oh yeah ...

And a pic just in case!

SPOOKED .... and me!

Ok so I may not have been updating this much but I have been busy .... check me out in this project!

Spooked is an Irish reality style documentary where six carefully selected young people are placed in a "haunted" house for the weekend. There they discover if the house is truly haunted or not. Will the sceptics remain sceptic when they stay in this haunted location? A psychologist will feature in the programme and will assess the participants over the weekend. There will also be a number of paranormal investigators and a medium involved, to help tell the ghostly stories of the house or the location. This is a light hearted documentary on how the mind works and responds to suggestion.

Now here is the promo .... I'm the handsome guy with the glasses standing behind the chair @ 0.05!



Episodes: 1 - Tuesday 5th October, 10.00pm RTÉ TWO

SYWBAGH comes to Dublin!

This is a unique field investigation training day for those who want to be a Ghost hunter. This popular fully interactive course is run jointly by Dr. Ciarán O’Keeffe and Steve Parsons and draws upon their unique combination of skills to provide the perfect foundation for anyone who is interested in developing their ghost hunting. Beginners and experienced investigators alike have benefitted from So You Wanna Be A Ghost Hunter.
To be part of this please join the Facebook Page. Tickets cost €100. Limited to 30 places.

Dublin Paranormal Convention 2010

The Dublin Paranormal Convention is Ireland’s largest event for those with an interest in ghosts, hauntings, ufology, the unexplained, psychic phenomenon, spirituality, mediumship, cryptozoology, paranormal investigation and much much more! Details of the 3rd Dublin Paranormal Convention are coming thick and fast now! ParaCon will take place on Saturday the 6th November 2010 at the National Leprechaun Museum (you heard right!) on Jervis Street!

Heres the Line up of speakers:

STEVE PARSONS
Talk: Orbs Or A Load of Balls?
Steve Parsons is considered by leading Parapsychologists & peers as perhaps the UK's foremost Psychical Researcher and Investigator. With his background in Physical Science & Medicine he has been uniquely placed to pioneer and develop new methods in modern ghost hunting techniques. Co founder of Para.Science, Steve has contributed to many TV & Radio shows including a number of documentaries for the Discovery Channel & National Geographic. He was also for a time the paranormal investigator on Most Haunted.

Dr. CAIRAN O'KEEFFE
Talk: Psychic Criminology
Ciarán O'Keeffe is a British parapsychologist and member of the Society for Psychical Research and a consultant of the Ghost Club. He is best known for his appearances on Living TV's paranormal television series Most Haunted and Jane Goldman Investigates where he performs the role of parapsychologist and paranormal investigator. He also featured in National Geographic Channel's 2005 series Paranormal?. He is an open-minded skeptic on most paranormal phenomena.

RICHARD JONES
Talk: Jack the Ripper

DAVID M. KIELY
Talk: The Dark Sacrament: Exorcism in Modern Ireland
David Kiely was born in Dublin in 1949. He travelled extensively before settling in Northern Ireland and marrying fellow-author Christina McKenna. The co-authored "The Dark Sacrament: Exorcism in Modern Ireland" in 2006. HarperOne, San Francisco, subsequently did two American editions. David has an abiding interest in the paranormal. This was sparked when, aged 17, he had the first of many out-of-body experiences. He went on the study magic, joining a circle in Amsterdam, where he completed a Dutch translation of "The Book of the Law", supposedly transmitted by the angel Aiwass. He has recently finished a time-travel adventure set in New York and is presently working on his retelling of the legend of Faust, the medieval doctor who sold his soul to the Devil.

PAUL O'CONNOR
Talk: Remote Viewing

Coco TV to produce Paranormal RTE show!

Applicants are being sought (must be over 18) for RTE2 show. Heres an article from todays Herald:
A Dublin-based production company wants paranormal believers and non-believers to sign up for the show called Spooked. A pilot programme due to be broadcast on RTE2 next October will offer six applicants the chance to spend the weekend in a haunted house.

But the makers are remaining tight-lipped about where exactly the ghostly production will be filmed. "I can't reveal where it is going to be yet -- not even the county -- as we really want to keep the mystery," said a spokeswoman for Coco Television.

"We're only at the pre-production stage so it's very early to give many details. "I can say that we'll have paranormal investigatory in the house with them and the six chosen applicants will be doing experiments and tasks."

Thrill-seeking candidates expressed their interest for the upcoming show as soon as details were released by the production house. "The response is looking good so far. People are clearly interested in this new type of show," the spokeswoman said.

"We contacted Movie Extras with details of Spooked on Wednesday night and we'd already received quite a few applications by Thursday morning. "We want to get a broad range of people and hear from anyone who will be interested before choosing who will get through. "Believers, non-believers, those sitting on the fence ... It will be exciting for anyone who gets through."

Coco Television is hoping to have Spooked candidates accompanied by a medium, who would be able to assist them -- or convince the most sceptical. "It's very early days -- nothing is set in stone but we're thinking about having medium there who will be able to tell us more about the house and any paranormal activity going on."

Applicants must be 18 years old or above as the project may be upsetting for younger people. The production team will make sure to have help on hand should successful candidates feel troubled once they get on the site.

"We will make sure that there is a psychologist at hand to counsel the people who get in, to make sure it all goes smoothly", the spokeswoman said. The lucky chosen few will be briefed before they get into the house to ensure that they do not bring anything harmful to the set.

Hopefuls must tell why they should be picked to go into the haunted house ahead of other candidates on camera. They must also answer a series of questions regarding their fears and scary experiences that will determine their suitability for the show.

www.paranormal.ie

Bound

So when people in "the biz" talk about spirts they talk about all sorts, not least of which are Earthbound Spirits". Usually they speak of unfinished business or a strong connection which the deceased is reluctant to to break.

The idea of a ghost being bound to this world as a form of punishment may seem very outdated but recent discussions about Tuatha de Danann (Irish Otherworld beings, Sí or Fairies) brought up some elements of mythology about Iron that had us joining dots.

(..... I need sleep so I'll come back and edit in more to this!)

Missing in Action!

Yeah I know I've sort of abandoned things here for a while now but in my defense I've been looking for a job for a year now and real life has been a major hassle!

But all thats changed now that I have a job that, while the hours and pay suck, suits me really well. I get to talk to visitors all day about folklore and mythology so you could say I'm in much better mood of late. Despite being exhausted.

So being Irish and interested in folklore I'm never stuck for things to interest me but I've had the chance to talk to a lot of people from other countries this week and have been asking them if they have any characters similar to the Irish Leprechaun. So far my favourites have to be saci-pererê from Brazil and the tokolosh from South Africa.

They are what I'm gonna blog about next ... after I grab some food and do some house work!

Slán

Doppelgangery!

Lets get something clear straight off, if you see yourself and you’re not looking in a mirror …… its a bad thing! For most people a Doppelganger is simply a look-alike but what people fail to grasp is that these “double goers” are harbingers of misfortune and even death!

There are reports from all over the world of people seeing their double (or one of a friend/family member). Some of these are taken as accounts of bi-location where the person is in two places at once, often completely unaware. Then there are cases of crisis apparitions where, in times of mortal peril, a living loved one appears bringing with them a sense of calm.

Traditionally only the person can see their double, which is said to be a sign of impending death but in cases of it being seen by a friend or family member it means danger and bad luck will follow.

But lets be honest, its the darker side of this phenomenon that we’re interested in, right? Stories that practitioners of the dark arts would purposely create spectral versions of themselves, with the ability to act independently, to carry out unspeakable tasks. Its this “intelligence” that scares me the most, a manifestation of our darker side who, in some cultures is set on bringing out our untimely death so that they can step into our shoes. They haunt their flesh counterpart, pushing them to the edge of sanity. Often taunting them until there is only one way out. Edgar Allan Poe’s William Wilson, in an attempted to rid himself of his Doppelganger, stabbed himself to death.

The English poet Percy Bysshe Sheely once saw his Doppelganger in Italy. The ghostly double gestured towards the sea. Shortly after this in 1822 Shelly died in a sailing accident in the Mediterranean. Similarly prior to the death of Queen Elizabeth I she reported seeing her double laid out on her bed.

Without using the term Doppelganger the phenomenon is still referenced in modern culture. My most recent glimpse of this was in the hit show LOST where we see a yet unidentified evil taking on the form of the character John Lock in an attempt to mislead and bring about the downfall of the shows mysterious Jacob.

So what is the correct response to seeing your double? Beheading could lead you to legal problems if it turns out to just be someone who looks like you. But with how we are as people now the response would probably to pose in a photo with them and upload it to facebook!

If you have seen your double, a darker version of yourself which haunts you to the point of distraction then just make sure you submit your encounters to http://www.paranormal.ie

Paranormal.ie gets its belly rubbed!

Paranormal.ie has been a little project I've been working on with big hopes. So for the last week I've been giving it so much needed attention. Yeah there are tweaks to made but I'm happy with it. Very happy.

We've lots of group sites in Ireland but I wanted to make a central reference site for all things Paranormal in Ireland. It contains a catalogue of hauntings from around the country listed by Province (Leinster, Munster, Connacht and Ulster). There is a Submissions page for people to send me their own experiences or stories from their area to get added to the list.

People visiting Psychics, Mediums and Readers of all discription is fairly common in Ireland but a big problem is getting contact details for well known Psychics. After years of looking at people requesting the same phone numbers over and over again on message boards I thought it was time to build a directory. So thats what I'm doing. Am I endorsing these people? No. I'm outting out information that people are looking for.

I've included weekly Horoscopes on the front page.

Catalogue of Hauntings in Ireland.

As a designer its important for me that the site looks good too. I think it does but am always looking for feedback.

Tudor Ghost shakes his booty?

So Andrew Kitt (a photographer from Norwich) was out taking hots at Cinema City in Norwich and noticed something in one of the photos. Below is the picture containing a shadow which Kitt believes looks like a hunched figure in Tudor-style dress. 'The hairs on the back of my neck went up when I first saw it. I’m keeping an open mind. I’m not saying it’s a ghost or anything, but it is certainly strange, it is not a hoax and the photograph has not been tampered with.' says Kitt.

Bar and restaurant manager Steven Smith said: ‘One of the projectionists was closing down one night and heard a whisper in one of the cinemas. It just said “Get out!” so he did, as fast as he could run. I’m here early in the morning but I’ve never come across anything eerie myself.'

Now I'm ok with the story, he's a trained photographer and as he says he's not claiming its a ghost. My problem is the bit about Tudor-style dress ..... ok when someone says it to you you can sort of see it (cos you're looking for it) but its a detail that just doesnt need to be added ..... unless you're trying to make it seem more "ghostly"?

Its like an inkblot test. Just have a look at the two angry old men arguing below.

Poltergeist Hoax: How I think it was faked

I was shown this video and told it was a fake. I dont doubt for a second that its fake but I've seen people try to figure it out and I have to laugh that they presume its edited video or the audio is tampered with.

Heres how I think he did it: He has a guy behind the door. As he walks around closing the doors the other guy opens them again. Notice as he leaves the room he points the camera down so you dont see anything. Guy goes behind the door again. Simple.

On a side note ..... that guy needs to get to the shops! Also whats with all the empty 2lt milk containers on the counter? Lastly, fcuk the kitchen did you see the mess the poltergeist made of his sitting room?!

Happy Christmas!

... or Holidays .. or whatever it is you're into at this time of year.

BIGFOOT: The Return ......

Ok so its probably just a redneck returning to his trailer after a Halloween party.

A northern Minnesota man thinks he may have photographed Bigfoot with a motion-activated trail camera. Some are impressed by the photo, while others are less enthusiastic that it depicts a real Bigfoot.

Kim Kedrowski told the Bemidji Pioneer Press that he captured the image of what looks like a tall, upright, possibly hairy creature sauntering along a trail that winds through his hunting land just north of the small town of Remer, Minnesota.

Kedrowski said the photo was captured at 7:20 p.m. on Oct. 24, which was an overcast, rainy day. He said they checked with neighbors and friends, and none of them said they had been in the area at the time of the photo.

To get some expert advice, Kedrowski contacted the Minnesota Bigfoot Web site and spoke with Don Sherman and Bob Olson of the Northern Minnesota Bigfoot Research Team. Sherman and Olson are not biologists, but are long-time amateur Bigfoot enthusiasts - and they think the photo may be the real deal.

Sherman visited the site of the photo, and based on a measurement of a sapling seen in the photo, the creature appears to be about 7 feet tall. Sherman said he has made plaster casts of Bigfoot imprints in this neck of the woods in the past, although he did not make any casts in connection with the Kedrowski photo.

Casey Kedrowski, Kim's brother, said that he and his brother were the only two people who knew where the camera was located. They think that the possibility of someone hoaxing them is remote. They also say that neither of them is pulling a fast one on the other.

What I find interesting about this image is the complete lack of orbs ... clearly rednecks in cheap halloween costumes are a very effective ghost deterrant.

Voodoo Spy!

A British Army translator accused of spying for Iran was a voodoo priest who used black magic to protect the commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan from the Taliban, a court heard.

Iranian-born Daniel James, 45, who was the personal interpreter to General David Richards, told the Old Bailey that he used pictures, dust, candles and seashells to cast spells protect his boss. He also said he did Tarot card readings for other personnel at the Allied HQ in Kabul to predict the future. James is alleged to have passed on secret information about Allied troop movements to the Iranians – who then passed it on to the Taliban. Giving evidence, James swore on the Bible but said he embraced all religions before telling the court how he converted to Voodoo while on his yearly trips to Cuba to research salsa in 2003. He claimed to be a priest who had recorded 10 Voodoo DVDs. James said: “I actually did black magic for General Richards praying to God to protect him from the Taliban. He explained: “Yoruba is the name of the religion. It is voodoo and black magic. I became the equivalent of a priest in the Church of England.” Corporal James told the court he ran salsa dance lessons from his Brighton club “Capital of Salsa” and dubbed himself “King of Salsa” before selling his businesses in 2005 just as he was called up to Afghanistan as a volunteer in the Territorial Army. As a dancer he regularly appeared on 1980s TV show ‘Solid Soul’ after an invitation by Jonathan Ross, who was then a television researcher, and he was a kick-boxing body builder who was one of Britain’s top three power lifters, the court heard. It is alleged James was a ‘Walter Mitty’ character who had “grandiose ideas about himself and his own self-importance”. He told the jury he agreed with allegations that when he translated for General Richards as he addressed a crowd of Afghan dignitaries he would sometimes act like a general. He said: “Well I think the audience did not understand General Richards. They were watching me and I thought I should act as a general because they are watching me. I was acting good and the public respected me.” Earlier the court heard from General Richards that often, as an quiet aside while on stage in front of an audience, he had to remind his corporal who in fact was the senior officer. James also told the court while out in Afghanistan he called himself General James after being promised promotion because his predecessor had the rank of acting Major. Before he had “could not have cared less” about his rank but was promised promotion to sergeant because it was thought to be more appropriate to his role as the general’s translator – although the promotion never materialised. It is alleged James “turned his back ” on his colleagues because he was “disenchanted” and “bitter” about the British Army because he thought it was racist for not promoting him and was a fantasist “Walter Mitty” character who revelled in the idea of being a spy. But a British Army Colonel known as ‘M’ who was Chief of Combined Intelligence told the court the implications of James’s betrayal was “extremely serious”. Assessing the alleged contact between James and an military assistant at the Iranian embassy in Kabul, he said the relationship was in its infancy but the potential damage was “immense” that could have driven a wedge between the British and its NATO allies. He said: “Information passed over time could help and assist a hostile state in its effort to conduct a tactical deployment that posed a threat to the lives of UK and NATO service personnel in Afghanistan and pose a similar threat to the interior national security of the UK.” James, of Cliff Road, Brighton, denies two breaches of the Official Secrets Act by collecting and passing on military secrets to a foreign power and wilful misconduct in public office. He was caught with two secret reports on NATO troop numbers and movements on a memory stick as he prepared to board an RAF plane back to Afghanistan along with pictures of RAF spy drones and a NATO aircraft manual, it was said. The trial continues.

MoD UFO Department Closes

The MoD department, which has dealt with more than 12,000 reports – including 135 last year – was used to assess threats posed by any Unidentified Flying Objects sightings throughout Britain.

Any reports made would now not be investigated or followed up as the hotline had been closed, a spokesman said.

UFO experts expressed anger at the decision.

MoD chiefs made the decision to close the £50,000 a year department, established in 1950, after deciding there was no benefit investigating sightings which were “an inappropriate use of defence resources”.

It comes after the team was moved from the MoD’s team, similar to the FBI team featured in the TV programme the X Files, was moved a year ago from the Whitehall Headquarters to the RAF Command in High Wycombe, Bucks.

After an application under the Freedom of Information Act, the MoD admitted that responding to every UFO sightings “diverts MoD resources from tasks that are relevant to Defence”.

No decision was announced and the disclosure was instead buried on its website earlier this month.

It said that in more than 50 years “no UFO report has revealed any evidence of a potential threat to the United Kingdom”.

After investigation, around 5 per cent of reports remain unexplained.

“The MOD has no opinion on the existence or otherwise of extra-terrestrial life,” the spokesman said.

“The MOD has no specific capability for identifying the nature of such sightings.

“Accordingly, and in order to make best use of Defence resources, we have decided that from the 1 December 2009 the dedicated UFO hotline answer-phone service and e-mail address will be withdrawn.”

He added: “MOD will no longer respond to reported UFO sightings or investigate them.”

Nick Pope, who ran the Ministry of Defence UFO project from 1991 to 1994, said it was “outrageous”.

“We’re leaving ourselves wide open to terrorist attacks,” he told The Sun.

The spokesman said the programme to release departmental files on UFO matters to the National Archive would continue.

Peter Jackson's Close Encounter

Seems that Sting has made it cool for celebs to come clean about their spectral sightings. Peter Jackson has outed himself as a believer telling Channel 4 about his experience with a ghostly woman with a screaming face.

In London for the premiere of The Lovely Bones – a film he has directed from Alice Sebold’s story in which a murdered teenage girl gives her viewpoint from heaven – Jackson said he did not know what a real soul was like.

But he told Britain’s Channel 4 TV that while he could not swear the spirit in the movie was 100 percent accurate, he had seen a real ghost.

“It was genuine,” said Jackson, who made a 1996 ghost movie, The Frighteners – co-written with his wife Fran Walsh – starring Michael J Fox.

His sighting was in an apartment he and his wife had in Wellington’s Courtney Place opposite the St James Theatre, when they first met 20 years ago.

“I woke up one morning and there was a figure in the room, she was very scary, she had a screaming face, very accusatory, she was a lady about 50 years old,” Jackson said.

“It was terrifying actually, a very scary image and she was at the end of the bed and she glided across the room and disappeared into the wall.

“I sat in bed and thought, have I really seen that?” said Jackson.

“Then Fran came in. I told her about it and the first thing she said was: ‘was it the woman with the screaming face?”‘ he said.

“Fran had seen the same woman in the same room about two years before.”

Jackson said that when the St James Theatre was being restored a few years ago, people talked about the legend of the woman who committed suicide after being booed off the stage after a bad show in vaudeville days.

“They say she manifests herself in the theatre with a screaming face. Sometimes she’s seen – the same ghost. She needs to learn to smile a little.”

So who'll be next to share?

Quick ... call the Police!

Sting has claimed he once confronted a ghost which wandered into his room at the dead of night.

Sting said he also experienced flying objects and mysterious voices

The singer, who famously sang Spirits In The Material World in the 1980s, said wife Trudie Styler also witnessed the figure, standing with a child in the corner of their bedroom. Sting said he also experienced flying objects and mysterious voices in one of his homes in an interview to be played on Radio 2. He said: ''I would never have said I believe in ghosts, until I saw one - and I've seen a ghost with my own eyes.'' The musician, whose former band The Police recorded an album Ghost In The Machine, continued: ''I was in bed one night, a very old house I used to live in. And I woke up at three in the morning, bolt upright, looked into the corner of the room and thought I saw Trudie standing there with a child - our child - in her arms, staring at me. ''And I thought 'well, that's strange - why is she standing in a corner, staring at me?'. And I then reached next to me and there was Trudie, and I suddenly got this terrible chill. And she woke up and said 'Gosh, who is that?' and she saw this woman and a child in the corner of the room.'' Sting told presenter Claudia Winkleman, in an interview to be broadcast on Friday night at 10pm, that the figure simply disappeared. He added: ''A lot of things happened in that house, a lot of flying objects and voices and strange, strange things happened. ''When you live in old houses you get this energy there. Intellectually, no I don't believe in them (ghosts), but I've experienced them on an emotional level.''

MOST HAUNTED WEEKEND 2009

20th - 22nd November 2009

Join Most Haunted's Richard Felix for a weekend to remember at Kinnitty Castle.

Prices starting at only €175pps including the following:

• 2 nights luxury accommodation in Kinnitty Castle Hotel with breakfast each morning
• Dinner both evenings in the Monks Kitchen situated in the Castle's Haunted Dungeons
• Traditional Music Session in Dungeon Bar
• Stories and chat with special guest Richard Felix
• Midnight Séance
• Tour of 3 of Ireland's Most Haunted Castles
• Overnight Paranormal Investigation of Kinnitty Castle
• Guided historical tour of the Slieve Bloom Mountains

Only €175pps
Limited Places
Call 057 913 37318 to book
Please Quote "Paranormal.ie"
Upgrade your room from only €10pps per night.

All seems to be going well for the 2009 Dublin Paranormal Convention and with less than 3 weeks to go I really dont want any hiccups!

Cant say I regret moving into Dublin City Centre to the Radisson Blu Hotel either. Sure Clontarf had character but the Radisson isnt exactly lacking and the facilities are pretty impressive. Nice to know we wont have to worry about power points and internet connections.

New Footage: Irish Lake Monster!

As you might know from my article over on the 6thSensitive.com I love all things Cryptozological! So can you imagine how excited I was to get an email from Ronan Coghlan letting me know about some amazing footage filmed in Killarney last week. I should be talking to him in the next couple of days but its pretty exciting stuff. Heres the video but make sure you watch it in full and listen to Jon Downes commentary:

I really hope I can get Ronan to come along to the Dublin Paranormal Convention and give people the chance to talk to this fasinating man about what coupld be the most important cryptid footage ever filmed in Ireland or the UK!