Of all the superstitions prevalent amongst the natives of Ireland at any period, past or present, there is none so grand or fanciful, none which has been so universally assented to or so cordially cherished, as the belief in the existence of the banshee. There are very few, however remotely acquainted with Irish life or Irish history, but must have heard or read of the Irish banshee; still, as there are different stories and different opinions afloat respecting this strange being, I think a little explanation concerning her appearance, functions, and habits will not be unacceptable to my readers.

The banshee, then, is said to be an immaterial and immortal being, attached, time out of mind, to various respectable and ancient families in Ireland, and is said always to appear to announce, by cries and lamentations, the death of any member of that family to which she belongs. She always comes at night, a short time previous to the death of the fated one, and takes her stand outside, convenient to the house, and there utters the most plaintive cries and lamentations, generally in some unknown language, and in a tone of voice resembling a human female. She continues her visits night after night, unless vexed or annoyed, until the mourned object dies, and sometimes she is said to continue about the house for several nights after. Sometimes she is said to appear in the shape of a most beautiful young damsel, and dressed in the most elegant and fantastic garments; but her general appearance is in the likeness of a very old woman, of small stature and bending and decrepit form, enveloped in a winding-sheet or grave-dress, and her long, white, hoary hair waving over her shoulders and descending to her feet. At other times she is dressed in the costume of the middle ages—the different articles of her clothing being of the richest material and of a sable hue. She is very shy and easily irritated, and, when once annoyed or vexed, she flies away, and never returns during the same generation. When the death of the person whom she mourns is contingent, or to occur by unforeseen accident, she is particularly agitated and troubled in her appearance, and unusually loud and mournful in her lamentations. Some would fain have it that this strange being is actuated by a feeling quite inimical to the interests of the family which she haunts, and that she comes with joy and triumph to announce their misfortunes. This opinion, however, is rejected by most people, who imagine her their most devoted friend, and that she was, at some remote period, a member of the family, and once existed on the earth in life and loveliness. It is not every Irish family can claim the honour of an attendant banshee; they must be respectably descended, and of ancient line, to have any just pretensions to a warning spirit. However, she does not appear to be influenced by the difference of creed or clime, provided there be no other impediment, as several Protestant families of Norman and Anglo-Saxon origin boast of their own banshee; and to this hour several noble and distinguished families in the country feel proud of the surveillance of that mysterious being. Neither is she influenced by the circumstances of rank or fortune, as she is oftener found frequenting the cabin of the peasant than the baronial mansion of the lord of thousands. Even the humble family to which the writer of this tale belongs has long claimed the honourable appendage of a banshee; and it may, perhaps, excite an additional interest in my readers when I inform them that my present story is associated with her last visit to that family.

It looks as though my buds may have been correct when mercilessly picking on my fear of the 1973 film The Exorcist. As many of you might have already figured out from older posts that The Exorcist scared about almost every possible bodily fluid out of me. I kid you not, while viewing the re-release a few years ago I broke out in a sweat and almost filled my popcorn bucket. It was another case of “based on a true story” that seemed to always get me. While my sympathetic buds would laugh and point, they would claim it’s a all fake, phoney-baloney if you will. And they might’ve been on to something. After reading The Real Story Behind the Exorcist: A Study of the Haunted Boy and other True-Life Horror Legends from Around the Nation’s Capital by Mark Opsasnick, my opinion about the infamous case has changed…dramatically.

The Real Exorcist

Opsasnick tracks down friends of the boy as well as clergy involved with the case for some pretty interesting insight. When asked about the boy speaking languages other than English, the late Father Walter Halloran who had assisted in the exorcism stated, “Just Latin,” and “I think he mimicked us.” Well I thought that was interesting since that’s often one of the many so-called signs of possession. Opsasnick also inquired about the change in the boys voice which Father Halloran responded with a “Not really.” So no demonic voice speaking ancient languages. Hmmm.

And if you’re wondering what happened to that demon boy, he is still on this planet living among us. Opsasnick does get to him, but things don’t go too well.

My only problem with the book is the length. I was expecting a bit more detail on The Exorcist story. The actual Exorcist chapter is only a little over forty pages. The rest of the book includes the investigations into the Tom Monteleone Contactee case, the Luzo-Brazilian Black Magic Cult, The Ghost of Crybaby Bridge, and the Goatman of Prince George’s County. And by no means are these stories filler, each is a very interesting study on how some of these urban legends are blown out of proportion.

When it comes to Bigfoot, Maine doesn’t usually come to mind does it? But it just so happens that Maine actually has it’s own version of Bigfoot. The hairy legend known as Indian Devil ruled the wilderness on and around Maine’s highest mountain, Mount Katahdin.

According to Native American mythology, Indian Devil, also known as Pomoola, was a giant half man half beast creature that wasn’t too friendly when stumbled upon by an Indian. Supposedly this thing had a real chip on it’s shoulder and enjoyed protein, so it wasn’t out of the question that it would make a meal out of an Indian. But if left alone the Pomoola was friendly and kind. I guess the key is just don’t go poking it with a stick.

Now as far as sightings go, the stories are a bit all over the place.  Allegedly the first white man to have a run in with the beast was in 1866. While on a hunting trip around Mount Katahdin, Cluey Robbins decided to fetch some water around dusk. Across the river Cluey witnessed a man-like creature covered with red hair, snagging fish and eating them live. Cluey would see it again at dawn and for some strange reason the purported furious Pomoola did not attack and devour him. It was later discovered when Cluey discussed his sighting with his Native American buddies that he found out that Pomoolas don’t like white meat. Or that was their only explanation for the lack of the dinner bell being rung. I swear, this was their explanation.

But it looks as though Pomoola had been messing with folks prior to this. And it was the guide for Cluey’s hunting party, Hugh Watson. A few years earlier, Watson a longtime woodsman, came back from a hunt only to find a whole group of these Pomoolas tearing up his camp. Luckily Watson was able to hide out in the woods for the rest of the evening until they left. Again when he mentioned the incident to his friends he was made aware how lucky he was to escape with his life. It obviously wasn’t established yet that Pomoolas preferred dark meat.

The most recent sighting took place in 1988 when a group of Boy Scouts hiking Mount Katahdin, and six campers saw the hairy one about half way up the mountain collecting roots. They all described a creature with broad shoulders, a tan triangular face and reddish fur. When the Pomoola realized he was being watched he reportedly started making terrifying noise. One of the Boy Scouts also said that a “smell of rotten eggs” filled the air and actually lingered in the area for hours after the creature had disappeared. Could this be some sort of defense mechanism? Who knows. But when hiking on or around Mount Katahdin beware of the Pomoola or at least hope he’s been fed.

You’ve probably heard before that we allegedly know more about the surface of the moon than the incredible depths of the earth’s oceans. Obviously that’s changing with the development of new technology that’s helping us map the ocean’s floors as well as super high-tech unmanned subs. But when it comes to locations like the Mariana Trench, which at this moment is recorded as the deepest region of all the oceans, at a depth of 35,840 feet, roughly 6.78 miles, could this be the origin of technically superior crafts also known as USOs (unidentified submerged objects). This is exactly what author Ivan T. Sanderson investigates in Invisible Residents, The reality of Underwater UFOs.

The concept of aliens and their craft being more of an earthly phenomenon rather than the standard extraterrestrial theory has always fascinated me. What if the aliens have been here from the start? It’s kind of freaky that they might actually be observing us from below. Sanderson takes us through a whole list of USO accounts that could possibly explain what’s going on. It’s almost too many which explains why it took me a few tries to get through this book. It’s a bit slow at first but I think it’s due to the fact that the book was originally published in 1970 so many of the examples and concepts are a bit dated. But regardless, it’s still well researched with a keen sense of humor and skepticism.

Just one of the many underwater sightings or I should say tracking was that of the United States Navy during a training exercise in 1963.  The Navy tracked an object for four days that was maneuvering at depths of 27,000 feet at 150 knots plus. In 1967, the record dive for a standard submarine was 6,250 feet. So what the hell was it?

Sanderson also goes way back in history for some early accounts of USOs such as a report from the Annual Register in 1767. It was reported that a large luminous body appeared from a thick dark smoke over the water. The unknown object then took the shape of a pyramid and shot up the river damaging a house and bridge. Stargate anyone? Or how about in 1879 when Commander J.E.. Pringle of the H.M.S. Vulture reported seeing two giant rotating glowing wheels underwater.

Also touched upon is the Bermuda Triangle, along with vortices and time anomalies, plus the possibilities of underwater civilizations, and unexplained vanishing of people and objects.

Although Sanderson tends to be long-winded at times reporting on one of the most neglected areas of ufology, Invisible Residents contains a wealth of information on a subject that begs for further investigation.

Rose Hall today.

All the wickedness would finally catch up with her when she took the life of a young man who was to be married to the daughter of a powerful voodoo practitioner. This man would battle Annie not only with his fists but with his voodoo magic, eventually killing her. Annie was buried in a specially designed tomb that would keep her sinister soul trapped. Unfortunately one of the slaves didn’t get it right, and Annie’s spirit roams Rose Hall to this day. Nice job buddy. So in 1971 a group of psychics came to Rose Hall to try and trap Annie’s spirit. But still, no success, she still roams.

Annie's tomb

Some of the phenomenon reported at Rose Hall are doors slamming on their own, men screaming, crying babies, the scent of dried blood, apparitions, visions in mirrors, footsteps in the main hall, and even sightings of Annie herself riding her prized black stallion. But be forewarned, legend has it that not only Annie still roams the plantation but all her many victims.

Alright, I wasn’t even through my first gulp of my scorpian bowl (a big bowl of booze at a Chinese restaurant for you unsophisticated drinkers) the other night when my ears perked up to a conversation in the booth behind me. A woman was telling her friends about the recent discovery of another beached Montauk monster. And from the sound of her voice she was really excited and going into detail about the incident to her buddies. Now obviously I don’t know if she knew about the previous case which that space-pig-alien-looking thing turned out to be your average raccoon. But, it got me thinking about the big story that every once an a while I would stumble upon, the story of the Montauk Project. This is a story so grandiose, I think on some levels it actually makes Roswell, Area 51, and alleged underground base at Dulce look more like Little Red Riding Hood. I mean I’m telling ya, you throw in the smoke monster, sprinkle in a little Benjamin Linus and Dharma Initiative  and you got yourself one hell of a final season of Lost.

Camp Hero SAGE Radar

The Montauk Project is allegedly spawned from the infamous Philadelphia Experiment, where in 1943 the USS Eldridge was made invisible not only to radar but to the human eye using electromagnetic shielding and get this, supposedly went back in time. Seeing the potential as a military application the original scientists involved wanted to continue there study and investigate the possibility of manipulating the magnetic field as a psychological warfare device. The only problem was that they realized in order to study this type of stuff, it would need to be studied secretly. They also needed access to technically advanced radar equipment. So they set up shop at Camp Hero, a decommissioned naval base in Montauk, New York, complete with a SAGE radar installation. Located right on the ocean, this would allow undetected, incoming supplies and equipment. After all their equipment was installed and the 12-level underground base set up, the surface of Camp Hero was shut down and donated to to the state, giving the appearance of an innocent state wildlife refuge and park.

Now what happens next has got to be some of the most amazing paranormal activity in history. And that’s if even a quarter of it’s true, because there isn’t any proof to back any of it up other than a few people who say they were part of the experiments. A special chair that had been codesigned by aliens known as Sirians, plus technology developed by Nikola Tesla was set up under the SAGE radar system for mind control experiments. These experiments became so advanced that when a psychic would be used in the chair they would be able to physically make their thoughts manifest. On one such occasion a bigfoot-like creature was manifested and to this day supposedly runs around causing problems on the property. Oh and it’s also rumored that the chair opened a portal where someone could either travel back in time or go to a base on mars. Not bad huh? It gets better. Many of the personnel in the base were Reptilian, working right along side with humans. Lunch breaks must’ve been interesting. Now here’s the best part, and I only recently heard this but now some are saying that Tesla, yes, the Nikola Tesla, faked his own death and actually ran the original experiments as director of operations.

To this day people claiming to be witness and victims of the project, still say the operation continues underground. Urban explorers have supposedly found electrical meters on the surface with electrical readings for entire cities. Other people have been confronted by military personnel while trying to get into the property. If anything, it’s one of those stories that will only get more fantastic. Especially if I keep drinking these scorpian bowls.

Check out this video of alleged Montauk Project participant Preston Nichols.

Here’s a video of Camp Hero done by some urban explorers. (we don’t recommend you do this especially since there are bigfoots running loose)

This is more video from our trip to GhoStock 7 back in April. Unfortunately we weren’t able to snag Mr. Zaffis for an interview but we did get a pretty good chunk of his lecture. He discusses everything from possession, oppression, getting into the field, his uncle Ed Warren, the Haunting in Connecticut, plus some other cool stuff like buddhist exorcists. Oh, and please excuse the shoddy camera work, it was filmed downstairs in the library at the Hawthorne Hotel. And it was wicked daaaaaark.

For more info on John Zaffis.

So have you ever had someone tell you you’re crazy and that there’s zero proof of the paranormal? Especially those smarty-pants types who unless it slaps them in the face, it doesn’t exist (that’s one unexciting world to live in)? Well if you’re reading this I’m assuming you probably know some of these clowns. You know what, it is a bit harsh, but it’s time to turn the tables on these folks and expose them to what’s really going on in our mysterious world, and make them aware that there’s still some work to be done on the unknown and unexplained. Actually, the heck with these people, I want to know what’s really going on. But the only way to accomplish this is with the help of mainstream science, and that’s exactly what Dr. Lawrence LeShan tackles in his new book  A New Science of the Paranormal.

Dr. LeShan, a psychologist and parapsychologist (and originally a skeptic) with twenty books published and more years in the field than most, declares that the paradigm must shift if we plan on moving forward with the study and investigation into the paranormal. He argues that it’s time to stop wasting the time of trying to prove it’s existence and start studying the why and how. Now he’s not saying that we must drop everything and just believe in this new reality, but that we must develop theories that will work with both the old data and the new, and approach it scientifically. Ultimately this should bring the paranormal out from the shadows and into the mainstream, where scientists can study it free of ridicule.

Also, don’t let the title scare you. I know sometimes when you see science in a title that the read might be a bit rough on the old noggin, but this thing moves. LeShan uses actual case studies to help illustrate ideas from each chapter making this an engrossing, begging for more type of read.

And the next time you run into one of those smarty-pants who thinks you’re crazy, ask them about that pesky old fact that the earth is flat.

When I lost track of Brody and Ronin’s whereabouts after a panel discussion at GhoStock ’09, my inner GPS led me upstairs to the bar at the Hawthorne Hotel, which was the oh-so-perfect setting for the paranormal gathering. I was not alone long, thanks to world-renowned psychic and Ghostock panelist Gavin Cromwell.

Drawing on social not psychic skills, Gavin was a delightful gentleman and bar mate (I had Chardonnay; he had a Coke.) Fun, vivacious, and quite spirited, Gavin quickly accepted our invitation to chat on camera. While toastier in the bar on this cool April afternoon, the lighting was better in the Salem Common. 

Speaking of lighting .. seems we’ll be needing night vision equipment because Gavin and crew invited the Paranormalspy trio on an upcoming investigation.

About Gavin Cromwell