The Ghosts of Union county

It always sparked my interest about the 13 bumps for 13 witches on Johnston Drive, a long road that runs up the hills of Watchung Nj to Scotch Plains. This local legend in New Jersey said that 13 sisters who were to be killing children in that area that is known as Deserted Village. Throughout the time there, these witches who killed the children were tried, then hung and supposedly buried on the this road, and were left as bumps. Any time they pave the road, the bumps seem to pop back up every time, and there is no explanation for it. A city clerk in Watching said that recently they completed a paving in June, and they popped up again. Also, if you drive over the bumps and count them and say thirteen witches and turn around, you can see the witches behind you. This legend story, always made me wonder why the bumps simply pop back up? And if this is true about the witches being buried on the road.

Dopplegangers

A doppelgänger is essentially an individuals "exact double." Theres are conspiracies saying that every single person in the world has a doppelgänger. Some even say that after you see your doppleganger in real life, you die.
Using the term doppelgänger in the paranormal sense, it would be a ghostly double of an individual who is still alive. There is belief that this is a ghost taking the appearance of an individual to cause mischief. Also, some believe that seeing the ghostly figure themselves can cause harm, illness, or death of the person.
It is said that President Abraham Lincoln saw his doppelgänger in the mirror next to his own reflection. The being looked sickly. Shortly after, the president was assassinated. Queen Elizabeth I was another famous person to have seen their doppelgänger. As she entered her bedroom, she saw herself laying in her own bed. The figure looked sickly. Shortly after, the Queen became ill and died in the very same bed.
 The photos above are real life, alive doppelgängers. Below are ghostly computer generated doppelgängers. The bottom right is a portrayal of Abraham Lincoln.

Mystery of Dyatlov Pass

In 1959, a group of 10 Russian hikers went on a trek through the dangerous Ural mountain range. One hiker fell ill and returned home, but the other 9 decided to continue on their trip and set up a camp along the snowy slopes. But after the nearby village noticed they never returned, a search party stumbled across all 9 of these graduate students dead, some with huge internal injuries, one even missing a tongue. And to this day, the evidence is so unclear that numerous bizarre theories have tried to explain what really happened.

Two of the more “vanilla” explanations are the avalanche and the paradoxical undressing theory. The 9 hikers cut their tent open, and fled without putting on any clothes which ultimately led to most of the students dying of hypothermia in the middle of the night. If they heard the loud roar of avalanche, it’s likely they could have fled without grabbing much clothing. And paradoxical undressing is common in cases of hypothermia. But both of these theories fall short. The campsite didn’t show any evidence of avalanche activity and tracks appeared to show them walking, not running, away from camp. And the paradoxical undressing theory is unlikely as some of the hikers appeared to cut clothing off their other dead colleagues to keep themselves warm.

As most conventional explanations don’t seem to solve the mystery, paranormal/conspiracy theories emerged to fill in the gaps. The popular yeti theory tells of some sort of huge arctic creature that frightened the hikers out of their tent, and then caused various injuries to the students. Some claim that the Soviet Union was using the Ural mountains as a secret weapons testing ground, scaring the hikers and exposing them to dangerous radiation. Some even believe aliens visited the mountains and attacked the hikers, as locals claimed to see floating balls of light over the mountains.

We won’t ever know exactly what happened that cold night, but when science and evidence don’t seem to cleanly line up, people create their own wild explanations. I personally think the hikers could’ve been startled out of the tent by a strange noise, but even then I can’t think of any scientifically sound idea to explain their odd injuries. This unsolved mystery inspires a sort of wonder of the unknown, making the paranormal seem briefly possible.

Have any of your own theories? Feel free to share!

Source: http://dyatlovincident.com

Pig Lady Road.

Legend has that there is a lady that was born as a pig in Hillsborough NJ and she ended up marrying this guy to later chop his head off. If you drive into this road, which is actually a driveway, and turn your lights off and get out of your car walking down the road you will hear a squeal and have an axe chase you with a loud squeal. The other legend has it that when you turn off your car lights and drive down the road you will see a glowing pigs head out of the shadows.

Above is a photo from weird nj of the road that is claimed to be haunted by the soul of this pig lady. It is a very difficult road to find. Myself and four friends once went down three separate nights down to Hillsborough to look for it and finally after looking for about 4 hours the last night we were able to find it. There is a "no trespassing" sign that is posted so it is obviously private property.

Loch ness Monster

Just like big foot, I am sure we have all at one time or another heard about the legend of the loch ness monster. The loch ness monster is an ungodly large sea creature that supposedly inhabits Loch Ness in the Scottish highlands. It was brought to the media's attention in 1934 due to a photograph shot by Robert Kenneth Wilson, a London gynecologist , but only very few blurry photos since than have been shown to the public eye. Some believe the monster to be a surviving type of dinosaur, others think of it to be no more than a simple urban legend and a hoax. It's up for you to decide! 
 

Ringing in the ears; health concern or an ET communication?

Have you ever experienced an annoying and consistent ringing inside of your eyes? Ringing in the ears is known to be a symptom of many health issues such as tinnitus and even occurs when you are lacking Vitamin D. However, some people believe that ringing in the ears has a more spiritual connection to it. Those who believe in this phenomenon say that when ringing in the ears occur for an individual, a change is expected to happen, or what some experts will call a “DNA upgrade.”  It is said that this experience has to do with a shift in dimensions in order for a spirit guide to reach different information to you that otherwise cannot be transferred because the ears is said to be the most convenient place to do it. People believe that our ears are unable to hear certain things because they may function on a higher or lower octave based on our ear ranges. The belief is that an entity is attempting to broadcast a frequency so high pitched that us humans are not able to hear it, but the ringing has the ability to influence our decisions. They believe that an onset regular occurrence of ringing in the ears is a sign of a higher intelligence attempting to communicate with you. However, this is a tough phenomenon to believe considering that there are so many other health related possibilities that could be the reason for a simple ringing in the ears.  

I personally experience frequent ringing in my left or right ear, but I do not believe that I am being contacted. I know that my ears rings often because I listen to loud music daily and this will have a negative effect on my ears; ergo causing the ringing to occur.




http://www.psychicsuniverse.com/articles/mind-body/body/are-you-hearing-high-pitched-frequencies-lately

Heartbeat Road

   One of my favorite haunted places in New Jersey is Heartbeat Road, or better known as Annie's Road. This is one of my favorites because my old apartment was about a quarter mile away from the entrance to the road; which is located in Totowa, New Jersey. The legend behind the road is that back in the 1960's a girl named Annie was killed on that road on her prom night. Legend has it if you go at night and turn off your car lights you will see Annie standing there in a white dress. They also say that you can hear heartbeats, although we have concluded that its just water pipes running through. It's still a very terrifying road, and would never fail to be scared to drive down it when I lived there.
 

Emily; The Lady in White

Perhaps one of my favorite ghost stories is one that's close to home. When I was younger my family would vacation in Ocean City NJ. One year we heard about the Ocean City Ghost Tours and we decided to go on it. From the ghost tour, I learned about the Flanders Hotel and the ghost Emily who supposedly lurks within. I enjoyed the tour so much I bought the book Cape May Ghost Stories (book III) which features Emily's story and much more, as well as was able to go inside of the flanders hotel and see the painting of Emily myself.

Painting of Emily by Tony Troy 

The story goes that Emily wanders the hotel barefoot in her white gown. She roams the halls playing with the door locks, swinging doors open and shut, and even humming and singing. Most of the guests and employees report seeing her in the mirrors around the hotel. Emily's identity is a mystery, with some believing that she is a soldiers wife wandering the halls waiting for her husbands return, while others believe she was an employee whom took her own life in the hotel. Yet another story believes that she was an employee whom was engaged and lost her ring in the hotel and has been searching ever since. 

Area 51

The Nevada Test and Training Range or Area 51 as its better know, has been under speculation of the American people for years now. Located a few hundred miles away from Las Vegas, Area 51 is a top secret military base used for testing government weapons and vehicles since the Cold War. The American people however, believe that the flying objects that they see flying across the sky are not of this world, but where does this belief come from?

Google Maps Image of Area 51

Back in 1947 in Roswell, New Mexico there was a rancher Mac Brazel found strange metal debris on his land. When brought to the police the authorities first said it was from a flying disk, but then later stated it was a weather balloon. Conspirators believe that the government found the UFO and have debris from other flying objects in Area 51. Others believe that they have aliens and are dissecting them for science. What do you believe is happening at Area 51? 

Video Link

My Experience With Orbs

   When people hear the word "orb" they automatically think of those little circular dust particles that you sometimes see in photographs. That's what I use to think of; until 6 months ago. It was an early brisk January morning, my alarm was set for 6 a.m. in order to wake up for orientation for my internship. I normally wake up though out the night, so nothing was out of the ordinary when I awoke before my alarm went off; until I noticed something floating in the corner of my bedroom. 
   My smoke alarm gives off a blinking green light, so when I saw this floating mass I thought it was just my smoke alarm, until I noticed my smoke alarm was about 2 feet away from this object. I was fully awake at this point; I rubbed my eyes and sat upright in my bed. That's when I noticed this thing had to be an orb of some sort. I carefully got out of my bed trying my absolute hardest not to bring to much attention to my dog sleeping at the end of my bed, and walked up to this floating thing. When I came what seemed face to face with it, I noticed some type of design in the center. When I realized what I was staring at I became slightly frightened and turned my light switch on; and it was gone. I tested it one more time, so I turned off my lights and there was nothing but my smoke alarm there. My alarm then went off and I was up for the day.
   Before I left for orientation, I googled color of orbs and their meanings. According to the internet, a green orb represents a loved one that has passed away. Right off the bat I figured it was my grandpa who lived with me up until his passing in 2009. Once I came to this conclusion I was no longer frightened but enlightened by this experience and felt lucky to have been visited by my grandpa. Maybe if we all open our eyes a little more often, we could see things like this a little more often. Attached will be a picture of what an orb looks like to give you an idea; and no it was not the orb I personally saw that morning. 

China essentially has a "no ghost" rule

China's official censorship guidelines technically prohibit movies that "promote superstition." The conservative country's regulators have, int he past, used this reasoning to ban films that feature ghosts or supernatural beings in a semi-realistic way. Last year, the gothic horror-romance Crimson Peak was not released in China due to the movie taking place in a haunted house filled with ghosts. A more popular incident that a lot of people were aware of was in 2006; Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's chest was banned from the country, due to its depictions of ghosts as well as other supernatural things. 

As of July 14th, 2016, Sony says no decision has been made yet on whether Ghostbusters will be allowed to be released in China. Sony pictures has been made aware of China's outlook on movies involving superstitious beliefs, which led them to attempt to change the Chinese translation of the film's name from "Ghost Catcher Dare Die Team" to "Super Power Dare Die Team" in order to downplay the paranormal feel that the word "ghost" gives off.

I personally believe that the reason ghosts are a cultural taboo in China is because of their own fear of the paranormal. I feel that with the necessary critical thinking and research, they will feel comfortable lifting the ban and letting the people of China enjoy movies of all kinds. 



http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/news/will-ghostbusters-get-banned-in-china-20160714

http://www.vice.com/read/ghostbusters-reboot-fears-possible-ban-in-china-vgtrn

NASA Coverup of UFO Sighting

On July 9^th, 2016, NASA’s International Space Station’s live video feed was abruptly cut after a UFO moving across the screen came to halt.  What could have been explained as a meteor or comet was instantly hailed as an alien spacecraft because of the unnatural movement, and many conspiracy theorists believe the video feed cut to be the result of a government attempt to cover up knowledge of a UFO.  As the object steadily moves from top to bottom, it comes to an abrupt stop before it leaves the screen. 

UFO Video

               With minimal investigation, however, one can tell that the whole image was clearly frozen due to a glitch, and does not actually show the object stopping.  The heavily pixilated video is clearly live until the object stops, at which point the pixels in the whole screen stop moving as well – not just the object itself.  

               While I applaud those keeping a close eye on NASA’s feed hoping to find evidence of very possible extraterrestrial life, this is a result of the Heuristic example of “confirmation bias” highlighted in lecture one.  Confirmation bias is the result of one’s desire to find evidence that may not exist and rejecting anything that may discredit what they are trying to find.  In this case, the viewer has overlooked the very obvious and plausible reason for the feed cut and stationary UFO because he wants the opposite to be true.  While extraterrestrial life has certainly not been ruled out, it is important to approach the issue with an open and unbiased mind based on scientific fact.  

11:11 symbolism or coincidence

The numerical sequence of the number 11:11 holds many theories in people's minds. Some people believe that the synchronicity of these numbers hold a more powerful and spiritual meaning, and others don’t believe this theory at all. There are many beliefs that people hold. They believe 11:11 to be an ultimate sign of a higher power that angels and guardians are trying to communicate with you through the use of numerology. You may even hear people say “make a wish” when the clock lands on 11:11 am or pm. In fact, some people believed that on November 11, 2011 at 11:11 on the 11^th second, a spiritual portal was opened to our world. Those who believe in this say that when you start to see a pattern of these numbers in various places you should pay attention to your thoughts and your surroundings around you because this was said to be a sign that your spiritual guides are trying to communicate with you. One theory concluded that noticing 11:11 on a regular basis is the start of your spiritual journey. Some also believe that these numbers hold a more biblical meaning to it. For example, the words “Jesus Christ,” “God Almighty,” “Savior Jesus”, and others have 11 letters in it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHsBQz8byNk&feature=youtu.be

Although I am skeptic of many of these beliefs, this particular phenomenon has followed me and left a slight impact on me. In 2014, the number 11 popped up everything for me. It no longer happens now, but the frequent sightings of this number have followed me for about a year straight. No matter where I was I would always see the number 11. For example, many days when I would wake up in the morning and check my clock the phone would say 11:11, and then immediately turn to 11:12. Often, I would wake up in the middle of the night and check my phone only to notice that the time said 1:11 am. When I would drive behind cars and randomly stop to look at any given license plate around me, somewhere in the license plate would have the number 11 in it. After some time passed while working out on a treadmill I would check to see how much time I would have left, and in the split second that I did look the numbers said 11:11. Throughout the day when I would go to check the time, my phone would always say 11:11. The one time where this sequence did freak me out was the day I received a call at 11:11 from my father saying that my uncle has passed away. Maybe it was a coincidence, but for this to go on for such a long period of time and so frequently made me become a little less skeptic. However, the phenomenon is yours to evaluate. 

http://in5d.com/1111-synchronicity-repetitive-numbers-and-their-meaning/

Major League Superstitions

 In the entire sporting world it’s easy to say that baseball players believe the most in superstitions. When a player goes on a hot streak he will continue to do whatever he believes got him to play so well and concurrently when he goes cold, he will avoid what he believes to be brining him down. Does this pregame ritual, article of clothing, or small gesture before you step into the batters box actually mean anything? In the MLB there are hundreds of players with different superstitions, in which they believe, are “keeping them hot” when in reality it could all just be a bunch of B.S.

Its said that former player Jason Giambi when in a slump had a weird superstition that would break him out of it. Giambi had a golden thong in which he would wear until he broke the slump. Other players like current Chicago Cubs pitcher Matt Garza believes that going to Popeye’s chicken before each game will make him throw better. Turns out he is actually one of the better pitchers in the league.  Other players believe that a certain number will bring them luck, such as pitcher Turk Wendell whom had the number 9 throughout his career and even signed a major contract for $9,999,999.99.

Is all this superstition just a hoax? Many major league players seem to think not and their impressive stats can speak for themselves. What do you think, can superstitions be real?

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1179538-baseballs-50-weirdest-all-time-superstitions

The Devil's Tool

The devil's tool may look like it would be the trident he holds, but many believe its the Ouija Board. The Ouija Board is a flat board with the words "Yes", "No", "Goodbye", and letters of the alphabet placed on it to allow the spirits of the dead to communicate with the living. Now before we discuss how the Ouija board came to be, we must discussed WHY it was made in the first place.

Back in the 1800's spiritualism in America began to peak. People all over started to believe in ghost and spirits, and were fascinated. The first sighting of ghosts was said to be sceen by the Fox Sisters, who were two young girls from new York who claimed to receive messages from the dead. My interest in ghost and the Fox sisters stemmed from when I was 12 years old, and was actually in a movie based on their life. I played one of the fox sisters, so I needed to do my research on their history! I must admit, filming a real horror film was extremely cool, but critically thinking about the after life was cooler. Anyway, these girls sparked the revolution of ghostly encounters and the Ouija board was born.Originally, the board was just made for commercial sales. Since everyone was curious about talking to the dead, they purchased the game whether it worked or not. But the fun in this game eventually changed.

Somewhere down the line, the Ouija board's purpose went from a fun family game, to letting satan and his demons into the human world. This not only made people afraid of using the Ouija Board, but it's boost the net worth of the boardgame films.

All in all, we will never truly know if the Ouija will unleash the demons, but the game does show us how the brain reacts to situations involving communicating with the dead.

Knock on Wood

We all know the song "Superstition ain't the way." right? Whether you realize it or not, we all use acts resulting from superstition on a daily basis. I am sure you can recall back to yesterday to a conversation where you said "Knock on wood" and actually participated in the knocking of wood. Maybe your friend told you that he broke his leg and you replied that you didn't. However, this seems like bad karma so you knock on wood to prevent your potential broken leg.

Now I am not a doctor, but I highly doubt that knocking on a piece of wood is going to stop your leg from breaking, but our anxiety decreases when we do so. So where did this all stem from? Back in ancient times, Pagan beliefs stated that spirits lived in the trees, so touching upon them would call upon protection. Also, knocking on the trees acted as a "Thank-you" to the spirits so that they would bring good luck.

As time passed, other cultures began to use this superstition in their own ways. Irishmen believed that knocking on wood would bring them good luck from Leprechauns, and Greeks believed that since Oak Trees were sacred to Zeus, that they must gain luck from them.

Regardless of how each culture views the knocking of wood, we all do it for the same reason: to ward off unlucky consequences that our anxiety driven minds bring upon ourselves. Ever notice how desperate we get to knock on wood that we knock ourselves in the heads? I mean.. whatever makes you feel better!

Psychics: Real or Rip off?

The mind is extremely complex in what each individual chooses to believe in. Some believe in ghosts, some believe in big foot, and others believe all of this nonsense is crap. However unlike other pseudoparanormal people and events, believing in psychic powers is a far more complicated topic. Psychics are people who claim that they can read each individual person and predict their future.     They make believing in something so outrages become personal, and with that being said, it makes us wonder whether or not these people truly have these powers.

The main issue, I feel, with believing in psychic fortunes is that there is no hard core scientific evidence to support their claims. So, I went to do a little bit of investigating work. An employee of mine had mentioned (way before my interest in paranormal took place) that a psychic once told her that her father would die in May 2016 of a heart attack, and indeed he did. That was enough for me to end up going to the same psychic. I sat down, she read my aura, and $50 later my future was spread out for me. I must admit, everything that she said was pretty spot on. She told me that I have a sister who lives in Florida, that my destiny is to live in California, and even know all of my medical history. And while all of this is true, I wonder if I wanted to believe in this so bad that I made myself believe, or that I led her on to facts about my life without even realizing. So was the $50 psychic reading a rip off? My family said yes, but to me, it was worth having a "potentially" bright future!

https://www.psychic.com.au/psychic-blog/believing-your-psychic-prediction.html

Pseudoscience & The Paranormal

The Demon-Haunted World

Carl Sagan

I received my book today in the mail about The Demon-Haunted World. Since this is my first blog entry I wanted to start talking about my interest in this course, and what I want to pull out of the book and pull out of the course. I always had a interest in the paranormal, ghosts, and demons. I always hear so many mixed things about if all this stuff is really, the real deal. So many shows, with ghost hunters with cameras, and heat devices say that they feel these ghosts around them. Do I believe in the after life? Of course I do, but I want to know the truth behind ghosts coming back and effect other people who are still alive today. I am hoping this course gives me the realization of this phenomena and how real it is, from the movies, to shows, to this book I am about to read. I am hoping this book explains the real truth behind pseudoscience, and what is untrue. I am excited to see what importance this brings to my life, because I want to be fulfilled with knowledge, and learn what is true and untrue within the paranormal world.

Shinigami
Emily Mae

If you are an avid manga reader or anime watcher, you are most likely aware of the Japanese death gods, Shinigami. Shinigami have appeared in multiple Japanese series like Death Note, Bleach, Black Butler, and many other titles. These death gods are the eastern counterpart to the Grim Reaper known in Western culture. Shinigami are relatively new to the Japanese culture, as they came about from the western influence of a death being. However, unlike the Grim Reaper, Shinigami are more like angels. Their only job being to help souls cross into the next world. There are many Shinigami that work in unison rather than the singular notion like the Grim Reaper.

According to the mythology, everyone’s lives are measured with their death predetermined. This is written in a Shinigami’s book. When someone dies, the Shinigami summons the person. They obey and die. Right before the person dies, however, their shadow fades. Others know death is upon a person by the faintness of their shadow. Also when appending death is upon a person, they return “to the goodness and nobleness he is born with”. Shinigami appear in Japanese religions as well. In Buddhism, the Mrtyumara is a demon that makes people want to commit suicide upon possession. The Mara is said to be a Shinigami because of this.  In Shinto and Japanese mythology, Izanami-no-Mikoto created death. She is a goddess who is sometimes classified as a Shinigami.

https://sites.lib.byu.edu/worldhistory/folklore-william-a-wilson-folklore-archives/popular-search-topics/east-asian-folklore/japanese-folklore/
http://www.japanpowered.com/anime-articles/shinigami-angels-of-death
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinigami

Welcome Summer 16' Students!  I look forward to your posts.