GHOSTLY CHILD CAPTURED BY PHOTOGRAPHER EXPLORING ABANDONED HOSPITAL

Whilst checking the daily plethora of alleged ghostly or ghost related news, I came across this plain but simple image of a young girl, perhaps no more than 5 or 6 years old and wearing what appears to be a party dress.
The photograph was taken by a photographer named Ricardo J. Méndez Castro, and was discovered on a shot taken at an old T.B (tuberculosis) hospital.

Here is an explanation offered by the photographer,
"Just today, I noticed this image on the corner of another one of my photographs from the abandoned asylum for tuberculosis patients. I don't know how it got there, and I'd love to read any pointers you might give on how it might have occurred. (Odd looking little dress she's wearing, isn't it?)"

He later added, "Very rarely I comment on my own photos before other people do, but I wanted to expand on the technical details.
As I mentioned, I still don't know how the image of the child got there. Could a brief reflection of someone on the doorway have caused it? Would such a reflection be so defined, on a long exposure image?
Another theory that we considered was that some sort of double-exposure might have occurred when printing the image (since the camera is a Rebel 2000, set on advancing one frame at a time), but the child appears on the negative as well".

The image was captured on a Canon EOS Rebel 2000, Kodak TRI-X Pan 400, Canon 50 mm, f1.8.
Some suggested it may have been a double exposure, but this was eliminated as a probable cause on discussion. The photographer appears to be an urban explorer, and not a paranormal investigator.
 The banding effect was caused by blinds which were present.
What do you think?

Image copyright of Ricardo J. Méndez Castro

LIVE ONLINE-INVESTIGATION FROM A VERY HAUNTED HOME

On this Tuesday, 19th June 2012.
A live all night paranormal investigation from the very actively haunted home of Chris Halton - Haunted Earth.
This is the very first live broadcast for some considerable time from this house, and during previous shows lots of activity occurred.
Join me, and guests GHA (Ghost Hunting Agency) from Germany and the UK.
Starts at 10pm (British Summer Time) and runs through until dawn.
We will be exploring the master bedroom, side bedroom, dining room, the 1940`s styled museum room, and all corridors.
This house rocks with activity, and no doubt will become more active with new visitors.
The feed will be advertised here on Haunted Earth`s Ghost World Blog, with access to the live feed with live discussion board.
If you want to investigate this home with your own live feed of the investigation please contact me on Facebook.
PLEASE SHARE THE LINK TO YOUR FRIENDS:)
http://youtu.be/YHXYjDPDrm0



Here is the actual viewing link:


hauntedearth- Broadcast your self LIVE

SOME HAUNTED SCOTTISH CASTLES

SCOTLAND is famous the world over for its castles - the fortified homes of the great (but not necessarily good) of times gone by - and each one of them has at least one ghostly story to tell.

We look at five castles in Scotland with their fair share of ghostly goings-on.

Braemar Castle

Braemar Castle

The castle at Braemar has been leased to the local community since 2006, but is owned by the chief of the Farquharson Clan. During its long history it has served as a hunting lodge, military garrison and family home.

The ghost that haunts Braemar Castle is said to be a young woman who lost her life through a tragic misunderstanding, over two hundred years ago, with her new husband. Women were, at the time, virgins until marriage, and the wedding night was, perhaps understandably, treated with a certain level of apprehension and in some cases, fear. It is said that this particular young woman woke early on the morning after her wedding night to find that her husband was nowhere to be seen. Becoming distressed and then ashamed as she came to the conclusion that her husband had found her to be an unsatisfactory lover, she jumped to her death from the window of the bridal room. The bridegroom had in fact been on an early-morning hunting trip, and returned to the castle to be met with news of his wife’s death. These days, the young woman’s ghost returns to the castle whenever newlyweds are staying there.

Brodie Castle

Brodie Castle

The seat of the Brodie family for hundreds of years, Brodie Castle experienced paranormal activity on a September night in 1889. The castle had been rented out, with the then Earl of Brodie abroad in Switzerland, with the servants remaining in the castle. The butler heard strange noises coming from the Earl’s study; moaning, and what sounded like papers being rustled or pages being turned. The other servants reported hearing the same, despite the study having been locked when the Earl had left for Switzerland and instructions left that no-one be allowed to enter the room in his absence. The servants searched for a key, thinking there might be an intruder in the castle, but couldn’t find one.

News that the Earl had died the previous night in Switzerland reached the castle the following day, with the assumption that the strange noises heard in the study had been the ghost of the Earl, who had returned to his study after his death, perhaps to deal with some outstanding business.

The Castle of Mey

The Castle of Mey

Situated a few miles from John O’Groats in the far north of Scotland, the Castle of Mey was for many years the Highland home of the Queen Mother. The castle is home to a Green Lady who haunts a room at the top of the old tower, said to be the ghost of Elizabeth Sinclair, daughter of George, the fifth Earl of Caithness. After falling in love with a local farmhand, deemed a most unsuitable partner for a young lady of Elizabeth’s status, she was confined to the tower as her father sought to put an end to the relationship. Elizabeth is said to have died when she leaned out of the tower window to catch a glimpse of her love working in the fields in the distance, lost her balance and fell to her death.

There are still Sinclairs who live in the surrounding area, possible descendants of George and Elizabeth.

Claypotts Castle

Claypotts Castle

The White Lady of Claypotts Castle is a more unusual tale of the paranormal. The castle was built at the end of the 16th century by John Strachan and his son Gilbert, and has passed through various ownerships throughout history. A White Lady appears at an upstairs window on 29th May each year, appearing to be very distressed and waving a handkerchief. She is said to be the ghost of Marion Ogilvy, daughter of the first Lord of Airlie, who was in love with Cardinal Beaton of St Andrews. She used to wait at the window for him to arrive and wave a handkerchief as a signal. On May 29th 1546, she waited in vain, as the Cardinal lay murdered in St Andrews Castle. On the anniversary of his death, she resumes her vigil - but here’s the strange part. Claypotts Castle in its present form, and the window from which the White Lady waves, wasn’t built until well after 1546. Marion Ogilvy, who is believed to be the White Lady, never lived at the Castle - she lived at Melgund Castle - and Cardinal Beaton is not known to have had anything to do with Claypotts Castle either. If he ever visited, there is no record of this taling place. So who is the White Lady and what’s the real story?

Comlongon Castle

Comlongon Castle

Another Green Lady haunts the Dumfriesshire castle of Comlongon, said to be the ghost of Marion Caruthers. In the late 16th century, she was coerced into marrying a man she didn’t love, and fled to Comlongon Castle to take refuge in the home of her uncle. Not much is known about Marion Caruthers, but it looks like she eventually despaired of the whole sorry situation and threw herself to her death from the castle’s tower.

Source: TheScotsman

ACTRESS BELIEVES SHE HAS RECEIVED MESSAGES FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE

Lacey Turner, who of course shot to fame in her EastEnders role as Stacey Slater, has revealed that she believes she’s had messages from beyond the grave from her grandmother.

In an interview with the Radio Times about her current role in Sky paranormal drama Bedlam, and about her forthcoming new drama Switch, which is about modern-day witches living in London, Lacey explained, “I was four when [my Nan] died and her name was Amelia, which is my middle name…

“But we called her Nanny Leo because her dog was called Leo.

“I’ve been to see mediums and they’ve said, ‘Your Nan’s here’ and sometimes I do think that I’ve been with her.”

However, of visits to psychic mediums, Lacey often wondered how much information about her life they’d possibly gleaned from internet searches about her…

She said, “Some things they say I think, ‘Hmm… Googled.’”

Nonetheless, Lacey – whose sister Lily stars in EastEnders as Shenice, the little girl Kat and Alfie Moon have taken in – added, “I was at an awards do once… I felt a hand on my shoulder and there was no one there.

“I don’t know if you make yourself believe it, but I do think she was there.”

In addition to her aforementioned roles in Bedlam and Switch, since leaving EastEnders, Lacey’s name has become synonymous with paranormal and supernatural drama, given that she’s also starred in Being Human and played the doctor’s bride in BBC3’s drama Frankenstein’s Wedding.

We’re also about to see her starring alongside former Doctor Who actor David Tennant in the BBC’s improvised drama, True Love, which debuts on Sunday at 10.25pm on BBC1.

Source: UnrealityPrimetime

SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPHS FROM CONAN DOYLE - AN EXHIBITION

Ask someone what they associate with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and their answer will almost certainly be Sherlock Holmes. It’s elementary.
But, though the author may be intrinsically linked with his most famous creation, Conan Doyle had many other interests.
While the much-loved detective (created while Conan Doyle was working as a GP in Southsea) stood out for his practicality and logical thinking, the writer himself was fascinated with fairies, ghosts and spiritualism.
By the 1920s he was internationally recognised as an authority on the spirit world, having published articles and books on the subject and given lectures to audiences all over the world.
Southsea artist, filmmaker and historian, Dr Patti Gaal-Holmes has curated a free exhibition about Conan Doyle’s interest in spiritualism.
On display at Portsmouth History Centre at the Central Library until the end of July, Catching the Unseen: Spirit Photography from the Conan Doyle Collection includes photographs, archives and books taken from the Arthur Conan Doyle Collection – Lancelyn Green Bequest, many of which have never been displayed before.
Says Patti: ‘These are strange and enigmatic photographs including women materialising ectoplasm, “real ghosts” or “extras”, spirit writing and photographs and letters documenting experiences with fairies.’
The photographs might look ridiculous to the modern day eye, but the Victorians were fascinated with spiritualism and the paranormal and wanted to believe in the images.

EXPERIMENT: Photograph of Florizel Von Reuter (left)

 Attempts to scientifically prove spiritualist activity and, alternatively, to uncover fraudulent spiritualists or mediums formed a significant part of the spiritualist movement and many of the 600 photographs in Conan Doyle’s collection were investigated by the Society for the Study of Supernormal Pictures.
There are now infamous examples of some well-known fakes. But, as spirit writing in one of the photographs on display says: ‘Before you can advance you must remove all doubt. The goal is reached by faith alone. Doubt creates confusion and obscurity.’
The exhibition is open Monday to Thursday and Saturday until the end of July.

 Source: TheNewsPortsmouth

ACADEMIC CLAIMS TURIN SHROUD A COMMON MEDIEVAL FAKE

Antonio Lombatti

Not only is the Turin Shroud probably a medieval fake but it is just one of an astonishing 40 so-called burial cloths of Jesus, according to an eminent church historian.

Antonio Lombatti said the false shrouds circulated in the Middle Ages, but most of them were later destroyed.

He said the Turin Shroud itself – showing an image of a bearded man and venerated for centuries as Christ’s burial cloth – appears to have originated in Turkey some 1,300 years after the Crucifixion.

Lombatti, of the Università Popolare in Parma, Italy, cited work by a 19th century French historian who had studied surviving medieval documents. ‘The Turin Shroud is only one of the many burial cloths which were circulating in the Christian world during the Middle Ages. There were at least 40,’ said Lombatti.

The `Turin Shroud` - A fake?

‘Most of them were destroyed during the French Revolution. Some had images, others had blood-like stains, and others were completely white.’

The Turin Shroud is a linen cloth, about 14ft by 4ft, bearing a front and back view of the image of a bearded, naked man who appears to have been stabbed or tortured. Ever since the detail on the cloth was revealed by negative photography in the late 19th century it has attracted thousands of pilgrims to the Cathedral of St John the Baptist in Turin.

In a research paper to be published this month in the scholarly journal Studi Medievali, Lombatti says the shroud was most likely given to French knight Geoffroy de Charny as a memento from a crusade to Smyrna, Turkey, in 1346. The de Charny family are the first recorded owners of the shroud.

Lombatti found that Geoffroy was unable to join a pilgrimage to Jerusalem after liberating Smyrna, so he was given the shroud as a symbol of his participation in the crusade to Turkey.

The Catholic Church has never officially commented on the shroud’s authenticity, but has made samples available to scientists for testing.

In 2009 a Vatican researcher said she had found the words ‘Jesus Nazarene’ on the cloth, while two years later Italian government researchers claimed the image of a man had been caused by a supernatural ‘flash of light’.

But carbon tests carried out in Oxford in 1988 firmly dated the material to 1260-1390.
Source: DailyMail

Please see: ACADEMIC CLAIMS THAT THE TURIN SHROUD CAN BE LINKED TO THE RESURRECTION

SHIRLEY MACLAINE CONVINCED `DOWNTON ABBEY` IS HAUNTED

Source: ExpressNewspapers

HOLLYWOOD star Shirley MacLaine believes the stately home used as Downton Abbey in the popular TV show is haunted by the ghost of an Egyptian pharaoh.

The screen icon, 78, was spooked by King Tutankhamun while making a guest appearance as American socialite Martha Levinson, the wealthy mother of Lady Grantham, played by Elizabeth McGovern, in the third series of the lavish ITV drama.

Shirley joined the cast of the show, which also stars Dame Maggie Smith and Hugh Bonneville, earlier this year to film her scenes at Highclere Castle in Hampshire.

The Oscar-winning actress, a New Age spiritualist who believes in reincarnation, claims she immediately tuned into the auras “buzzing” around the film set.

She said: “It was a fantastic experience. Highclere was haunted and the pictures came off the wall.”

Shirley believes the haunting of the castle, which has been the family home of the Carnarvon family since 1679, can be linked to the tomb of King Tutankhamun.

 George Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnarvon, and archaeologist Howard Carter discovered the tomb in the Valley of the Kings, outside Cairo, in 1922, exposing treasures unsurpassed in the history of archaeology.

The tomb was transferred to Highclere after the earl’s sudden death from a mosquito bite in 1923.

This led to the stories of the “Curse of Tutankhamun”. Legend has it that if anyone disturbs the mummy of a pharaoh they are cursed with bad luck. Shirley said: “They had the tomb of King Tut in the basement.”

The star, who was nominated for an Oscar five times before winning Best Actress for Terms of Endearment in 1983, will clash with Dame Maggie’s formidable Dowager Countess Violet when the third series of Downton is screened in January.

See: THE SET FOR `DOWNTON ABBEY` IS HAUNTED AND AN ANCIENT CURSE

HAUNTED EARTH OPENS THE HAUNTED HOUSE TO INVESTIGATORS

Starting Tuesday 19th June 2012, the first of a new live broadcast and show is beamed directly from my own very actively haunted home across the internet world.

Recently I decided to open my home to investigative teams from across Britain and Europe to come and experience the activity that I have been filming and sharing over a number of years.
On some occasions in the past I broadcasted live activity for viewers and followers of my work to experience for themselves, and much was captured and shared by the viewers.

On the night I will be joined at 9pm with intrepid investigators that have travelled to the house from as far afield as Germany, and in the UK from Bristol, for a night to dawn investigation which starts with an introductory talk covering the haunted history of the house (it used to be a police station), and later at 10pm the main investigation with a live feed from the core haunted area, the main master bedroom.

I`m hopeful to be able to take the camera around the house to share activity from other rooms, and of course, a chat with the guests.

This promises to be a unique experience for all involved, and an opportunity for you to also join us at a later date to perform your own televised investigation.

If you want to join in yourself at a later date, here is some background information.

The cost is only £20 per head as an introductory offer to join us.
Included with the package are free tea/coffee and biscuits, and full access to the active areas of this detached property.

My home is very unique in as much that I have built up a rapport with some of the activity present, and there is the added bonus that the master bedroom appears to be a portal with many types of activity occurring there.

Throughout the night I will be there to assist the teams, update the feed and to help in the investigation.

I know there are similar properties claimed to be very active, but this house is very positively haunted and activity is guaranteed.



If you would like to join, please email me @ chrishalton(at)hotmail.com, or write to me at
Facebook. The property is located near to Braintree and Witham in Essex.

Here are some videos from this house. The full list is many!

A SPACESHIP OVER ISRAEL? - OR A FAILED MISSILE LAUNCH

A spaceship flying over Israel? A satellite or a Russian ballistic missile? An unidentified flying object observed in Middle East countries Thursday night has caused panic, with people calling the police to say they witnessed a UFO.
The mysterious shining object seen in the skies swirled around and looked like smoke, some observers said. The object gave off light and was followed by a smoke trail.
The strange flying phenomenon was also reported in Georgia, Armenia, Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and other countries in the region.
The Israeli Defense Forces made a statement following the incident saying they were unaware of any operations in the area.

Source: rtnews

IS THIS THIS GHOST OF AN ELDERLY IRISH DRINKER?

Adrian O'Brien, who took the photo on Arthur Guinness Day in Wicklow, is adamant there was no similar man present when he clicked his camera.

Locals at The Gin Mill pub in Arklow do not recognise the phantom punter and have no recollection of seeing the man on the day.

Adrian has strongly refuted any suggestion that the pictures have been tampered with.

"The pictures are 110pc genuine," he said.

"The leading expert on photography in the world is free to come down and examine the photos. They haven't been touched."It would have been difficult in the past to super-impose an image on to a photograph, but it can be done nowadays.

"Why would I bother in conjuring this up on a computer when anyone with knowledge of computers and photography could do it

"We have the raw files, which can be examined by any labs."

Meanwhile, staff at the pub are especially interested in locating the ghostly figure, to bar him for smoking in the premises, as the man appears to have a pipe.

"There is a blown-up copy of the photo in the bar and nobody has the faintest idea of who it is," said a barmaid, who was working on the day the photo was taken, September 24.

"The plan was to take a photo to mark the occasion. It's so weird.

"I certainly didn't serve him on the day."

Mr O'Brien, a photographer, admitted to be shaken up about the photo and that his studio in Arklow has been engulfed with people trying to identify the elderly man.

"It's created a mad buzz," he said. "We have loads of people coming into the office to view the pictures to see if it's their dead relation.

"I don't believe in ghosts or anything, but this has sent shivers down my spine"

Even the most ardent believers in the paranormal are sceptical as to whether this image is that of a ghost.

Brian Gallagher, of Leinster Paranormal, an organisation which investigates paranormal activity using "logic before paranormal", can't be sure of what was captured on camera that day.

"We see this sort of thing very often" he said.

"To be certain, we would have to interview everyone involved, but it is likely the person in the picture is not a ghost but a reflection of some sort.

"Of course, we cannot be 100pc sure about its authenticity, but at this early stage I would be sceptical."

herald.ie

A LIDL GHOST STORY AND A SINKING FLOOR!

Shoppers thought that things were a Lidl weird - when they saw their trolleys whizzing off on their own in a shop.
The scared punters thought the store in Gort, Galway, was haunted when trolleys laden with their wares seemed to roll away of their own accord, sparking fears of a ghostly store spectre.
"You could be getting something off a shelf and when you turned around your trolley was gone down the aisle," said one spooked shopper. But the problem was more of an earthly nature.
The Gort Ghost was just a sinking floor which caused the trolleys to appear possessed. The store is now closed while the problem is fixed.
A spokesman for the chain said: "Lidl would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused."

Source:BelfastTelegraph

Always look for a logical reason first - the first rule of ghost detection:)

A TALE OF AN AMERICAN WHO SAW CHARLES DICKENS GHOST

The Coach House, at Greta Bridge

An American woman visited by the ghostly countenance of Charles Dickens while staying at a B&B near Barnard Castle has returned to attend an international conference about the author’s trip to the area.

Lynda Johnson, of Spokane, Washington DC, was on a family visit to The Coach House, at Greta Bridge, in 2004 while researching details of her grandmother, Agnes Robinson, who was born in nearby Barningham. 

In separate incidents, she and her nephew, Robert, saw different ghostly apparitions – in Robert’s case the shadowy figure of a young girl in a long dress and bonnet, suspended in mid-air.

But despite the fright, Lynda has paid subsequent visits to The Coach House, most recently flying over for the Dickens in Teesdale conference and the publication of her host Peter Gilbertson’s book, Two Days in Teesdale.

The book, which began life as a small article intended for the Teesdale Mercury, just “growed and growed like Topsy”, said Peter.

Packaged with an accompanying CD, it was launched at the conference, following a dinner at The Bowes Museum to mark  the 200th anniversary of Dickens’  birth as well as his time in the area. 

It outlines, in fictional form, the 48 hours Dickens spent in the dale researching material for his novel Nicholas Nickleby, which exposed the horrors of the Yorkshire Schools, intertwined with his obsession with his wife’s sister, Mary, who had died aged 17 the previous year.

It also incorporates Lynda and Robert’s accounts of their ghostly sightings, including the fact that Lynda discovered much later that the face she is convinced she saw hovering over her bed at The Coach House was that of Charles Dickens. 

In 1838, travelling by stagecoach with his illustrator, Hablot Browne, Dickens stayed at coaching inns, including the George and New Inn at Greta Bridge. This hostelry later became Thorpe Grange, part of the estate bought by Peter’s grandfather and the place of Peter’s birth in 1941. 

The Coach House B&B, which Peter runs with his wife, Mary, is just across the road from the former George and New Inn, and attracts guests from all over the world. 

Peter revealed that Lynda and Robert are not the only visitors to have seen ghostly figures. Others, including members of the Gilbertson family, have heard doorknobs being rattled and experienced a sense of being watched.

“When Dickens exposed the terrible conditions of the Yorkshire Schools, many of them were forced to close, creating a knock-on effect on the local economy,” said Peter. 

“But once Nicholas Nickleby was published it reversed the effect, starting a tourism boost to Teesdale and the founding of better schools.”

The fascination with Dickens remains to this day, with the author as popular as ever 200 years after his birth. 

This is borne out by celebrated biographer Claire Tomalin, who was a guest speaker at the conference along with Malcolm Andrews, editor of The Dickensian magazine. 

Tomalin’s latest work, Charles Dickens: A Life, on which she spoke at the event held at Sedbury Hall, has been acclaimed by the critics and was shortlisted for the Costa book awards 2012.

Tomalin, who also stayed at The Coach House during the conference, was not disturbed by any nocturnal wanderings by the subject of her biography. 

Did she believe in such things or was it all the stuff of dreams and a vivid imagination? Drawing on a line from Dickens’ Pickwick Papers, she smiled and said: “It was the salmon.”
 Source: TeesdaleMercury

VAMPIRE SKELETONS DISCOVERED IN BULGARIA

ARCHAEOLOGISTS in Bulgaria unearthed two skeletons from the Middle Ages pierced through the chest with iron rods to keep them from turning into vampires, the head of the history museum said today.
According to pagan beliefs, people who were considered bad during their lifetimes might turn into vampires after death unless stabbed in the chest with an iron or wooden rod before being buried.
"These two skeletons stabbed with rods illustrate a practice which was common in some Bulgarian villages up until the first decade of the 20th century," national history museum chief Bozhidar Dimitrov said after the recent find in the Black Sea town of Sozopol.

People believed the rod also would pin the dead into their graves to prevent them from leaving at midnight and terrorizing the living, the historian explained.
The practice was common, Dimitrov added, saying that some 100 similar burials already had been found in Bulgaria.
Archaeologist Petar Balabanov, who in 2004 unearthed six nailed-down skeletons at a site near the eastern town of Debelt, said the pagan rite also was practiced in neighboring Serbia and other Balkan countries.
Vampire legends are widespread across the Balkans. The most famous is that of Romanian count Vlad the Impaler, known as Dracula, who staked his war enemies and drank their blood.
 Source:NewsCom.AU

GHOST CAUGHT ON NEWS CAM AT SCENE OF CAR CRASH OR A HOAX?

I found this video on Youtube. (A site hardly appreciated for good honest paranormal video).
Is this merely (as suggested by a commenter) a reflection, or a real paranormal event.
As always, you decide!

Here is what the poster says:

One person died and nearly two injured in a deadly car accident that took place in a road links two towns in central Spain. The video, filmed by a local TV, reveals a shocking detail...

CLEVELAND INVESTIGATORS VISIT HAUNTED MASONIC LODGE

CLEVELAND - The members of the West Side Masonic Lodge in Cleveland have reported many strange, possibly paranormal, activities in their building.

So who you going to call? ORBS, or Ohio Researches of Banded Spirits, Ohio’s top paranormal team.

They came with high-end sophisticated scientific tools for recording and sensing energy, like night vision cameras, digital voice reporters and thermal imaging equipment.

This group, which has been featured on Animal Planet’s “The Haunted” is honored to be invited to investigation the claims of the very private and secretive masons. Members claim to see shadow people in the balconies, hear the organ mysteriously playing and report women have been attacked, with doors slammed on them in a hallway.

“The building actually comes alive at night when nobody’s in here, except for a few people. So we just kind of want to check out the reports and see if we can validate it for them,” said Chris Page, founder of ORBS.

The thought is that the old freemasons are still haunting the hall. The team said that 90 percent of the time voices and images appear when they play back and analyze their recordings.

Source: Channel5