From the faerie lore of the Isle of Man, there comes the tale of the Lhiannon-Sidhe. Her name, in Gaelic, is generally rendered Leanan Sidhe, and it means the "fairy sweetheart" or the "fairy mistress."She is almost always depicted as female and beautiful beyond comparison. As with many of the fair-folk, she frequently wears green. This is the color of death where she comes from, and it is a warning sign to all those who might otherwise be entranced by her beauty. She is the original la belle dame sans merci of Keats, and her lovers all lead very brief lives.

In his Fairy and Folk Tales of Ireland, poet W.B. Yeats has this to say: "Most of the Gaelic poets, down to quite recent times, have had a Leanhaun Shee, for she gives inspiration to her slaves and is indeed the Gaelic muse... Her lovers, the Gaelic poets, died young. She grew restless and carried them away to other worlds, for death does not destroy her power." In the Isle of Man, this Dark Muse of Faerie is believed to have vampiric qualities, and she drains the life from the young men she takes to her bed, even as her kisses inspire them to greater heights in their arts.

Most lake monsters are said to look like fish or serpents, with snakelike heads atop long thin bodies tens of feet in length. Witnesses typically see them floating in the water or flopping about on the shore. But things are often weirder in Texas, and the Lake Worth monster is no exception.

The first sighting of the Lake Worth monster occurred in July of 1969, when a group of people reported seeing a huge creature on the banks of Lake Worth near Fort Worth, Texas. They described it as part man, part goat, and covered with both scales and fur. One of the witnesses said it jumped onto the hood of his car and tried to grab his wife before he and the other witnesses were able to escape. Investigators found an 18-inch scratch along the side of the car at the scene. The next day, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram published an article about the attack, sending the locals into a panic.

Ever find yourself face-to-face with an alien or UFO just when you've left your paranormal detection equipment at home? If this happens to you a lot, and you wish that your equipment was smaller and more portable, this new Japanese invention may be the thing for you.

A company called Solid Alliance has come up with a UFO- and alien-detecting novelty device that's small enough to fit in your hand. Called the Yutan UFO detector, the device comes attached to a little blue alien charm and a cell phone strap. According to one of the sites that sell it, to find out if your friend is an alien, have him or her press the buttons on the top and underside of the device. If your friend is an alien, the device will beep and flash, giving you plenty of time to run away as fast as you can. To find out if there are any UFOs nearby, press the top button, and the device will beep and flash if you're about to have a close encounter. There's also an automatic mode, which checks for UFOs at regular intervals and flashes silently if there are any to be found.

Naturally, this device isn't much more than a flying saucer-shaped case for an electromagnetic field meter and a temperature gauge. But for $20, it's not a bad gift to send to a paranormal-loving friend or two.

[image courtesy of strapya-world.com]

The PRS is auctioning off a signed "Paranormal State" poster on eBay to raise money for Penn State University's THON, the largest student-run philanthropy in the country.

The poster is signed by the five main stars of the show: Ryan Buell, Sergey Poberezhny, Eilfie Music, Katrina Weidman and Heather Taddy. Proceeds benefit the Four Diamonds Fund to support families affected by pediatric cancer. The eBay auction closes on Feb. 3, so get your bid in soon.

If you think UFOs are confined to the skies, think again. Unidentified metallic objects have been reported to enter or appear in, over and coming out of bodies of water like seas, lakes and rivers for just as long as UFOs have been reported. USO is an acronym for Unidentified Submerged Object. These reports have occurred all over the world. Some of themost intriguing cases of USO encounters have occurred in Canada, the United States, Sweden and Brazil. Encounters reported in Norway, Sweden and Russia have involved objects that were able to pass through ice sheets, leaving smooth, gaping holes as if the object had the ability to melt the ice as it passed through. In some of these reports, witnesses claim the objects went in and out of the water. Similar to reactions to the Roswell and Kecksburg incidents, there are those who believe several leading governments know a lot more about USOs than they've released.

Referred to as "the world's only government documented UFO crash," the incidents that occurred at Shag Harbor, Nova Scotia on Oct. 4, 1967 involved a USO encounter (perhaps two).

Founded in New York in 1875, the Theosophical Society dedicated itself to the exploration of mediumship and its many applications and powers. At the time, the phenomenon of mediumship had become more than a passing fancy in both America and England. This was thanks in no small part to the strange occurences at the Hydesville, NY home of the Fox sisters in 1848. The Theosophical Society promoted the study of what they called theosophy, which essentially means "knowledge of God."

Headed by the charismatic and sometimes controversial figure of Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, the society started off with fairly simple goals. After a few years, however, the headquarters of the society were moved from New York to Madras, India — a locale which, at the time, must have seemed exceptionally exotic to most Westerners.

Case File: 2007.01.32F
Code Name: "Schoolhouse Haunting"

DIRECTOR'S LOGS
These logs have been condensed and edited, but to the best of our ability, they remain an accurate account of the case:

THE EVP "KATIE"
This was possibly the strangest EVP session we had during the filming for "Paranormal State." Katrina claimed that she was hearing a heavy breathing sound right behind her. However, on our sensitive microphone, I couldn't hear anything. Later, I hear a voice clear as day saying, "Katie" through my headphones, although none of the teammates heard it. I then heard the breathing that Katrina was hearing once we repositioned the microphone. Later, during our evidence analysis, we could only hear one instance of the breathing. Nevertheless, I was certain that we at least documented the "Katie" sound. It was so loud and clear that I was eager to listen to it.

Continued after the jump.

The following is a blog entry by George E. Dalzell, L.C.S.W., a practicing psychotherapist, medium and author of Messages: Evidence for Life After Death. George consulted with the PRS on the investigation shown in the "Paranormal State" episode "Vegas."

I was contacted in February of 2007 by the PRS to fly to Las Vegas. The only information I was given was that their client was a person who reported experiencing materializations of a spirit in her home in Las Vegas. Nothing more. In addition to being a licensed psychotherapist, I am also an evidence-based medium. I have participated in science experiments both as a medium at the University of Arizona and the University of Virginia.

Pre-reading Savannah
Pre-reading — Definition: making contact with a primary deceased loved one to gain written information documented before a mediumship reading. As a medium, writing out a Pre-Reading allows for getting specific information from loved ones in spirit versus "cold reading," which is getting information during a sitting from a sitter's visual and verbal cues. Cold reading is the opposite of true mediumship.

In the Nazca desert plains of southern Peru, strange markings and designs have been the source for frenzied speculation and controversy over the years. Over nearly 500 square miles of desert, about 300 geometric shapes are etched into the sand. The shapes, called geoglyphs, were first spotted when commercial airlines began flying over Peru in the 1920s. The lines and shapes seem to make up various designs when viewed from the air, including figures of animals, plants, man-made objects and anthropomorphic figures.

The designs are unique and mysterious in many ways. The straight lines crisscross the desert plain in all directions and seem random. But many of the lines form angles, triangles, spirals, rectangles and other figures. All the figures have well-defined entrances to use as paths and seemed to have been used as gathering or travel points. The pressing question is this — how did a civilization from thousands of years ago with only simple technology manage to construct such vast and precise designs? And what were they used for? Explanations are many, but proof is scarce. Some believe the lines come from alien encounters, while others posit the lines as a celestial calendar created by the ancient Nazca civilization. Even others suggest the intervention of some ancient god, or simply a massive method of drawing worshippers towards a central pilgrimage spot.

Case File: 2007.01.32F
Code Name: "Schoolhouse Haunting"

SUMMARY OF PHENOMENA
Case involves two clients — Jeff and Shannon Sylvia, who own a condo in Massachusetts. They claim they hear the sounds of children playing in the home. Objects have moved. Shannon also reports having terrible, recurring nightmares. Shannon and Jeff brought in a psychic who claims that a man hung himself at the location.

NOTES FOR THE DISPATCHED FIELD RESEARCH TEAM
• What is the history of the location?

• If there are the spirits of children lingering, why are they doing so?

• Can we verify the psychic's claims?

• How can we help Shannon's reoccurring nightmares?

St. Philomena once enjoyed a cult of great popularity, drawing pilgrims from all over the world to pray over her relics to be healed. She was praised and canonized, a rare honor. At the peak of her popularity, she became known as "Powerful with God." There was just one slight hitch that finally caught up with her — she probably didn't exist.

Philomena came to public attention in May 1802 when a coffin containing the remains of a girl aged 12 to 13, along with a broken ampule containing dried blood, were found in a sealed shelf tomb in the Catacomb of St. Priscilla in Rome. The tomb bore the symbols of virginity and martyrdom, and the nonsensical words LUMENA PAXTE CUMFI. Researchers scrambled the letters until they made sense: PAX TECUM FILUMENA, or "Peace be with you, Philomena."

During the days of Jack the Ripper, occultism was all the rage in London. The British empire had already been introduced to a variety of unusual beliefs, both through the advent of Spiritualism as well as the influence of Helena Petrovna Blavatksy's organization, the Theosophical Society. And then a London coroner, Dr. William Westcott, decided to get together with his rather colorful friend, S. L. Macgregor Mathers (pictured on the left in full ritual regalia) to found what is known to the world as the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. Together with Dr. W. R. Woodman, Supreme Magus of the Rosicrucian Society of Anglia, they formed the three chiefs of the Order.

Westcott, who was a Mason, claimed to have access to a mysterious cipher, connected to a German Rosicrucian, Anna Sprengel. Mathers took the material in the cipher and developed an elaborate ritual system from the information it contained. Drawing heavily upon traditional ceremonial magic, ancient Egyptian mysticism, and the Kabbalah, the ritual system of the Golden Dawn remains highly influential even today.

As the New England Patriots made history last Sunday evening, I walked into a former Presbyterian Church in Baltimore to celebrate the birthday of one of the world's most beloved writers of the macabre, Edgar Allen Poe. Westminster Hall, shrouded in eerie purple lamplight, was the location for an evening of Poe in two acts: "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" and "Remembering Poe."

Westminster Hall stands above Baltimore's only catacombs. Its cemetery, called the Old Western Burial Ground, is the oldest in the city and houses the bones of Poe, his cousin Virginia and his aunt Maria. During his life in Baltimore, Poe experienced his first little taste of success ($50 worth) while living with his aunt and cousin at 203 Amity St. from 1832 to 1835. However, his time spent in Baltimore was marked mainly by poverty and debt. One of his first horror stories, entitled "Berenice," was written in Baltimore. Jeff Jerome, curator of the Poe House and Museum, orchestrates various Poe events year-round.

From the dense forests of Liberia come reports of two interesting cryptid species: the Kumbway and the Gbahali. According to a report from John-Mark Sheppard, the Kumbway is a large reptilian creature about 15-20 feet long, with huge scales, thick powerful claws, and spines all over its back. The man who told Sheppard about the Kumbway claimed to have shot one in the face and then eaten it.

The Gbahali is even bigger than the Kumbway. It resembles an alligator or crocodile, but much bigger, with three rows of spines running down its back. Sheppard says that villagers used to catch the Gbahali and sell its meat in the local markets, but that the only known Gbahali skull was destroyed in a fire. The Gbahali is similar in appearance to a Postosuchus, an extinct species of dinosaur. However, the Postosuchus was found in Arizona, not Liberia

Can objects talk and tell stories about people and events? Yes they can — as many people with even a modest amount of psychic skill have discovered. Stones, personal possessions, clothing, furniture and other objects have a mysterious ability to record and store information about people who have owned and handled them. The ability to retrieve that information is called psychometry.

Objects can be psychometrized by handling them or even looking at them. The information they store is transmitted via mental images, thoughts and impressions, and sometimes even voices that are "heard" in the head.

The term "psychometry" comes from the Greek words psyche (the soul) and metron measure), coined in 1840 by Joseph R. Buchanan, an American professor of physiology who saw psychometry as a means to measure the "soul" of objects. Buchanan conducted experiments in which students could identify drugs in vials simply by holding the vials.

Graham Hancock is an extremely popular writer and journalist providing controversial solutions to ancient mysteries. He examines ancient myths, astronomical and astrological data from the past, and the existence of a "mother culture," the origin of all ancient historical civilizations. His books, including The Sign and the Seal, Fingerprints of the Gods and Heaven's Mirror, have sold more than 5 million copies worldwide and have been translated into 27 languages.

Hancock is especially known for his work with the "Orion Correlation Theory," first described by Robert Bauval. The theory contends the three main pyramids on the Giza plateau in Egypt, built in 10,500 BC, are located by design in spots correlated with the relative positions, from many thousands of years earlier, of the three stars making up Orion's Belt. Furthermore, the design and placement of the Sphinx, the Giza pyramids and the Nile River are an accurate reflection of the Leo, Orion and Milky Way constellations from that earlier time.

We checked back in with Sybil, owner of the haunted house in the "Pet Cemetery" episode of "Paranormal State", to get her impressions of the Penn State PRS's investigation and what's happened since they visited. Apparently, the show was the talk of the town — Sybil says that the show was watched at restaurants and bars, and at least one tavern ran out of beer during their show airing party.

Sybil said she thought the experience was a "good learning experience" for the PRS team, and that they really seemed to help clear the air in the house — but not entirely. At least one spirit was cleared by the team's efforts, but at least one other remains. The upstairs feels much calmer, but the downstairs bathroom continues to exhibit signs of a presence. "There's something with the bathroom door," Sybil said. "Some friends of mine were helping move furniture out of the house [in preparation for its sale] and their kids were with them. One of the kids went to the bathroom, and when she was finished, she couldn't open the door. My friends tried everything to open it, but it wouldn't budge. Then, all of a sudden, it opened." The bathroom door has also been seen to throw wide open on its own, and ominous thumping noises have come from the wall above the tub.

If you live in Medina County, Ohio, chances are you've heard about the Witch's Ball. It's not a dance nor a kicking Halloween party. Medina County's Witch's Ball is a grave. The ball is located in an out-of-the-way cemetery called Myrtle Hill, which also boasts proximity to Cry Baby Bridge on Abbeyville Road, another "haunted" location surrounded by local legends.

Close to Valley View and Liverpool Township, the Witch's Ball is a little hard to find if you don't know your way around this sleepy, small-town portion of Northeastern Ohio. The cemetery is off the beaten path, and, although a number of houses have started to encroach upon it in recent years, it's still fairly remote, surrounded by open fields and woods.

A lot of locals frequent the Witch's Ball, especially around Halloween. As the story goes, a witch is buried under the striking, spherical monument emblazoned with the name Stoskopf. The witch, for one reason or another, still lingers near her earthly remains, and she is not at all happy to be there.

Saints and miracles go hand in hand, but nowhere in the annals of history and lore is a saint like Januarius, a martyred bishop of Benvenuto, Italy who died around 304-5 AD. Januarius might have sunk into obscurity, even for a saint, had it not been for his bizarre blood. More than 1700 years after Januarius was beheaded for his faith, his blood still boils — literally.

Januarius died during persecutions of Christians under the Roman Emperor Diocletian. The governor of Campania, Italy, Timothy, arrested him and tried to execute him by throwing him into a fire and casting him to wild beasts. The saint remained untouched, according to lore. Finally Timothy succeeded, beheading Januarius and some companions.

The saint's remains were buried in Marciano, then moved to Naples. Later, the bones were dug up, and, as powerful relics, toured Europe. At the end of the 13th century, two vials of dried blood said to be that of Januarius surfaced, and joined the other relics.

Case File: 2007.01.30F
Code Name: "Paranormal Intervention"

DI