Knock, Knock. Who's there?

Something that really gets on my nerves are hoaxers. Namely ones in the paranormal area. We've all seen the footage and pictures of pie plates tossed in the air, stuffed costumes in blocks of ice, soldiers photoshopped onto former battlefields, and 'reality' shows where magicians' tricks are used to make objects move. It makes researching the paranormal a bit hard because in order to get to the paranormal, you have to weed out the normal. To put it bluntly, you have to weed through a lot of crap. And like anyone who takes the paranormal seriously, I get a little tired of the crap.

Last summer, I had something pretty strange happen here at home in the woods of East Texas that made me think, "oh crap!". I pulled into my driveway about 9:30 or so after a late evening grocery shopping trip, killed the engine, took my keys out, and sat there with the door open to finish my cigarette before unloading groceries. Probably about five minutes later, after I had sat there in the seat petting the cat who had come to greet me, I heard three knocks out in the woods to the east of me. They were distinct wood on wood knocks. They sounded like someone beating a tree with a two by four or big bat or something. Knock. Knock. Knock. The knocks were probably about a second and a half apart. Living in the woods, I've heard trees fall, I've heard branches break off and fall to the ground, I've heard animals walking, I've heard wood peckers, people working, etc. This was none of those. This was wood on wood knocking. Knocking, as most of you readers know, that many say is the signature of a Bigfoot.

My heart skipped a beat instantly. Not because I instantly thought "Bigfoot", but because it was one of those sounds that you don't hear out in the woods. And you're normally not supposed to. To hear it meant "invader" to me. That was my first instinct. There was someone or something out there near me making that noise. It didn't sound like an accident or anything else I ruled out, it sounded precise and deliberate. Knock. Knock. Knock.

If I look at it with a skeptical eye, there could have been someone in the woods knocking on a tree. There is a deer stand about a quarter of a mile down the road in that direction. But this was at night, in the summer. And it was just knocks and nothing else. No hammering. No motors running. There was nothing else that I could hear. I sat out in my car for a while and heard no other clues. The only other idea would be someone out there screwing around. But realistically? Screwing around? In the woods of deep east Texas, near houses, late at night? Most here know that it's a good way to get dogs on your tail or shot at. And speaking of, my dogs weren't barking. I don't know where they were at the time.

Looking at it positively, there's been Bigfoot sightings in all of the neighboring counties according to the Texas Bigfoot Research Conservancy. The witnesses have been interviewed and most of the stories sound very credible and reputable according to researchers. A group of college students and their professor even notified a park ranger after they encountered what they believed to be a Bigfoot on an overnight field trip in a nearby National Forest, so perhaps there's an official report filed somewhere. There's been no sightings in my county. Why exactly, I don't know. If there has been sightings, the lack of reports could be anything from lack of IT knowledge, to some local or cultural social conditioning that dictates people not talk about such things. I can't say for certain.

Later that evening, I went outside like I usually do to listen to the coyotes and the nocturnal birds, pet my cats, and enjoy some fresh night air before I went to bed. I didn't stay out as long as I usually do, just in case there was something or someone out there. I was genuinely leery, and I'm pretty comfortable out here. Leery is not a feeling that I feel much of out in my front yard.

But I still can't say for certain that it was Ol' Sas. I even went walking down the road the next morning, looking for footprints. I didn't see any. But of course that doesn't mean he wasn't out there. He could have gone the other direction toward the creek. If it was Ol' Sas, that very well could have been the case. But I still can't say for certain it was him. If it was someone out there messing around, they were pulling a bunch of crap. I'm not tired of it though. I'd actually love to hear it again so maybe I can see if I can weed some normal out of it and get closer to finding out what it is.

Reverend Chaos (aka Shawna Lowman), Guest Blogger and Social Malcontent.

They Came Out Of The Sky Landed Just A Little South Of ..Everywhere?

They came out of the sky and landed just a little south of …everywhere!
For those of you who have not heard over the past few days some very strange stories have been reported all over the world in regards to a mass UFO sighting. What makes all this even stranger is that it was predicted. Let us first mosey over to this website and read about the prediction:

Stanley Fulhams Prediction

It is important to note that this article was posted on October 9th at 2:31 PM ET 2010. In this article the following is stated by Stanley A. Fulman who is allegedly a former Norad officer.

“October 13, 2010, is the disclosure date where mankind will have no doubt that aliens are among us, according to a book by a former NORAD officer. Retired Air Force Officer Stanley A. Fulham released the third edition of his 352-page book, Challenges of Change, which suggests that on October 13 there will be "a massive UFO display over the world's principal cities."

Remember the above article was published on the 9th of October 2010 and what we visit next happened on October 13th 2010. First let us jettison ourselves to this report:

UFOS Over NYC 10/13/10
This report concerns large numbers of “shiny round objects” and some saw a tail on an object. This was seen by multiple witnesses on 10/13/10..

Then let us transport ourselves to this website:
UFOs Over GGB 10/13/10
This video claims that UFO’S were seen over the Golden Gate Bridge on 10/13/10!

And now we zoom over to this website:
Phantoms & Monsters
Where we read an entire village in China is reportedly gone (like not there anymore) after some kind of event involving aliens ? But this report was dated 10/13/10.
There are many other websites reporting the above events and other event that could very well be associated with the uncanny prediction of x Norad officer Stanley A. Fulman there is talk of this being nothing more than balloons and also talk of as 2012 nears we will all see more and more of these kinds of events as we are now being watched even more closely as our end times draw near.
Let us not forget that just a few weeks ago, Sept 10th 2010, it was announced that Mazlin Othman, a Malaysian Astrophysicist was announced to be the new “Greeter” for any visitors from somewhere in space or time coming to say howdy to us. Not just for Malaysia but for the entire world, this is the ultimate greeter gig.
The FaceBook page Virginia Beach UFO Quest followed the sightings reports as they came in and many people were reading and commenting as to what exactly was going on? Was it balloons? What was happening?
The use of “it’s balloons” has kind of worn itself out, like when all sighting were “swamp gas”. However no one is certain exactly what was being seen apparently all over the world on 10/13/10. It is a bit unnerving that Mr. Fulham seems to know things that the people who paid his salary were not privy too but that is nothing new.
It seems there is no factual verification of who exactly is Stanley A. Fulham and if he is actually who he says he is. I looked for Mr. Fulhams book and lo and behold there it was hovering over Amazon.com. Below is a link to his book page.
His Book Page
and look what it says about the availability.
“Out of Print--Limited Availability.”
It seems Mr Fulham has written at least four more books and they are all “out of print” with some “Limited Availability”.

I just discovered Mr Fulham has a website, you can click the link below and visit his website:
Mr.Fulmans Website/

It seems Stanley Fulham will be the guest on Coast To Coast AM on Friday 10/15/2010 which is today, maybe some clarity will emerge from his interview?
This is all the information I have gathered about this event and I must say I am not convinced it is as big an event as many are thinking it might be , much speculation about what was seen in the skies above NYC as well as the other reports. But then again, perhaps we are seeing something real? Only time will tell, it always does for those who listen and many times can actually be seen, for those who look up.

The Tales of Mr. Smiley and Philip Aylesford

I started to write a serious article. Something all scientificky about poltergeist phenomena or Bigfoot. But then I thought, "..gosh darn-it. It's Halloween. I want to tell something scary." And then I thought about what's more scary, mystery or reality? Of course all the philosophers will say mystery. You know, the whole "fear of the unknown" line of thought. And it's true, the unknown is scary. Then I thought about how scary reality can be too. So I decided to tell about Mr. Smiley's grave.

Long ago, while reading about many of the ghost stories and sightings around Texas, I came across a couple of tales about Mr. Smiley's grave. Mr. Smiley, they say, was a very mean man. Mean and crazy. He was so mean that he eventually took it out on his poor wife and children. He shot them and then shot himself one night. If you want proof, their grave is in a small cemetery near Garland Texas in Mills Cemetery. The tombstone is of moderate size and has all five names clearly engraved in the stone. Mr. Smiley, his beloved wife, and three children are all listed there. They rest below in a single mass grave. At least four of them are resting...

The locals say that the cemetery is peaceful by day. It's a well kept one with a manicured lawn and dotted with shade trees. But some will also tell you that it is not the place to be after dark. This is because Mr. Smiley is apparently still angry. He's so angry with what he's done to himself and his family that he's trying to take it out on someone else. He's trying to drag you down with him, as the saying goes.

If you go to the Smiley family's grave well after dark, people say that strange things will be felt and seen. Around Halloween is best. On Halloween is even better. Halloween at midnight is almost a certainty. Stand on top of the grave and they say that Mr. Smiley will try to pull you in. He'll grab your ankles and try to pull you off balance. This is no joke. People have actually stood on his grave and felt this, along with the sadness of the horrible event and a mysterious light in the cemetery.

A while back, I dug around and found out that the Smiley family really died in a tornado. The same tornado also claimed the lives of some of the family's relatives and several others in the town, including the Mayor.

This is just another one of those tales that we often run across when looking for ghost stories and sightings. The real stories are often forgotten, but later gain a new life when someone sees the mass grave of an entire family in a cemetery that they're strolling through for the first time. Such a grave, one containing both parents and children, often spurs images of a terrible disaster. Rightfully so, but those mental images of a nameless disaster that one can only imagine also bring about legends that are many times more scary than just a family's tombstone in a cemetery. It's normal too. That's why the stories are spun and told. They're supposed to scare you.

The feeling of being off balance could be explained by disorientation caused by standing on even slightly uneven ground and relaxing your body or closing your eyes. The orbs, unless there is something just amazingly abnormal and rare about them, are most likely air borne particles. The sadness? That's going to occur with anyone who's sensitive (or not) and see's the names of an entire family on one grave. What about the light around the cemetery? Perhaps it's the reflection of something, or maybe distant car headlights. Perhaps it, like the feeling of being pulled in (if anyone has actually experienced it), could all be from the imagination. What if so many people believing the same thing is making something happen somehow?

Think about it for a second. It's possible for someone to concentrate on a subject in a manner that will cause them to dream about it at night. Perfectly sane people do it all the time when lucid dreaming. Why can't that be done when awake, resulting in someone to see something that they want to see? This could be a perfectly rational explanation for the sightings of lone witnesses.

Then there's the story of Philip Aylesford. He was from England and lived sometime in the 1600s. He was a devout supporter of the King and was married to the daughter of a nearby nobleman. Sometime after his marriage, Philip came to know a Gypsy woman who was from a nearby encampment. After instantly falling in love with her, he had her carried to the stables of his family's manor in secret. One thing led to another and Philip's wife eventually found out. The Gypsy was put on trial and then burned at the stake for being a witch. Soon after, Philip decided that he would take his own life. He jumped to his death one night from the battlements that he often paced at his home.

Philip's story isn't entirely true either. He never lived. His story was created by members of the Toronto Society for Psychical Research who conducted an experiment in the the early 70s to see if they could create a ghost. They started off by creating Philip entirely from scratch. Like a character in a movie, they picked his age, his looks, his occupation, his background, how he died, his family, and so on. Then they imagined that he was haunting the place. Dr. A.R.G. Owen, an expert researcher on poltergeist phenomena, guided the TSPR on conducting their experiment. Seven other people from TSPR were used as guinea pigs to pretend this ghost existed. A psychologist, Dr. Joel Whitton, also sat in as an observer on many of the group's sessions. What happened after that? After about a year of trying, Philip began to make himself known.

The incidents were documented too. It really happened. There were witnesses, film, audio, and doctors present. It started with an episode at a seance where tapping on the table was noted. Objects began to levitate in later sessions. Using the taps, he would even communicate with the group by responding to their questions about his life. To my knowledge, at least three other research groups have conducted similar experiments afterward and have succeeded. So, it appears that this is very much possible. I'm sure it's not the case with all hauntings, of course. There are too many documented ones that don't fit the bill and are witnessed by lone families or single individuals, some of them even non-believers, in places with no known history or influence. But still, it apparently can happen. The TSPR proved that it was possible. They made Philip a reality.

When you think about it, that's more scary than the story of Mr. Smiley.

Reverend Chaos, Guest Blogger and Social Malcontent.