blame, there may be a mixture of real RSPK events with intentionally caused disturbances surreptitiously carried out by the agent and/or other participants. A lot can be done in the name of stress relief when there's a ghost present to take the blame. In cases such as this, the intentional disturbances are not generally an attempt to dupe the investigator, but are rather directed at other members of the family or group as a more "normal" form of stress relief. Such non-malicious fraud can make a poltergeist investigation very challenging. At worst, such "mixed" cases may be dismissed as normal when paranormal elements are actually present. The stress inherent in a poltergeist case, as well as the stress caused by one, does make counseling very important. Not only the agent, but all participants can benefit from individual or group counseling. Poltergeist activity tends to stop when the stress is identified, addressed or released, or when the stressful situation itself is identified, altered or ended. Poltergeist activity also tends to stop when the agent realizes he or she is responsible for the phenomena (and especially if the agent accepts responsibility for it). One the activity has ceased, follow-up therapeutic work may be crucial in order to help resolve the underlying causes of the poltergeist outbreak. Finally, for the poltergeist agent, there always exists the potential for learning to focus and apply this psychokinetic ability in positive ways.
 
UKs first REAL Poltergeist case (Enfield Poltergeist)
 
 
Janet Hodgson, aged 11 at the time, appeared to be possessed. It could have been a scene from the film The Exorcist - but it was real
Janet Hodgson, aged 11 at the time, appeared to be possessed. It could have been a scene from the film The Exorcist - but it was real
 
What IS the truth about the Enfield Poltergeist? Amazing story of 11-year-old London girl who 'levitated' above her bed.
The rasping male voice sent a chill through the room. Hauntingly, it delivered a message from beyond the grave, describing in graphic detail the moment of death.

 
‘Just before I died, I went blind, and then I had an ’aemorrhage and I fell asleep and I died in the chair in the corner downstairs.’

 
The eerie voice — which can still be heard on audio tapes today — is purportedly that of Bill Wilkins. The recording was made in Enfield, North London, in the Seventies, several years after his death.

The events unfolded for more than a year behind the door of an ordinary-looking semi-detached council house
Most horrifying of all, however, was that the voice was coming from the body of an 11-year-old girl, Janet Hodgson. She appeared to be possessed. It could have been a scene from the film The Exorcist — but it was real.
What was going on? This was the case of the Enfield Poltergeist, which held the nation spellbound 30 years ago, puzzling policemen, psychics, experts in the occult and hardened reporters alike.

 
It involved levitation, furniture being moved through the air, and flying objects swirling towards witnesses. There were cold breezes, physical assaults, graffiti, water appearing on the floor, and even claims of matches spontaneously bursting into flame.


A policewoman even signed an affidavit that she had seen a chair move. There were more than 30 witnesses to the strange incidents.

Most inexplicably, the young girl at the centre of the events seemingly acted as the mouthpiece for Bill Wilkins, a foul-mouthed, grumpy old man who had died in the house many years before. His son contacted investigators to confirm the details of his story.
The events unfolded for more than a year behind the door of an ordinary-looking semi-detached council house, on a suburban street filled with similar houses, and left those they touched permanently scarred.

Naturally, many questioned whether it was all a hoax — but no explanation other than the paranormal has ever been convincingly put forward.

Now, the episode is to be revisited in a film, planned for release at Halloween next year.

Just what happened in Enfield, then, all those years ago? Where are the Hodgsons now, and have they escaped their ghosts? Could they have made the whole episode up? And who lives at 284 Green Street now?

The story, as the Hodgson family told it, begins in 1977. Peggy Hodgson was unusual, at the time, in that she was a single mother to four children — Margaret, 12, Janet, 11, Johnny, ten, and Billy, seven — having split from their father.

It was the evening of August 30, 1977, and Mrs Hodgson was keen to get her children into bed. She heard Janet complaining from upstairs that her and her brothers’ beds were wobbling.

Mrs Hodgson told her daughter to stop mucking around. The following evening, however, there was an altogether more bizarre disturbance.
Mrs Hodgson heard a crash from upstairs. Cross, she went to tell her children to settle down.

Entering their bedroom, with Janet’s Starsky & Hutch posters on the wall, Mrs Hodgson saw the chest of drawers move. She pushed it back, but found that it was being propelled towards the door by an invisible force.
It seemed as if some supernatural presence was trying to trap the family in the room with the heavy oak chest.

Many years later, Janet would tell a Channel 4 documentary: ‘It started in a back bedroom, the chest of drawers moved, and you could hear shuffling. Mum said: “I want you to pack it in.”

‘We told her what was going on, and she came to see it for herself. She saw the chest of drawers moving. When she tried to push it back, she couldn’t.’

Janet’s sister Margaret explained how the activity increased.

‘There were strange little noises in the house, you couldn’t make out what was going on. None of us got slept.
‘We put on our dressing gowns and slippers and went next door.’
The family appealed for help from their neighbours, Vic and Peggy Nottingham. Vic, a burly builder, went to investigate.

He says: ‘I went in there and I couldn’t make out these noises — there was a knocking on the wall, in the bedroom, on the ceiling. I was beginning to get a bit frightened.

Margaret adds: ‘He said: “I don’t know what to do.” I’d never seen a big man like that looking scared.’
The Hodgsons called the police, who proved to be similarly mystified. WPC  Carolyn Heeps saw a chair move.

She said at the time: ‘A large armchair moved, unassisted, 4 ft across the floor.’
She inspected the chair for hidden wires, but could find no explanation for what she had seen.
Eventually, the officers left, telling the family that the incidents were not a police matter, as they couldn’t find anyone breaking the law.

Next, the Hodgsons contacted the Press. Daily Mirror photographer Graham Morris, who visited the house, says: ‘It was chaos, things started flying around, people were screaming.’
Some of the events were captured on camera, and the images are disturbing. One shows Janet’s elfin form apparently being thrown across the room.

In others, her face is distorted in pain.

The BBC went to the house, but the crew found the metal components in their tape equipment had been twisted, and recordings erased.

Next, the family sought help from the Society for Psychical Research (SPR). It sent investigators Maurice Grosse and Guy Lyon Playfair, a poltergeist expert who subsequently wrote a book, This House Is Haunted, about the affair.

The author Will Storr spoke to Grosse, who has since died, when researching his own book Will Storr vs The Supernatural, which also features the case. Grosse told him: ‘As soon as I got there, I realised that the case was real because the family was in a bad state. Everybody was in chaos.

‘When I first got there, nothing happened for a while. Then I experienced Lego pieces flying across the room, and marbles, and the extraordinary thing was, when you picked them up they were hot.

‘I was standing in the kitchen and a T-shirt leapt off the table and flew into the other side of the room while I was standing by it.’

The investigators found themselves caught in a maelstrom of apparently psychic activity, with every poltergeist trick thrown at them. Sofas levitated, furniture spun round and was flung across the room, and the family would be hurled out of their beds at night.

One day, Maurice and a visiting neighbour found one of the children shouting: ‘I can’t move! It’s holding my leg!’ They had to wrestle the child from what all involved insisted was the grip of invisible hands.
The ongoing knocking was one of the most chilling aspects of the case. It would run down the wall, fading in and out as it apparently played an unnerving game with the family — who became so scared that they slept in the same room, with the light on.

Most of the activity centred on 11-year-old Janet. She went into violent trances, which were awful to behold. On one occasion, the iron fireplace in her bedroom was wrenched from the wall by unseen forces.

Family members also claim to have seen her levitating — floating clean across the room.

She told Channel 4: ‘I felt used by a force that nobody understands. I really don’t like to think about it too much. I’m not sure the poltergeist was truly “evil”. It was almost as if it wanted to be part of our family.
'It didn’t want to hurt us. It had died there and wanted to be at rest. The only way it could communicate was through me and my sister.’

Some cast doubt on the events, however. Two SPR experts caught the children bending spoons themselves, and questioned why no one was allowed in the same room as Janet when she was using her gruff voice, apparently that of Bill Wilkins.

The investigators found themselves caught in a maelstrom of apparently psychic activity, with every poltergeist trick thrown at themIndeed, Janet admitted that they fabricated some of the occurrences.
She told ITV News in 1980: ‘Oh yeah, once or twice (we faked phenomena), just to see if Mr Grosse and Mr Playfair would catch us. They always did.’

Now aged 45, Janet lives in Essex with her husband, a retired milkman.
She told me: ‘I wasn’t very happy to hear about the film, I didn’t know anything about it. My dad has just died, and it really upset me to think of all this being raked over again.’

She describes the poltergeist activity as traumatic.

‘It was an extraordinary case. It’s one of the most recognised cases of paranormal activity in the world. But, for me, it was quite daunting. I think it really left its mark, the activities, the newspaper attention, the different people in and out of the house. It wasn’t a normal childhood.’
Asked how much of the phenomena at Green Street was faked, she says: ‘I’d say 2 per cent.’

She also admitted playing with an Ouija board with her sister, just before the activity flared up at the house.
She says she was unaware that she went into trances, until she was shown pictures.
‘I recall being very distressed by the photos when I was a child, I was very upset.
‘I knew when the voices were happening, of course, it felt like something was behind me all of the time. They did all sorts of tests, filling my mouth with water and so on, but the voices still came out.’

She says: ‘It was hard, I had a short spell in the Maudsley Psychiatric Hospital in London, where they stuck electrodes on my head, but the tests proved normal.

‘The levitation was scary, because you didn’t know where you were going to land. I remember a curtain being wound around my neck, I was screaming, I thought I was going to die.

'My mum had to use all her strength to rip it away. The man who spoke through me, Bill, seemed angry, because we were in his house.’
The situation had a huge effect on the family.

Janet says: ‘I was bullied at school. They called me Ghost Girl and put crane flies down my back.
‘I’d dread going home. The front door would be open, there’d be people in and out, you didn’t know what to expect and I used to worry a lot about Mum. She had a nervous breakdown, in the end.
‘I’m not one for living in the past. I want to move on. But it does come to me now and again. I dream about it, and then it affects me. I think why did it happen to us?’
Her brother was called ‘freak boy from the Ghost House’ and people would spit at him in the street.
Janet herself was on the front page of the Daily Star with a headline: ‘Possessed by the Devil.

She left home at 16, and married young.
‘I lost touch with everything, all the coverage of the case in paranormal books. My mum felt people walked over her at that time. She felt exploited.’
Shortly after the Press attention drifted away, Janet’s younger brother Johnny died of cancer, aged just 14. Janet’s mother then developed breast cancer, dying in 2003, and Janet suffered the loss of her own son, in his sleep, when he was 18.
She rejects any suggestion that the whole story was faked in pursuit of fame or money.
‘I didn’t want to bring it up again while my mum was alive, but now I want to tell my story. I don’t care whether people believe me or not, I went through this, and it was true.’

Asked whether she believes the house is still haunted, she says: ‘Years later, when Mum was alive, there was always a presence there — something watching over you.

'As long as people don’t meddle the way we did with Ouija boards, it is quite settled. It is a lot calmer than when I was a child. It is at rest, but will always be there.’

Janet reports that it was a priest’s visit to Green Street that resulted in the incidents ‘quietening down’ in autumn 1978, although the occurrences did not stop entirely, she says, with her mother continuing to hear noises in the house.
Janet says: ‘Even my brother, until the day he left that place after Mum died, would say: “There’s still something there.” You’d feel like you were being watched.’

Janet said she continues to believe in the poltergeist, saying: ‘It lived off me, off my energy. Call me mad if you like. Those events did happen. The poltergeist was with me and I feel that in a sense he always will be.’
Who lives at 284 Green Street now?
After Peggy Hodgson died, Clare Bennett and her four sons moved into the house.

'I was bullied at school. They called me Ghost Girl and put crane flies down my back,' said Janet (pictured: a scene from the 1973 horror The Exorcist)
Last week, she said: ‘I didn’t see anything, but I felt uncomfortable. There was definitely some kind of presence in the house, I always felt like someone was looking at me.’
Her sons would wake in the night, hearing people talking downstairs. Clare then found out about the house’s history. ‘Suddenly, it all made sense,’ she says. They moved out after just two months.
One of her sons, Shaka, 15, says: ‘The night before we moved out, I woke up and saw a man come into the room. I ran into Mum’s room and said: “We’ve got to move,” and we did the next day.’
The house is currently occupied by another family, who do not wish to be identified. The mother says simply: ‘I’ve got children, they don’t know about it. I don’t want to scare them.’
Though cynics may scoff, the story of the Enfield Poltergeist has clearly lost none of its frightening power.

You can listen to recording that are here on youtube. Please listen and there real Haunting to here this REAL case http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OWgImgIRic

Let us know what you think!!!

 
More Information

 

Tips. Information, Equipment, Protocols.

Paranormal Information/Tips/Protocols
 
 
“Is anyone here?” the intrepid ghost hunter asks while walking into an empty room. Nothing is heard, but later while listening to audio recordings of the session, there can be heard a faint response. The presence says very clearly, “No, I am not here, now do one!”


Some may interpret that answer as a lie; I tend to think of it as a great sense of humor (lol)




Sense of humor ( Needed when dealing with FAKE pople)

 
Research/ Interview

When investigating a haunted location as part of your preparation try to collate as much information as you can. This can be via research on the web, books and via interviewing people who are associated with the location or who have experienced something. My personal belief is mediums should never be briefed on the location, but the investigator should know as much as he or she can.


When researching a location make notes, get copies of the material or if on the web print it out so you can refer to it later. When interviewing again make notes or even better record the interview so again you can refer to it later.




Preparing for A Paranormal Investigation


When possible visit the location in the clear light of day. Knowledge of the layout is always beneficial. Draw or obtain a ground plan of the location, this will enable you to plan the vigil better by knowing in advance how to split up your group etc. Mark on the plan sources of drafts, natural sources of electromagnetic fields (EMFs), temperature readings in each room and area in case of natural cold spots and even mark up creaking doors and floorboards, this enables you to dismiss natural occurrences from possible paranormal ones. This technique of preparation is known as Base Line Testing.




Paranormal Investigation Equipment


Notepad or Dictaphone Most Impotent !!!
To record the events of the vigil. Make note of times you start each part of the investigation and anything that is picked up on. I would also recommend make a note of start and end times on your camcorder and start and end point of photographs from the counters This is useful later if two areas are similar you have a reference point to identify the time and exact location.


Digital Camera
With the introduction of digital cameras there is much discussion of Orbs, something that couldn’t be caught on a film camera. To catch these orbs or other light anomalies and analyse them later use the highest mega-pixel setting on the camera. This allows you to be able to zoom in on anything caught on camera. Dust and water droplets, as well as flies and spiders can often be mistaken as such and it is only when you zoom in you find your orb or anomaly actually has legs or wings! ( See the Orb Zone Theory. )
Good advice is to use a camera that focuses and

On a recent investigation it was also found that the use of a polarising or UV filter that protects the lens of SLR cameras is not recommended


Camcorder
A night vision (Low LUX) camcorder can be used to record vigils in the dark and also to act to record personal feelings when solo. The cost of these has greatly reduced allowing the novice to be able to afford DVD or memory card based models.
shoots as quickly as possible. Some cheaper models can be quite slow and you need to capture anything you see as quickly as possible.


Digital Thermometer
These are now relatively cheap and are essential to obtain temperature changes quickly. More advance models are laser thermometers, they give you temperature of where you point the laser, thus are very use for taking fast readings of different areas without moving.


EMF Meters
There is heavy research that suggests there is a connection between the paranormal activity and changes in electro magnetic fields. These fields are all around us and these are higher near electrical equipment, cables and power outlets. This is why when you carried out you baseline tests you recorded natural sources of EMFs. The EMF meter comes in various guises using LEDs and meters, some with fixed settings, the dearer models with differences ranges etc.. The criteria for such a meter is that it picks up changes between 2 to 6 mG, the recognised readings for paranormal activity.


Walkie Talkies and Remote Listening Devices (Baby Monitors)
These are two fold one they allow members of your group to communicate. Secondly they allow you to listen to anything that may be occurring in a room currently unoccupied.


Motion Detectors
These are two part devices that emit an infrared beam between each device, when the beam is broken an audible alarm sounds. These are useful to ensure no-one enters a locked off area. Another use is to detect if a spirit bases through the beam, Phil Whyman, a high respected paranormal investigator, however pointed out recently if a manifestation is transparent will it break the beam ?


Tape Recorder &MP3 Recorders.
These are used for recording possible EVPs. Electronic voice phenomena (EVP)’ are “spirit voices” that are said to manifest themselves on audio recordings. It is a widely used technique to set up a recording device when conducting a séance to see if anything is picked up that is not heard audibly.
The most important thing to remember when analysis your recordings is if you hear something be sure to get others opinions on what you have recorded. NEVER share your view on what you think you can make of the recording, i.e. create suggestion. If you all think you hear the same without conferring, then the result is positive.




Outward Manifestations.
These are often in the forms of noises (crying, growls, whispers etc) and knocks, smells, light anomolies and orbs and moving objects.
Sudden changes in temperature and ‘cold spots’ are good scentific evidence that something is abnormal.The feeling of being touched is probably one of the most alarming things, but for other members of the group and sceptics, there is obviously no evidence of this is purely relying of trust. However injuries (scratches and brusies) are not uncommon and provide more tangible evidence.


Actual manifestation
In the form of a haze or spirit form is the most positive evidence you can get. This can be transparent or solid in form, may not be complete or even on the same ground level as yourself.


Three Types Of Haunting
When investigating there are three types of haunting you may well encounter


Active Hauntings
These traditional hauntings involve the prescence or a sentient spirit.


Imprint Hauntings
These are where an imprint has been left behind and what you encounter is a ‘playback’ of an event that took place, more often than not of a violent or emotional event. The theory behind this is the because the event was traumatic the persons energy was ‘burned’ into the environment.


Poltergeist
This type of haunting involves throwing objects, movement of larger objects and/or disturbing noises rather than actually being visible. (The word poltergeist is in fact German for noisy ghost.) Poltergeist activity is actually triggered, normally by one person who created the connection, and research has shown that often this is a child. Also the activity may stop as suddenly as it starts. It should be noted when investigating that this is regarded as the most dangerous type of haunting to be involved with and many feel it is connected with demonic forces. Caution should be taken if you attempt to communicate with it


Analysis
Once you have conducted an investigation the investigator should always be rationional and open minded with his analysis; was there something there, what was it and why was it here. Here you see the importance of researching a location first.




You have 'Type' next to each entry - what does it mean?
 
 
Each database record is categorised under one of the following:
 
     
     
  • ABC - An abbreviation of Alien Big Cats, these are typically large creatures that witnesses claim to be lions, panthers and tigers, but not found in their natural environments.
      
  • Manifestation of the Living - Ghostly apparitions of people who are not yet dead. This includes people who meet their Doppelganger.
      
  • Crisis Manifestation - A spectre or entity that normally only appears or is heard by a select few, during family or national disasters.
      
  • Cryptozoology - Sightings of a creature whose existence is not readily accepted by contemporary mainstream science.
      
  • Curse - Normally placed upon a place or given object by a vengeful person, curses bring misfortune and even death to those on the receiving end. The most prolific curse in the uk and Ireland is that of the Screaming Skull; placed within a building, removal of the ghastly item can cause ill-fortune to home and owners.
      
  • Dragon - In the Western world, these creatures were normally malicious fire breathing entities which insisting on eating livestock and people, and normally ended up slain by bold knights or fearless villagers.
      
  • Environmental Manifestation - Spectral aural or visual effects that can appear to surround a witness or dominate a landscape. The most common form of this type tends to be houses which do not really exist. A complete listing can be found here.
      
  • Experimental Manifestation - Quite rare, these tend to be apparitions deliberately generated by people exploring the psyche.
      
  • Fairy - Sightings of fairies, dwarfs, gnomes, goblins, or any of the 'little people'.
      
  • Haunting Manifestation - A spectral apparition, smell, or sound that has an established presence in a building or area.
  • Legend - A mythological story that has existed for many years, normally passed verbally from generation to generation. A large number of legends in the UK feature King Arthur or the Devil.
  • Other - Any other data entry that fails to fit alternative categories.
  • Poltergeist - Invisible energy sources that can create havoc in the vicinity of the person they take a liking to. Poltergeists tend to attach themselves to teenage girls, though this is not always the case.
  • Post-Mortem Manifestation - A ghost that appears only briefly after the death of the flesh.
  • SHC - An abbreviation of Spontaneous Human Combustion. In the paranormal database, we list where these events occurred.
  • Shuck - Also known under a plethora of alternative names (including Cwn Annwn (Wales), Trash, Striker, Barguest & Padfoot), the shuck is a large black dog, normally the size of a calf, which can bring ill fortune to those who see it.
  • UFO - Unidentified Flying Objects, a list of famous and/or unusual sightings, rather than complete details of the thousands that are reported each year.
  • Unknown Ghost Type - Ghostly phenomena that does not fit any of the previous descriptions.
  • Vampire - an undead entity which returns to drink blood or attack the living; only a handful of reports of these creatures exist in the UK.
  • Werewolf - A person who changes into a large wolf during the full moon. Many believe the lycanthrope to be a mainland European creature, though there are several reports of this monster in the UK.
In regard to the ghost types, the model is based loosely on that by Emily Peach in her book 'Things that go Bump in the Night' (Aquarian Press, 1991).
What are Water Horses?
Welsh Water Horses (Ceffyl-dwr) are semi-spectral creatures which emerged from rivers and offered to carry weary travellers. They would fly for great distances in the air, normally before vanishing several hundred metres above the ground with their rider plummeting to his death. In Scotland, it would be common for the Water Horse to wait invitingly for a rider by the site of a river or loch. Once mounted, the horse would dive into the water and drown the person on its back.
What is the Gwrach-y-rhibyn?
A Welsh version of the Irish Banshee, the Gwrach-y-rhibyn manifests as an old hag who brings warnings of death and disaster to well established Welsh families.
What are Corpse Candles?
While reports of corpse candles have been recorded all over the UK, they are most numerous in Wales, where they are also known as Cannyllau Cyrth. Manifesting as a flickering light, the entity would be seen moving towards a churchyard (following a future funeral path), and once entering the area would hover over the ground where the next corpse would be buried. The size of the flame was said to denote the age of the person to die - a small one for a child, a larger flame for an older person.
What are Kobalts / Bucca?
Kobalts and Bucca were names given to the goblin-like entities that frequented mine shafts, responsible for the banging and rapping heard at night when the mines were devoid of human life. Bucca were also wind spirits, said to be able to foretell storms at sea.
What is a Bean-nighe?
The Bean-nighe is a Scottish spirit; an ill bringer in the form of an old washer woman who would be seen on the banks of rivers and lochs scrubbing the clothes of those soon to die. The entity has long breasts slung over her shoulders, and if one was grabbed from behind the spirit would have no choice but to tell her assailant to whom the clothes belonged. If a person was indeed brave enough to engage with the Bean-nighe, she could change fate and prevent their death.
What are Phookas?
These evil manifestations normally possess animal bodies (normally that of dogs or goats) and heads of loathing men, though their form does vary enormously from region to region. Exclusively found in Ireland, the creatures tend to hunt in packs and bring ill-fortune and death to any communities they terrify.
What is a Silky?
A Silky is a old Northumbrian name for a phantom woman. The entity tends to be invisible, but makes her presence known by smell (ie perfume) and the rustling of her dress. As the dresses tend to sound like silk sheets rubbing against each other, this ghost type was named 'Silky'.
What is Ireland's Vanishing Island?
In several bays around the Irish coast, fishing communities have spoken about a small, lush island which appears early in the morning before moving off or vanishing. While modern theory is that the island is a mirage, two myths linger. Some people believe that the land belongs to the fairies, which they use to move around (mostly) undetected and away from prying human eyes. The other story states that the island was once rooted in Galway bay and ruled over by a cruel king. His people fled en mass, and he and his land as cursed to move around the sea until the stars burn out.
Do you analyse photographs?
Although this is something we do not normally engage in, if time permits we are happy to give our opinion on any strange images which you may have taken - drop us a line using the contact form.
I submitted a story to you a while but it has not been published - why?
Because the Paranormal Database has limited staff, it can take some time to edit all the mail which it receives. Sometimes stories are omitted for other reasons, though this is rare.
Where does your information come from?
The information published comes from many sources, including journals, books, magazines, and first and second hand accounts. Please see further reading for a list of sources which have not been sent to us direct.
Why have you not responded to my query?
While we try to respond to every query, it can sometimes take a while. Some emails are difficult to respond to as we do not have all the answers, though we do attempt to signpost vistors in the right area.
Why can I not see any ghosts / ufos / strangeness in any of your photographs?
The photographs on this website, unless otherwise stated, show the location of the paranormal activity, rather than the activity itself.

Animal Ghost
Many paranormal investigators agree that animal ghosts do exist and believe that the spirits of animal survive death the process of death. Elliot O'Donnell, says in his book Animal Ghosts (1913) "The mere fact that there are manifestations of dead people proves some kind of life after death for human beings; and happily the same proof is available with regard for a future life for animals; indeed there are as many animal phantoms as human - perhaps more". Another school of thought believes that animals share a 'collective' soul. This suggests that five, maybe more animals at a time, share one soul.
Apparition
An apparition is said to be the ghost of someone seeing it recognises from life, or a ghost which appears in human shape, looking and appearing as if alive. The tradition of apparitions goes back to the earliest of times and documented accounts litter the pages of history from pre-Roman times to the present. All World cultures and societies maintain accounts of apparitions. Some apparitions appear only when some disaster is about to occur, whilst there are those reported to guard sacred places. Apparitions may not always be seen but may be heard or felt.
Banshee
The Banshee, or 'bean si' as this spirit should be correctly pronounced, is undoubtedly Ireland's most famous ghost form. Said to follow long standing Irish families, she is more likely to be seen by the third daughter and is more commonly said to follow a family whose surname begins "O". Said to appear prior to the death of a family member. The announcement is made by crying and wailing during the night hours. The sound described to like a cat wailing but much worse. Often described as being female and either as a horrible old hag or else a beautiful young woman dressed in a green dress. A third type is ageless as has black holes in place of eyes and nose. All three main types have long hair. In Scotland, a similar legendary spirit normally takes the form of a drummer boy or piper and likewise often foretells death or misfortune.
Boggart
The name Boggart is mainly used in Northern England and describes a particularly nasty type of ghost. Boggarts are said to have the habit of crawling into peoples bedrooms at night, pinching, slapping and biting the unfortunate victim. They are described as being fearsome to behold sharp, yellowing teeth.
Bogie
Another rather unpleasant spirit, fond of haunting children hence, " The bogie man will get you". In British folklore, bogies are black in appearance with ugly grinning faces. Short and hairy with a foul smell. They were once thought to the most powerful form of ghost, as they had once served the Devil. They often seem capable of wailing like banshees.
Birds
There are many instances recorded of birds returning as ghosts. Birds were once believed to messengers of the dead. When a bird tapped on a window - it was a ghostly spirit looking for another to join it. Some birds are believed to carry the souls of the dead into the afterlife.
Cats
Next to dogs, said to be the most common form of animal ghost. The ghost cat may have it's origin in ancient Egypt where the cat was worshipped. At Bubastis, thousands of mummified cats have been excavated. Historically, the Devil was believed to take the form of a cat. Likewise the many ghostly and often black cats haunting many houses in England are sometimes thought of as being vice elementals, i.e. spirits which have never inhabited any physical body and may have been generated by evil thoughts, or else attracted to a spot by some vicious crime or deed.
Clairsentient
The ability to be able to feel things in a divinitory sense. Many mediums who claims this ability that it is merely a refined basic human instinct.
Clairvoyant
The ability to see visions of events yet to happen, is happening or has happened. Many mediums combine this ability with one or other or the other 'Clairsenses'.
Crossroad Ghosts
Crossroads have long been associated with hauntings and although it is not exactly clear as to why, a number theories have been put forward by way of explanation. Some consider it is as a result of practise in older times for murderers, criminals and suicide victims to be buried at crossroads. This practise was said to confuse the spirit and prevent them returning and haunting the living. The cross formed by the roads being used as a form of Christian protection. Witches were also believed to hold ceremonies and to practise their black arts at crossroads.
Dogs
Ghostly dogs are reported from all across the British Isles and vary widely in size. In Lancashire they have a black dog called 'Striker', in Wales there is 'Gwyllgi'. Black dogs also frequent graveyards and desolate moorland and heath. Like the banshee, they may foretell death or misfortune within a family.
Doppelganger
The word is derived from German and usually is the expression for a ghost who is either still living or is their exact double. Those who have experience seeing their double are said to heading for misfortune, rarely may indicate good fortune. They are often experienced by friends or family of the person they are haunting but in a place where the living counterpart was nowhere near.
Drude
This is an ancient English expression for a nightmare ghost - normally that of a mature witch, well versed in the arts of black magic. They are able to inflict their ghost into the dreams and nightmares of their chosen victim.
Ectoplasm,Strange Mist, Glowing Light
This strange substance is said to be extruded from the sweat glands and body orifices of certain mediums whilst in a trance. The word 'ectoplasm' or 'teleplasm' as it is increasingly referred to is derived from the Greek 'Ektos' and 'Plasma' - exterior substance. Described as being like pale or white silk strands or a jelly like material, it is able to from human like shapes. Some investigators have over the years claimed to have examined ectoplasm and stated it be biological in origin, but that it's present biology is unknown to man.
Elementals
These strange ghosts are said to be spirits which have never existed in physical form, unlike 'normal' ghosts and spirits which have at one time lived in a physical form either human or animal. Occultists declare them as being ancient spirits which predate mankind and fall into four categories comprising; Earth, Air, Fire and Water. Elementals are often associated with woodland, mountains or uninhabited valleys.
Exorcism
An exorcism is an act of religious ceremony used to expel a spirit, either from a human host or a building. The ceremony is normally performed by a specially trained clergyman who will often say prayers and repeat loud exhortations. The ceremony also involves burning candles or incense and the sprinkling of holy water. This is a modern version of the old Christian rite or excommunication known as the ritual of Bell, Book and Candle. Modern mediums also claim to be able to perform a similar act, normally without the trappings of religion, by physically contacting the spirit and convincing it to move on to another plane of spiritual existence.
Extras
This widely used term describes faces or sometimes whole images of people who appear mysteriously on photographs. Often the pictures show a white wispy substance out from which the face is normally starting to appear. In the early days of photography, many so called 'Spirit photographs' were produced, claiming to show the faces of the dead. Subsequently, many if not all proved to be fraudulent. In recent years the white wispy form itself has appeared more and more often without the attendant face. These are often described as vortex pictures as a faint helix form is often to be discerned within the white cloud. Some researchers have declared them to be pictures of spirit energies.
Galley Beggar
This is an old English ghost, often reported in the North of England and mentioned as far back as 1584, in Reginald Scot's The Discovery of Witchcraft. This fearsome ghost is described as being almost without flesh and bearing it's head under it's arm and emitting a deathly scream. The name is derived from the word 'Gallery', meaning to terrify. This ghost is likely to be encountered on country roads and deserted lanes.
Ghoul
From the common name for a ghost in Arabic. Nowadays commonly used throughout the World to define a nasty or viscous looking ghost. The ghoul is believed to gain sustenance from eating the flesh of corpses - hence ghoul is often used to describe ghost that haunt graveyards.
Graveyard Ghosts
According to folklore, the first person to be buried in a churchyard was believed to return as a ghost to guard the site against the Devil. This ghost was supposed to have special abilities. Because the task was so great, a black dog or more rarely a cat was buried before any human so it would become the guardian of the dead. Ghouls are also associated with graveyard hauntings.
Grey Ladies
Said to originate in Tudor times when the dissolution of the monasteries resulted in a great number of monks and nuns being made homeless. Nuns at that time were frequently habited in grey. Many other investigators subscribe to the theory that grey ladies are similar to white ladies, whilst others claim the colour is related to the surrounding substance, wood, plaster, stone which may contribute to the ghosts appearance.
Halloween
Originating long before the advent of Christianity, The Feast of the Dead is perhaps a better name for the night. It was a time of great celebration for our ancient ancestors who would light great bonfires to try and summon and placate the dead. The Christian churches tried to mask the true meaning of the celebration by declaring it to be 'All Hallows Eve' the night before All Saints day. Modern witches still celebrate the night of 31st October by the holding of feasts and performance of rituals.
Haunted Chairs
There are many reported instances throughout England of owners who have a particular fondness for or may have died in an armchair. Returning as a ghost and being seen in that particular chair. The ghost of Lord Combermere was reportedly photographed in his favourite chair, whilst his body was being interred nearby. Chairs also feature in many legends, chairs that cause death or misfortune to the sitter and chairs that result in the pregnancy of the female sitter.
Haunting
Used to describe a ghost or series of paranormal events which takes place on more than one occasion within the same building or at the same place. We refer to such a place as being haunted. Objects too, can be haunted and subsequent owners may experience incidents that are paranormal. Haunted items include furniture, jewellery and even the bones of the deceased.
Headless Ghosts
Believed to be the spirits of people who have died by being beheaded. Evidence also suggests that these types of apparition may be connected to the ancient practise of beheading corpses. Many graves have revealed burials with the decapitated head placed between the knees - perhaps in the belief that the dead would not come back to haunt the living.
Headless Horsemen
By tradition the ghost of a rider who has been ambushed or decapitated when riding swiftly. Others believe them to be the figures of ancient Chieftains who having lost their heads in battle, still wander the earth seeking their lost head. Headless coachmen also are thought to either the victim of highwaymen or perhaps were decapitated passing under archways or low obstacles.
Iron
Thought to be a talisman against bad magic, witches and evil spirits. Used by many cultures in the past. Saxon burials frequently contain iron talisman to protect the spirit of the deceased in his journey into the afterlife.
Lemures
The Roman name for evil ghosts. The Romans believed that the spirits of the dead often returned to haunt relatives and friends. Ceremonies and rituals were frequently performed by many cultures to prevent such spirits returning.
Materialisation
An ability claimed by some mediums to produce a spirit into visible sight. One of the first recorded incidents of materialisation took place in America during 1860 by the Fox sisters, founders of modern spiritualism.
Mermaid Pools
Pools of doom, death pools or back water. These refer to many secluded ponds and lakes which are said to be haunted by a certain type of mischief making ghost. Many people report feelings of sadness and melancholy. Most of these pools also have legend of people being drowned and lost forever within their waters. The legend may extend back to ancient times when water dieties were worshipped in many cultures, a practise that often involved human sacrifice - the body being thrown into the water.
Ouija board
Consisting normally of 38 figured cards arranged in a circle. The letters of the alphabet and the number zero are nine are represented together with two further cards with the words yes and no upon them. Derived from the French and German words for 'yes' thus the board is correctly called the 'YesYes' board. It is alleged to act as a mediator between the worlds of the living and the dead. In use a glass or pointer is used to indicate the letters and words being spelled out by the spirits. The board also carries with it a fearsome reputation for demonic possession to those using it although in more enlightened modern times it is now believed to be a form of dowsing.
Phantom Coaches
The phantom coach is thought by many to be a messenger of death. Similar in many respects to the banshee or phantom drummer boy. The coaches are always said to be black, the horses are usually headless as may be the coachman. The driver or passengers are often skeletal or hideous with a fixed maniacal grim. Passing at great speed it is frequently silent and according to legend anyone getting in it's way will be carried off to their doom. This almost exactly tallies with the ancient Norse legend of the eternal hunt of their gods of the underworld.
Poltergeist
The word derived from German verb 'polter' describes a noise caused by banging, knocking or throwing things around. Harry Price in his 1945 book 'Poltergeist over England' describes them thus "A poltergeist is an alleged ghost, elemental, entity, agency with certain unpleasant characteristics, whereas our ordinary ghost is quiet, inoffensive, noiseless and rather benevolent". In all lands and all ages the poltergeist is mischievous, destructive, noisy and erratic. A ghost is described as haunting whereas a poltergeist 'infests'
Psychic
Pertaining to the soul and to the mind, being a mystic, clairvoyant, telepathic or with the ability to be able to see into the future. This should not be confused with 'spiritual' which is often used these days to describe mediums who do not need to psychic to be spiritual but do need to be spiritual in order to be psychic.
Psychomancy
The ancient practised art of foretelling future events by the appearance of ghosts or spirits and what their manifestation means to the living.
Salt
Believed from ancient times to be like iron as a universal panacea against evil spirits and all manner of witchcraft and the Devil. Salt is often used in rituals to subdue a ghost by being placed in all the corners of the haunted building.
Séance
Normally conducted by a medium who claims to be able to contact the deceased relatives or sometimes the spirit guides of the sitters. Sometimes involving materialisation, disembodied voices or knocking and rapping sounds. The word séance is French is it's origin and means a sitting.
Spectre
Once used simply as another word for a ghost but nowadays more commonly used as a descriptor for a ghost which is found to be explainable by hoax or natural occurrences.
Talisman
Any object believed by the wearer or carrier to have the power to protect the owner from death or evil spirits. Talisman are also ascribed the power to bring good fortune, wealth or good health.
Telepathic
An ability to read minds and know the thoughts of other people, either close by or frequently at great distances.
Trance
An altered state of consciousness described as being somewhere between sleep and wakefulness. In this state mediums claim to be able to use their bodies or minds as a channel for waiting spirits or even healing energies.
Vengeful spirits
There are many recorded instances of ghosts returning to avenge themselves of terrible wrongs which were done to them in life. The ghosts of Winnats Pass near to Castleton in the Derbyshire peaks is said to be the spirits of Alan and Clara, brutally murdered in the pass by a group of miners.
Wake/s
An ancient custom thought to originate in Ireland, of sitting and watching over the dead whilst consuming large amounts of alcohol. This tradition is thought to help the spirit of the deceased in their journey into the spirit world. The practise of watching the body is done to prevent the dead body being entered by an evil spirit. The noise of music, singing and dancing at wakes also helps to scare evil spirits away.
Warlock
Used wrongly by many writers to describe a male witch. Many such witches would find such a term insulting as in times past the word also described a traitor.
White Ladies
White ladies are seen throughout the British Isles. Traditionally, they haunt castles, mansions and old halls. A large percentage also frequent water and are seen on bridges or near to open stretches of still or slow moving water.
Witch
A person, normally a woman who practises witchcraft. There are many forms of witches. Most worship nature and call upon gods of fertility to help them with their undertakings. Witches are normally forbidden to tell anyone what they are, or how they practise their art, believing silence is power and power brings knowledge. Modern witches would not use their powers to harm people, instead choosing to help and promote spiritual awareness and greater wisdom of life than what is obviously apparent.
Wizard
A person, usually male possessed with amazing abilities and well versed in the art of magic. Many male witches prefer this title to the perhaps more mundane Warlock.
Wraith
According to ancient tradition, a wraith is the ghost of a person on the verge of death and often appear as an exact likeness of their human counterpart. They are regarded as a death omen and should a person see a wraith of themselves then their days are surely numbered.

Stone Tape Theory
Since the 1970s, the Stone Tape Theory has been one of the main notions behind the ghost phenomenon. Essentially the theory is based on the suggestion that buildings and materials are able to absorb a form of energy from living beings.
Researchers speculate that the recording is laid down during times of high emotional stress such as murder, grief or an important scene in someone’s life. This energy can be stored for an unspecified amount of time and the replay is triggered by the witness with the correct attributes. These attributes could include psychic ability, stress levels or even brainwaves and seem to set off the recording like a “psychic video”.
The replay can take a form as a full manifestation or even sounds such as voices or footsteps and may even be repeated. The theory certainly explains many of the sightings and incidents that occur, however no one knows for sure exactly what the recorded energy really is. The possibility that it could be our natural electric and magnetic fields seems remote but could it be another undiscovered energy?

Science needed for paranormal investigators
Science in paranormal investigation

Most evidence for the paranormal is anecdotal. This means that someone has related it as an experience. That's not to imply that they are lying or misremembering, simply that their experience is subjective. Anecdotal evidence has its place but there must always be other kinds as well before a subject can become scientific. Unfortunately, many subjective experiences are a result of the way the brain works (see also here). Even when experiences are objective, they are frequently misreported.
Thus, there is a need to verify anecdotes with instrumental measurements. Though instruments have proliferated in field investigations (like vigils) in recent years, they have not always been applied scientifically. It is often claimed, for instance, that ghostly activity is accompanied by a jump in the local magnetic field. However, where is the published evidence for this? Were other possible sources of field changes eliminated? And how was 'ghostly activity' verified (for instance, was a ghost actually seen or did a medium claim a ghost was present, perhaps)? Also, what kind of EMF meter was used? What was its range, accuracy and sensitivity? Was it properly calibrated? Were the readings recorded to a computer or just seen by an observer (which brings in people again!). How were baselines decided? Without answers to such crucial questions, the evidence remains anecdotal.
 
Reproducing and Repeating
A crucial cornerstone of science is that it does not rely on who does it. It should be possible for any one, reading a scientific paper, to follow the same method used and get the same results. Obviously, this isn't always strictly practical but, where it is, it is crucial.
This has been a big problem in academic parapsychology. Often results DO appear to depend on who does the experiment. Worse, an experiment may work one day and not the next. This is one of the reasons why many mainstream scientists are sceptical of the subject.
However, this is no reason to give up on science (after all, parapsychologists haven't!). It just means we have to be more imaginative in the ways we use instrumentation. Professional scientists are always using their imagination to think of new ways to extract information. As a result, they can tell you the state of a bunch of atoms on the far side of the universe. So, it shouldn't be so difficult to say what's going on in someone's haunted house.
 
Theories
A central part of science are theories. These are explanations of how particular things work, to the best of current scientific knowledge. Theories are provisional - they can always be modified or even overthrown by new evidence.
 
Paranormal researchers should make themselves aware of relevant scientific theories that apply to their investigations (eg. how magnetism works). Such theories have been repeatedly tested and cannot simply be rejected unless there is compelling new scientific evidence otherwise.
 
Falsifiability
A scientific theory must be falsifiable. That means there must be a test that would demonstrate that it is not true. Without such a test the theory would 'explain' everything and so, effectively, explain nothing.
Hypotheses
A hypothesis is, essentially, a working, untested theory. For instance, the idea that ghosts produce magnetic fields would be a hypothesis. To become an accepted theory it would need to be compellingly demonstrated.
 
To do serious paranormal research, it is a good idea to take such relatively simple hypotheses and attempt to test them. It is much easier to concentrate on as few variables as possible. Set out to prove that ghosts 'exist' and you are on a hiding to nothing! There are too many variables, starting with - what exactly IS a ghost?

Peer review
One of the cornerstones of the scientific method is peer review. The idea is that other researchers in the same field review your work and pass comments on it. It is 'peer' review, rather than 'expert' review, because at the edges of knowledge where science operates, there are no experts with all the answers.
In our field, peer review could mean showing your vigil (or other research) results to a fellow investigator you respect, for comment. Showing the report to a scientist in a relevant field would be even more valuable.
 
The problem with peer review, from a researcher's perspective, is that the reviewer may criticize your work! Obviously, this can be personally annoying but it is designed to make you think. If you feel the criticisms are unjustified then you can say so. It could be that there is simply information missing from your report. Often, though, the criticisms, which are meant to be positive, will be valid. In that case you may need either to (a) rewrite your report or (b) do more research to fill in the gaps. You should not take such criticisms personally. They are intended to help you improve the credibility of your research not to undermine it.
 
This may sound like a grim process but it is necessary. The idea of peer review is that two (or more) minds are better than one. No one can think of everything that might affect some research but more minds can pick up all the important points.
Peer review is the way scientific publication work. Someone submits a paper and it is sent out for peer review. The comments are sent back to the researcher who may choose to amend or withdraw their paper. Usually, after suitable amendments, the paper is accepted by the scientific journal and becomes part of scientific knowledge.
Build on existing...
 
Science builds on existing knowledge. Obviously, sometimes researchers make discoveries that proves previous theories wrong. However, to do this you will need impeccable methods, results and the support of peers. Any new discovery also needs to be repeated.
 
In general, though, researchers quote existing scientific papers in support of their work. So, you should know who's done what in your field before you attempt to extend it. There are various parapsychological journals (as well as journals from fields related to your specific research) you may want to consult before attempting any serious scientific work in this field. Your research should build on earlier results. There's no point redoing what others have already done. You can quote their results in your reports to show why you don't need to redo certain things.
 
Critical thinking
It is important to develop a talent for critical thinking. It is not something that comes naturally to most people.
 
If you're doing some research, don't just consider the way you expect things to work. You need to critically analyse your hypotheses, the way you work, how you are getting your results and what you do with them. There are some hints on developing this faculty.
 
Put evidence first
You can find many articles on the web which approach the paranormal from a scientific view. The technical detail may be enough to put most researchers off the scientific approach altogether.
You will find detailed descriptions of the science (not always accurate) behind such things as EMF meters and infrasound. You can also find a lot about such arcane matters as quantum theory. There are articles explaining electromagnetism that vary from simple to university level and beyond.
This is fine except that the material often goes into far too much detail for paranormal researchers. There are technical articles here, of course, though the aim has always been to keep them simple and relevant to paranormal research.
The most important point about science that paranormal field researchers need to know is how to gather good evidence. Until there is persuasive evidence that ghosts exist outside people's heads (see left) then plasma theory and is irrelevant.
The science you need to know
There really isn't any need to go into exotic science to do paranormal research. It is much more important to obtain rigorous scientific evidence.
 
The things to concentrate on are:
Leave the complicated science alone until you have persuasive evidence. Good evidence is the bedrock of good science. You don't necessarily need to understand how everything works to measure it properly.



Psychic machines
It is amazing how many psychic phenomena (not to mention, divination) rely on random, or near random, patterns.
Consider, for instance, EVP. Some EVP researchers deliberately use white noise (a mixture of equal intensities of many sound frequencies) to 'stimulate' apparent communication with 'spirits' or other discarnate entities. Similarly, random visual patterns are sometimes said contain 'faces' or 'figures' in photographs.
Other techniques for 'spirit' communication, such as table-tilting, planchette and ouija also rely on what are effectively machines that deliberately produce random movements. The movements themselves are made by the participants (supposedly by unconscious muscular action - UMA). However, by having several people all contributing slight pressure in different directions, the overall movement becomes essentially random.
In all these cases, the idea is to see meaningful patterns (words, faces) standing out from the random background.
There are two problems with all these techniques. Firstly, humans have a tendency to 'see' patterns, even where there are none. Secondly, what might appear a random background may not be random at all (for instance, the 'white noise' between radio channels is not random but contains fragments of badly tuned and distant stations as well as atmospheric effects).
It is such practical matters that should concern field researchers rather than arcane scientific theory.

Thanks To ASSAP for some information.


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Ghosts/Science/TV Arm chair ghost hunters
Ghosts are big business now, Ghost hunters have come out of the wood work since 2000 when ghost hunting TV was born. Good or bad we have all watched them but sadly many have based them selfs of these FAKE TV rating programs' yes thats all there good for, TV RATINGS!! Entities that may or may not exist, they seem to be everywhere, especially during Halloween when all the nutters seem to come out. For years I have watched TV arm chair paranormal/Ghost investigators come out with there camera to hand with a ghost hunt in mind and get down to there local grave yeard looking for anything ghostly.


They are in books and on television shows, such as CBS's "The Ghost Whisperer" and NBC's "Medium." Dozens of "ghost hunter" organizations exist across North America, small groups of self-styled ghost buffs who lurk around reputedly haunted places pissing there pants because they got dust " ORBS" on the photos and claim its REAL GHOST starting to form right infront of the stupid small minded eyes still hoping to glimpse or take a real photograph a spirit.


The most famous ghost hunters are two plumbers who moonlight as paranormal investigators, seen in the popular Sci-Fi Channel reality show/soap opera series "Ghost Hunters." They go to haunted places and find "evidence" of ghosts such as cold spots, photographic anomalies called orbs, and other such spookiness.
The two featured investigators, Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson, are proudly blue-collar workers, not egghead Ph.D. scientists, which adds to their strong "regular guy" appeal. In the US there are more team permile that anywhere in the world. Everyone is a ghost hunter now. I know when I started back in 1994 this line of work was not heard of and you could do any investigation at any location for FREE, now its costing the stupid folk 100s or dollers/ pounds to spend a few stupid hours running around in the dark pissing themselfs stupid. GET A BLOODY HOLD OF YOURSELFS PLEASE!!!!


Where are the ghosts?
While one doesn't need to be a scientist to search for ghosts, the pair (like most ghost hunters) could benefit greatly from a little critical thinking. They claim to be skeptics but are very credulous and seem to have no real understanding of scientific methods or real investigation. (Audiences don't seem to wonder why these "expert" ghost hunters always fail: Even after two seasons and over ten years of research, they still have yet to prove that ghosts exist!)
Though most ghost investigators' worst crime is wasting time, sometimes they make nuisances of themselves and even break the law.
In October 2005, three ghost hunters in Salem, Massachusetts, were arrested for trespassing on private property in search of ghosts. They had entered an abandoned hospital reputed to be haunted. The group was so busy looking for spirits they failed to notice the police station across the street; all three were arrested, fined, and sent home. Trespassing or vandalizing ghost hunters have also been arrested in cemeteries in Illinois, Connecticut, and other states.


Ghost detectors
When it comes to searching for ghosts, you'd think that only the most reliable methods would be used in an attempt to get solid evidence for something as mysterious and elusive as a spirit. Yet in ghost hunting, often the less scientific the methods and equipment, the more likely a researcher is to find "evidence" for ghosts.
Ghost hunters use a variety of creative—and dubious—methods to detect their quarry's presence, including psychics. Psychics not only claim to locate ghosts but also to communicate with the spirits, who unfortunately don't provide any useful or verifiable information from the afterlife [see a séance].
Virtually all ghost hunter groups claim to be scientific, and most give that appearance because they use high-tech scientific equipment such as Geiger counters, Electromagnetic Field (EMF) detectors, ion detectors, and infrared cameras [and sensitive microphones]. Yet the equipment is only as scientific as the person using it; you may own the world's most sophisticated thermometer, but if you are using it as a barometer, your measurements are worthless.
Just as using a calculator doesn't make you a mathematician, using a scientific instrument doesn't make you a scientist.


Devices that don't work but the TV arm chair poeple will BUY!!
In 2003, while I was investigating a haunted house in Buffalo, New York, the owner of the house asked me what equipment I planned to use. He had glanced in my duffel bag, which contained two cameras, a tape recorder, notebooks, a tape measure, a flashlight, and a few other items. Perhaps he was expecting to see a Negative Ionizer Ghost Containment backpack like the kind Bill Murray wore in Ghostbusters.
An EMF meter is among the most common devices used by ghost hunters today. I spoke to Tom Cook, of TomsGadgets.com, a British purveyor of "scientific" paranormal kits for the enterprising (and gullible) investigator. Starter kits begin at £105 (US$180) and reach up to £500 (US$850) for a custom ghost-hunting kit. (Negative Ionizer Ghost Containment packs were not listed.)
I asked Cook what, exactly, the scientific rationale was behind the equipment he sold.
"At a haunted location," Cook said, "strong, erratic fluctuating EMFs are commonly found. It seems these energy fields have some definite connection to the presence of ghosts. The exact nature of that connection is still a mystery. However, the anomalous fields are easy to find. Whenever you locate one, a ghost might be present.... any erratic EMF fluctuations you may detect may indicate ghostly activity."
In the final analysis, Cook admitted, "there exists no device that can conclusively detect ghosts."


Uncomfortable reality
The uncomfortable reality that ghost hunters carefully avoid—the elephant in the tiny, haunted room—is of course that no one has ever shown that any of this equipment actually detects ghosts.
The supposed links between ghosts and electromagnetic fields, low temperatures, radiation, odd photographic images, and so on are based on nothing more than guesses, unproven theories, and wild conjecture. If a device could reliably determine the presence or absence of ghosts, then by definition, ghosts would be proven to exist. I own an EMF meter, but since it's useless for ghost investigations—it finds not spirits but red herrings—I use it in my lectures and seminars as an example of pseudoscience. The most important tools in this or any investigation are a questioning mind and a solid understanding of scientific principles.
The ghost hunters' anti-scientific illogic is clear: if one area of a home is colder than another, that may indicate a ghost; if an EMF meter detects a field, that too may be a ghost; if dowsing rods cross, that might be a ghost. Just about any "anomaly," anything that anyone considers odd for any reason, from an undetermined sound to a "bad feeling" to a blurry photo, can be (and has been) considered evidence of ghosts.
I was even at one investigation where a ghost supposedly caused a person's mild headache. Because the standard of evidence is so low, it's little wonder that ghost hunters often find "evidence" (but never proof) of ghosts.
 
Reality check you arm chair ghost hunters!!!
The whole idea of ghosts runs into trouble as soon as a little logic is applied.
There's not even agreement on what ghosts are—or might be. A common claim is that ghosts are spirits of the dead who have been wronged or murdered. Let's inject some real-world statistics into that assumption and see what we get.
If murder victims whose killings remains unsolved are truly destined to walk the earth and haunt the living, then we should expect to encounter ghosts nearly everywhere. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, roughly a quarter of all homicides remains unsolved each year. (In fact, fewer homicides are solved now than in the past; in 1976, 79 percent of homicides were cleared, down to 64 percent in 2002.) There are about 30,000 homicides in America each year.
Using the most recent numbers, that's about 11,000 unsolved murders per year, and 110,000 over the course of only ten years, and probably well over million over the course of the twentieth century in America alone.


Where are all the ghosts?" NOT IN GRAVE YEARDS"
And why aren't they helping to bring their killers to justice, with so many crimes unsolved? Why would they hang out in scary mansions instead of directing police to evidence that would avenge their murders?
For that matter, why are ghosts seen wearing clothing? It's one thing to suggest that a person's spirit has a soul that can be seen after death; but do shoes, coats, hats, and belts also have souls? Logically, ghosts should appear naked. The fact that they don't suggests that people's ideas of what ghosts are—and what they look like—are strongly influenced by social and cultural expectations. (For an excellent discussion of this, see Richard Finucane's book "Ghosts: Appearances of the Dead & Cultural Transformation.")
If ghosts exist, why are we no closer to finding out what they really are, after so much research?


The evidence for ghosts is no better today than it was a year ago, a decade ago, or a century ago. Ultimately, ghost hunting is not about the evidence (if it was, the search would have been abandoned long ago). Instead, it's about having fun with friends, telling ghost stories, and the enjoyment of pretending you are searching the edge of the unknown. (It's also about making money selling "Ghost Hunters" T-shirts, books, and videos.) Ghost hunters may be spinning their wheels, but at least they are enjoying the ride.


IF YOU ARE ONE OF THESE TYPES OF TV ARM CHAIR GHOST HUNTERS THEN YOUR A BLOODY JOKE.


YOU NEED TO STOP,LEARN AND STOP WATCHING TV AND BASING ALL YOUR RESEARCH ON TV.

Believe it or not, higher education is linked to a greater tendency to believe in ghosts and other paranormal phenomena, according to a new study.
Contrary to researchers' expectations, a poll of 439 college students found seniors and grad students were more likely than freshmen to believe in haunted houses, psychics, telepathy, channeling and a host of other questionable ideas.
The results are detailed in the January-February issue of the Skeptical Inquirer magazine.

'Not Sure'

The survey was modeled after a nationwide Gallup Poll in 2001 that found younger Americans far more likely to believe in the paranormal than older respondents.
The new study was done by Bryan Farha at Oklahoma City University and Gary Steward Jr. of the University of Central Oklahoma.

In general college students checked the "Believe" box less than the general population surveyed by Gallup. But the lack of "Don't Believe" responses among college students was lower for six of the 13 categories: psychic or spiritual healing, haunted houses, demonic possession, ghosts, clairvoyance and witches. That means a higher percentage of college students put themselves in the "Not Sure" column on these topics. [Table of results]
Less skeptical

More significantly, the new survey reveals college is not necessarily a path to skepticism in these realms.

While 23 percent of college freshmen expressed a general belief in paranormal concepts—from astrology to communicating with the dead—31 percent of seniors did so and the figure jumped to 34 percent among graduate students.
"As people attain higher college-education levels, the likelihood of believing in paranormal dimensions increases," Farha and Steward write.

The media are likely responsible for some people's beliefs in alien abductions and other paranormal concepts, the scientists write, based on their survey of existing studies. And some people tend to selectively confirm whatever ideas might be in their heads. Even smart people might believe in something offbeat because, in part, they're good at defending whatever they believe.

Searching for lost souls!!!!

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