Study Finds that Mediumship May be a Mental State

A study conducted by several scientists involving "accredited" mediums - that is, mediums who had previously correctly answered questions about known deceased people in double-blind tests - found that the medium state is distinctly different from that of thinking about a living or imaginary person. This researchers concluded that the medium state is a distinct mental state that suggests the mediums may actually be communicating with the dead.

© C Harris Lynn, 2013

TV Psychic Stabs Daughters

Graham Bishop stands accused of stabbing his two daughters in Rigshospitalet, though there is no motive for his attack. Bishop has appeared on several TV shows, claiming he can communicate with spirits by going into a trance. He claims that he is sometimes possessed by the spirit of someone he calls Dr. Karl, who began performing surgeries at age 12, and that he has helped many people throughout Europe and the US.

The girls were upgraded from critical condition and are now stable.

© C Harris Lynn, 2012

Researchers Find Evidence for Mental Time-Travel

Chronosthesia is the theoretical psychic ability to mentally travel forward and backward through time, but has remained laughably dismissed by the scientific community as a whole. Now though, an international team of researchers claims to have discovered proof that such a phenomena does exist.

Specifically, the team discovered that the areas of the brain which were stimulated when subjects were asked to think about the past or future were the same. In short, it appears that the team has found some scant and initially exciting evidence for chronosthesia, though they caution their findings need additional data and evaluation before any conclusive answers will become apparent.

© C Harris Lynn, 2010

Ghost Light Transmissions - Silent Weaponry at Yakima, Washington

In a significant number of Ghost Lights reports, witnesses claim to have heard voices or felt strong emotions which strongly affected, or even dictated, their behavior. Many say they felt restrained, or even heard a voice telling them to, "Stay away!" or otherwise warning them of danger from the Ghost Light itself. 

In other cases, they felt wildly compelled to leave the area and avoid the Ghost Lights entirely.  Those affected reported experiencing a panic state forcing a "Fight or Flight" response that was hard to ignore.

More remarkably, many of these reports involve ghost lights seen from hundreds of yards away or farther.  These peculiar cases, likely involving the use of silent weaponry technology, are particularly common to sightings of the Yakima Ghost Lights near the Yakima Indian Reservation in Washington state.

The OddBlog knows that the US military, and its various criminal offshoots, have technology specific to weaponized (manufactured) ball lightning, ghost lights, and mouth-to-skull broadcasts.

© C Harris Lynn, 2010

PA Psychic Goes Gangster

Authorities say a fortune-telling couple fears for their life after being threatened by a rival psychic with a gun -- and this is not the first time such charges have been brought against the guy!

Stephen Mitchell of Pennsylvania is said to have become enraged when George and Shirley Thompson started advertising their psychic business near Mitchell's own fortune-telling establishment. He then reportedly confronted Mrs. Thompson with a gun and threatened her and her children.

Though an unconfirmed source claiming to be Stephen Mitchell's wife said the accusations were false, but Mitchell is facing similar allegations elsewhere. Police also doubt the veracity of the claims, but are investigating.

© C Harris Lynn, 2010

The Human Torch

I do my best to classify these stories by tags, because I really want to make this information available to researchers, phenomenalists, and armchair paranormalists, but some stories defy the categories, no matter how well-crafted or numerous. This is one such story:

A woman from Antigua in August of 1929 began experiencing troublesome fires about her person: Her clothes and bedding repeatedly caught fire and were scorched when she awoke each morning, yet she herself remained unburned. Neighbors who helped the woman replace her wardrobe and bedding corroborated her unusual story.

© C Harris Lynn, 2010

Poltergeist or ESP? Binbrook, Lincolnshire, England

At the turn of the last century, the Reverend A.C. Custance said bizarre things started happening at the rectory in Binbrook, Lincolnshire, England. In December of 1904, the Reverend reported objects began moving of their own accord -- some even caught fire. But it was in January of 1905 that a farmer in Binbrook walked into his kitchen to discover the servant girl sweeping the kitchen, unaware of the flames leaping from her back. He rushed to her aid and smothered the fire, but she was badly burned.

These cases seem to suggest Dæmonic activity, as poltergeists are generally associated with a specific place or person. Poltergeists are also rarely associated with fire but often associated with girls -- specifically, adolescents. Could it be that the servant girl mentioned in the account, recorded by famed Phenomenalist, Charles Fort, also worked, or attended services at, the local rectory and was the source of all the associated phenomenon the small village of Binbrook experienced in the early 1900s? Or was Binbrook perhaps host to a Supernatural entity?

© C Harris Lynn, 2010

Gwrych Castle to Become Psychic School?

Days after a picture he took which appears to show a ghostly figure in Gwrych Castle went international, Clitheroe-based Kevin Horkin announced plans to open a "psychic school" in the building. Horkin said the deal, if it goes through, would likely be connected to already announced plans by a different group to turn the castle into a luxury hotel. The hotel would have no psychic... connection to the school.

Many critics noted the supposed ghastly photograph, which The OddBlog covered earlier, could easily have been faked, but no professional authority has examined the photo as yet. The most replete argument suggested the image of the supposed phantom was simply the picture of a young woman reflected in glass, then superimposed over the image of Gwrych Castle.

The OddBlog always remains skeptical, but we are true believers, and feel the need to point-out that if some 15-year old on the Interwebz knows how to pull-off such an effect, then it is not exactly a "Hollywood Magic"-level hoax; it is logical to think someone would have debunked the photo before now. Of course, newspapers aren't going to run a hoax photo as a hoaxed photo; they would run the photo, then debunk it - two stories for the price of one!

Is Horkin's desire to open this psychic school based on some newfound belief in ESP and/or the paranormal, or was the photo a hoax to drum-up interest in his Gwrych Castle psychic school plans? Maybe time will tell, and The OddBlog will follow!

© C Harris Lynn, 2010

Is Ralphie the Big-Assed Rabbit Possessed by a Ghoul?

Ralphie's mom, Amy, was the largest rabbit in the world until her death.  Now, Ralphie is poised to take that honor -- knocking-back a whopping $20 worth of ruffage a day, and weighing as much as your average three-year old child!  But TV medium, Derek Acorah, feels Ralphie may also be channeling the spirit... of a ghoul!

Apparently, Acorah "spoke" with Ralphie recently, and concluded the oversized bunny rabbit's ghoul-channeling was the source of "spooky happenings" about the family's estate.  Ralphie's owner calls the idea "a load of old nonsense," but agrees that Ralphie, "isn't your average rabbit."

She also said that Ralphie's local celebrity pays-off when neighbors offer to help foot the feeding bill.  Some stop her at the grocery store and offer her cabbage, carrots, and apples -- the vegetables which constitute Ralphie's ghoulish, daily intake.

© C Harris Lynn, 2010

Saudi Arabian Sentenced to Death for Witchcraft

From the Vaults:

A Saudi Arabian man has been sentenced to death for practicing witchcraft after he made "psychic predictions" on TV from his home. Arrested over a year earlier while on pilgrimage, the man joins three others awaiting death for the same offense, including a woman who was arrested for making predictions. Two of these were arrested in the same month as the accused, Ali Sibat. Reports indicate officials coerced Sibat into "confessing" to communicating with spirits in return for his freedom, which was never granted; instead, he was sentenced to death for practicing sorcery.

Saudi Arabian law has no specific definition of "witchcraft," and the New York-based Human Rights Watch activist group claims officials use it as a catch-all to unjustly convict anyone engaging in any activity deemed "un-Islamic."

Human Rights Watch accused Saudi Arabia of "sanctioning a literal witch hunt by the religious police" - a practice of which all Islamic countries are guilty. The group is calling for the Saudi Arabian government to overturn these convictions and abandon the death sentence in such convictions. Amnesty International is said to have taken-up the cause, as well.

104 of the 140 people on death row in the country are foreign. One of those convicted of sorcery is an Asian man who "used his powers" to solve a marital dispute. Another is said to have defaced a copy of the abominable Qur'an.

© C Harris Lynn, 2009

Zelda Rubinstein's Psychic Connection with Death

I almost hate to post this because I know how it sounds to skeptics - even some believers - but regular readers know I don't lie or exaggerate claims like these, and it's really no earth-shattering thing, so take it for what it's worth:

Zelda Rubinstein, best known for her work as the psychic investigator in the Poltergeist franchise, died this Wednesday, January 27, at 76. In her IMdB biography, a story is related concerning the death of her mother, which happened while she was at a photo shoot for Poltergeist III. According to the story, Rubinstein "bolted" in-place at one point. It was extreme enough that the director noticed it and asked her what was wrong, to which the actress replied, "...it was just a jolt. I'm fine."

A few minutes later, someone informed the director, Gary Sherman, that Zelda Rubinstein was to be released from the set, as her mother had just died. Once the shots were developed, all came out fine except for one, in which "an inexplicable cloud of light" curled-in from the left, obscuring the actress in a "semi-transparent haze." Later, Rubinstein said she knew the incident had been the passing of her mother, and likened their relationship to that of "identical twins," who are often said to possess a psychic bond. Sherman had to agree.

The Poltergeist series is popularly said to be cursed.

But this is where it gets weird:

I had planned to post her obituary on The Rundown (see link above) almost two weeks before it happened!

I had surgery on January 5^th and was still heavily-medicated at this time, so I was definitely in an altered-state of consciousness, but certainly was not actively trying to predict the future, telepathically connect with anyone, or anything like that. However, I came across news of her death somewhere online and made a note to report it - in fact, I made several notes to report it before Rubinstein actually died, as I kept forgetting! Over a week ago, I watched one of her last films, Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon, and made yet another note to write her obituary!

Zelda Rubinstein died the day before yesterday!

Zelda Rubinstein had been hospitalized for a few months prior to her death. It is very, very possible that some website incorrectly reported her death, and that is what I honestly believe happened because I really did read her obituary almost two weeks before she died, even if it was in a dream or some half-assed "hallucination" brought upon by medication. However, the very fact that seeing her in that movie several days later reminded me of her passing proves that this was at least a full week before she actually died!

Though I do not completely discount the notion that Zelda Rubinstein may have had some sort of psychic connection with death or that I might very well have suffered some sort of Psi-related event while in an altered-state of consciousness (drugged).

© C Harris Lynn, 2010

Coffee? Tea? Prophesy Your Future?

Customers at the Coffee House in Tel Aviv can get a little extra with their cup o' joe: The service staff will divine their future from the grounds in the bottom of their cup!  Marketing manager, Michael Steg, hired a Gypsy soothsayer to train the wait staff in reading the coffee grounds at the end of customers' coffee.

The service is free.  Israel's coffee market is highly competitive.

© C Harris Lynn, 2009

Tweance

I swear this is what they're calling it; "Twéance" is the first séance held over Twitter. A paranormal publicity stunt, the Twéance is set to try to contact Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett, and Patrick Swayze. You can tweet your suggestions, as well.

Séances came into vogue in the late 19^th-Century and were largely discredited by such skeptics as Harry Houdini. The séance holders used various means to fool those attending - efforts as simple as rapping on the underside of the table to elaborate feats requiring no small amount of agility or even accomplices. There were, however, a handful of occurrences - and people - which were never explained-away, even by Houdini, who was forced to admit that contacting the dead just might be possible.

Houdini remained a skeptic to the day he died, though he left a special message with his wife and asked her to try and contact him by holding a séance every Halloween. The séance is held to this day!

© C Harris Lynn, 2009

Prophet Without a Ticket

Edward Pearson was arrested on December 4, 1978, for riding on a train without a ticket. When he appeared in court in Perth, Scotland, he was described as "an unemployed Welsh prophet," and there, he explained to the judge that he was trying to get to London to warn the minister of the environment of an earthquake that was going to hit Glasgow.

Earthquakes are extremely rare in the British Isles and Mr. Pearson's story, recorded faithfully by the court reporter, was covered in Dundee's Courier & Advertiser on December 6^th, under the derogatory title, "Prophet Didn't Have a Ticket."

Three weeks later, earthquakes rocked the region, damaging buildings in Glasgow, as well as other parts of Scotland.

© C Harris Lynn, 2009

Messages from Dead Lead to Clairvoyant's Arrest

A self-proclaimed sorceress from Nizza Monferraro, Italy has been arrested for defrauding a young seamstress of nearly $35,000 through her cellphone. The young woman was seeking her father's advice and his approval of her upcoming marriage. Unfortunately, her dad was a little dead. So she consulted the Sorceress of Nizza Monferraro, who sent her text messages and claimed they were from her father.

When the young woman confided in a friend as to the amount of money it was costing her to hear her dead father's advice, her friend told her 2 TXT 911.

© C Harris Lynn, 2009

Mexican Warlock

Antonio Vazquez, the self-proclaimed "Grand Warlock," has predicted that American troops will pull out of Iraq and assemble on the Mexican border. He says American forces will do so in an attempt to expand our territory. He also says Britney Spears will continue to triumph in 2009.

In 2008, Vazquez predicted the pop star would die - along with Fidel Castro. He also predicted that oil prices would be stable.

© C Harris Lynn, 2008

Parowan Prophesies Nuclear End

A Parowan, Utah man who claims to be a prophet says to prepare for a Soviet nuclear strike sometime before Christmas. Leeland Freeborn crashed a plane in 1975 and fell into a coma, during which time he claims to have "broken through to the other side" and gained the power of prophecy. He split with the Mormon Church and forewent his worldly riches. Now he spends his days preaching to his flock.

All of Freeborn's flock are former members of the Church of Latter Day Saints who have excommunicated themselves over disagreements with the Church's stand on various issues, including polygamy. They congregate at his house and believe him to be what he claims.

While Leland Freeborn, called the Parowan Prophet, has been shunned by many in his community and openly mocked on radio talk shows and other forums, he said he "truly believes" what he is preaching. And though he has offered similar Zero Hour predictions in the past, he and his flock are convinced these are the End-Times.

But the Parowan Prophet freely admits, 'Prophecy is not an exact science.'

© C Harris Lynn, 2008

More on ESP

In editing tags, I came across an earlier post in which I think I was trying to distinguish between terms referring to kinetic acts.

(Let me preface the rest of this by noting the post referenced is not one of my finer moments... I was probably drinking. That is not to say I do not feel strongly about that in which I believe, just that... well, that post goes a bit overboard without ever specifying much of... anything and I fully realize this. But I digress...)

Kinesis is defined as "the movement of an organism in response to a stimulus." In particular, there are two definitions with which we are concerned: telekinesis and psychokinesis. The differences are subtle and often argued.

• Psychokinesis is the discipline of moving something through sheer force of will, or "mind power," if you will; possibly the truest form of "mind over matter."
• Telekinesis is the discipline of communicating with spirits to have them move objects for you. In this regard, telekinesis is often seen as a matter of telepathy - which, technically speaking, it is.

This is why The OddBlog only uses the tag - and term - "ESP," short for Extra Sensory Perception to define all "psychic" abilities. This purposeful lack of delineation between so-called "psychic" phenomena originates with Greece (Psi - Ψ) and is the only clinically scientific way to approach the matter; the Greeks made no attempt to divide psychic phenomena by effect, simply grouping the phenomena into a category by cause. That is to say, no matter the phenomena experienced (precognition, clairvoyance, T/PK, etc.), the source of such was determined to be psychic in nature and classified as such - no further delineation was necessary.

As the above clearly illustrates, we do not have enough information on ESP phenomena to make separations between disciplines and individual phenomenon - so why bother? In fact, the first to even attempt to do so was the Society for Psychical Research, founded in 1882, and while their intent was both admirable and understandable, it is too far-reaching and thus meritless.

When a "psychic" predicts something that comes true, how are we to know whether he possesses some form of precognitive "power" or some form of telepathy which allowed him to communicate with (or be communicated by) some entity which informed him of the matter? This would technically define the difference between a "psychic" and a "psychic medium." But further, maybe some heretofore unknown discipline was exercised which allowed the "psychic" to access some natural energy, field, power, et. al., in which such knowledge is stored - a "dimension" or field where the normal "rules" of time are inapplicable, corrupted, or - even better - so perfect and perfectly true as to contain all things past, present, and future?

In fact, while tests concerning ESP are inconclusive - in no small part because we do not know how to even begin testing them - at least one test carried out in 1971 proved that while ESP is likely (that is, that something inexplicable is present), division beyond that is simply not possible at this stage of research.

© C Harris Lynn, 2008

Kreskin's Reality

Famed psychic, the Amazing Kreskin, is coming to reality TV.

Kreskin has signed-on to film POI: Persons of Interest and a pilot is being shopped to cable networks. It features Kreskin working on the case of one Scott Javins, an Indiana college student who disappeared in 2002.

While there are some similarities to the CBS drama, The Mentalist, hitting airwaves this fall, POI is a reality show which features real cases, real policemen, and the real Amazing Kreskin. The show was created with the help of an Indiana-based police officer who has been working with Kreskin.

Kreskin has been working with law enforcement for the past few years.

© C Harris Lynn, 2008

Grigory Gabovoy Convicted

Self-proclaimed Russian psychic, Grigory Gabovoy, was convicted of fraud last week and sentenced to 11 years in prison.

Gabovoy claimed a number of things, including the ability to teleport, levitate, change the length of his limbs, cure AIDS and other diseases, and raise the dead. He offered to raise the children who died in the Beslan school tragedy -- if paid a large sum of money. This became his MO in later years, as he preyed on surviving relatives of the dead, according to prosecutors.

He was found guilty on 11 separate counts of fraud, including one in which he told a woman he could resurrect her dead children. In all cases, Gabovoy accepted money from the despondent relatives in exchange for his "services" -- services that were never rendered. While Gabovoy did meet with mothers of the children killed in the Beslan terrorist siege and supposedly requested money, none of the cases were tied to that.

Dozens of supporters clamored on the courthouse steps and professed their belief in the self-proclaimed prophet who has said he is the second advent of Christ. At the height of his popularity, Gabovoy drew hundreds.

© C Harris Lynn, 2008