The ARGNY Blog

Shadow Playmate

Keep an eye on the doorway to the left.

Aport of Call

This is a subject that is a little bit out there, but interesting, nonetheless. The phenomena of aportation, has its beginnings fraudulently in the 1800's when fake mediums would materialize objects out of nothing, with the explanation that they were gifts from the spirits. Sort of like paranormal door prizes. These days, charlatanism still surrounds aportation, with people like Sathya Sai Baba puking up all kinds of trinkets and paraphanalia in front of frenzied Indian groupies.

 

However, more reliable anecdotal evidence has been reported on the aportation of objects where no normal means of their sudden presence could be explained. On a recent episode of Paranormal State, a family was being plagued by the sudden aportation of potpourri balls, which would be thrown at them as they lay asleep on their bed. Understand, there were no potpourri balls present in the house at all until they would materialize out of nowhere. This in fact happens during the episode, although it is not visible on camera. Why potpourri? Who knows. They should just be glad, the balls were potpourri and bowling.

The reverse of aportation (what is that called? Unportation, Reportation? Deportation?) is extremely common in locations with reports of other types of paranormal activity. For example, keys or jewelry will suddenly disappear and re-appear in another spot. Or disappear, never to be found. This is sometimes also known as theft.

40% of Brits Believe in Ghosts/60% Believe in Dental Hygeine

According to a survey of 2,000 people done by the theological research group, Theos, four out of ten Britons believe in ghosts and five out of ten believe in the afterlife. Furthermore, seven out of ten believe in the human soul and five out of ten believe in heaven. Initial research also shows that not all, but most dogs go to heaven. As well as a large portion of cats.

Be that as it may, according to Theos, there is still a slight uptick in the level of skepticism about such things, than 10 years ago. So, strangely, although there are more believers in the afterlife, there are also more skeptics. Which is really quite Zen. Or is it Tou?

Paul Woolley, the director of Theos, said: "The enlightenment optimism in the ability of science and reason to explain everything ended decades ago. The extent of belief will probably surprise people, but the finding is consistent with other research we have undertaken."

"The results indicate that people have a very diverse and unorthodox set of beliefs. Our research may point to a slight increase in scepticism about aspects of the supernatural over the last ten years."

A regional breakdown showed that London has the most believers in ghosts, astrology and Heaven, Scotland has the highest proportion who believe in fortune-telling and Wales the most believers in reincarnation.

I was trying to fit a Benny Hill joke in here somewhere, but I give up.

Ghost Hunters: Back to the Future

The thing that made you love Ghost Hunters in the first couple of seasons was that these were down-to-earth, honest guys, trying to help people. Their mission was to debunk places that were supposedly haunted and were soo not haunted and to only declare a place haunted if it was REALLY haunted. I remember lamenting one time on the TAPS message boards a bunch of years ago that the only way Jason would admit a place was haunted was if a ghost suddenly materialized right in front of his face, whacked him in the head with a sack full of nickels and then helped him up so they could pose for multiple photos and video spots. Well, those days are long gone.

But, last week's Season 5 premiere showed us a somewhat humbled Ghost Hunters team. No more were the crystal clear Class A EVPs, the incredible evidence and the locations jam-packed with activity. This was much more the kind of Ghost Hunters you remember from the early days, when there were some places that just didn't have anything going on. When debunking was still job one.

Jason and Grant obviously heard the complaints of their viewers and even the shock horror of their diehard fans when evidence was cropping up around the web that the team, themselves was faking some of the activity they were reporting. So, they've gone back to basics. It's not as flashy and certainly not as shocking, but it's real and that's what we love about those guys.

Video of the Week: Wave Bye-Bye

Keep your eye on the doorway in the background.

The Shadow Knows

How come naked ghosts are such a rarity? Common theory says that ghosts project their own self-image. So, even if someone dies as an eighty year old man, they may remember themselves as a 22 year old fresh-faced recent college grad, in a fedora. Or a 22 year old fresh-faced college co-ed, if that's how they roll.

There is also a theory that says that ghosts get better at being ghosts, the longer they are ghosts. So, with practice, you learn how to move physical objects, make sounds and work on your appearance. This, I believe, is one explanation for "Shadow People." Shadow people are entities that appear as a shadowy person or a dark mass, sometimes quite small or sometimes quite large. If you haven't been a ghost for very long, you may not yet have the ability to gather enough energy to project a detailed self-image.

Some other theories on shadow people say that they are:

• Demons
• Aliens
• Some other life form
• The results of astral projection experiments conducted by the government

And, of course, when I say these are theories by other people, I mean, of course, kooks.

Video of the Week: Ghost? Ghost?! Ghost!!!!

A great example of what NOT to do when you encounter a full-body apparition.

Video of the Week: Gas Pump Poltergeist

Opening Pandora's Dibbuk Box

This is the weird but true tale of some poor schmo who thought he was getting a great deal on a wine cabinet at an estate auction, when in actuality, what he bought was a cage for a demon. Dibbuk (or dybbuk) is the Yiddish for a malicious demon that looks to posses a human host.

After much research one, in a long line of many owners who sold or gave away what would become known as the Dibbuk Box, in terror, discovered that the box originally belonged to two sisters in Poland. In 1938, these sisters first made contact with what they thought was a benevolent spirit during a series of seances. However, as time went on, they came to realize that it was more than one entity that they were dealing with and none of them were benevolent. They would be punished for not making regular contact by having intimate secrets divulged to others attending the seance. It also seemed that the entities were somehow able to influence the members of the seances outside of the seances. But when the demons then began trying to bargain with them to perform a ritual that would allow them to enter our world, the girls knew that the only way to stop them was to trap them. The entrapment went very wrong, however. The girls felt that their entrapment of the demons in a series of boxes somehow made them stronger and unleashed their evil upon the world, starting with the night of Kristallnacht, when Nazis went on a rampage, destroying Jewish shops and synagogues. For, it was on this night that they first started entrapping the demons.

And although the story is now being made into a movie, the people reporting it seem genuine and legitimate and were not looking to capitalize on it. As you will see from things like the desperate eBay listing, the accounts of the mayhem being unleashed from the box started long before anyone had the idea of a movie. Or of a podcast. Or of a sequel to a podcast.

Video of the Week: Which is Creepier?

The weird looking kid or the weird looking ghost?

For some reason, the owner of this video doesn't let people embed it on sites, so you'll need to go to YouTube to watch it.