Why we need a little mystery.

 

The above pictures are fairly well known. Crop circles have been a part of our lives for a few decades. Nessie (Or the Loch Ness Monster.) even longer. The one with the Leg is a case of Spontaneous Human Combustion, whereby a human body is almost totally consumed by burning (Which would require extremely high temperatures.) yet there is little or no damage to the surroundings.

 

The rise of the internet has proved one thing. We love our mysteries. The more inexplicable the better. While researching this I typed 'Unexplained' into Google and clicked images. The hundreds of results included a time travelling man, a 1940's girl with a suited astronaut behind her, a man with two faces, various supposed Ghost images, Ditto UFO images. The list went on. Many sites collate these things. There is a crossover with conspiracy theories here because all are covered by the title unexplained. Allow me to present you with a uniquely British example.

 

Spring Heeled Jack

 

This was a diabolical figure with fiery red eyes and clawed hands and was reported fro 1837 till 1877 and in various parts of the U.K. He was scary enough but his true terror for Victorian witnesses was that, from a standing start, he could leap 9 feet or more in order to escape. Various explanations were put forward, mainly upper class pranksters. Phosphorous and metal claws accounted for the physical aspects. Even the 1888 Jack the Ripper case was briefly attributed to this British bogey man. More often his appearances were put down to superstition or mass hysteria. More information can be found HERE.

 

 

Time slips.

 



This is another unexplained phenomena. One of the best known is two ladies who went to Versaille, France in 1901. They got lost on their homeward journey but noticed many anachronisms. The clothing was different. The atmosphere changed. Everything seemed flat and lifeless and they observed phenomena strongly suggesting they were in the 16th century. The full story is HERE

There are many other stories of unexplained events. Some point to modern watches found in Ming dynasty graves. Others maintain that the JFK story in 1963 involved time travellers and/or the Illuminati. The British at the battle of Mons in early ww1 swore that Angels had appeared and protected them from the German guns. The Irish Banshee appears on the roof of a house only when a member of the family's death is imminent. The Nazca Lines in Mexico are designed to be seen from the air despite being made in a time before flight.

Now I am a sceptic, I try to debunk Ghost images and it isn't difficult. I like to think we possess innate telepathic or telekinetic abilities but have never been convinced by stories of these abilities. I believe in Alien life but do not believe they would bother travelling all this way just to examine our bodies. I think the Illuminati died out in the far past. I really don't believe in a lot outside our own knowledge as a race.

BUT I get a thrill at the idea of a high jumping monster, banshees scare me, I get shivers at the idea of witches and hags. I like a good Ghost story provided research has given it at least a fighting chance of being based in fact. I would love to slip in time. I want a convincing story of a telepath. The man with two faces- Edward Mordake- would seem feasible as a conjoined twin but is just creepy enough for me.

I think this is the point. Our lives are full of the known and explained that we are desperate for something we can't explain and if it is slightly creepy so much the better. I have given myself some shivery moments looking at pictures for this post and I am oh so rational. If no one has ever managed to explain something with all our modern science and the facts cannot be put down to fakery then it might just BE supernatural. Personally I need something that can't be explained.

Maybe ghosts do haunt but why?

Left: A famous debunked Ghost Photo The woman herself is alive and well., centre "The brown lady of Raynham hall" a possible 'real' ghost, Right a 'Ghostly' mock up of Ann Boleyn.

Of all the supposed Ghosts in the world one of the busiest must be Ann Boleyn. She is obviously associated with many Tudor locations.

Here is a list of her 'hauntings'

Hever Castle, her childhood home

Blickling Hall, her alleged birthplace

The Tower of London, where she was executed

Hampton Court Palace and Windsor Castle, where Anne and Henry resided during their marriage

Salle Church in Norfolk, where Anne’s body was allegedly moved after her original burial in the Chapel of St Peter ad Vincula in the Tower of London and secretly buried under a black slab near the tombs of her Boleyn ancestors

Marwell Hall in Hampshire, a residence of the Seymours between 1530-1638.

Read more: http://www.theanneboleynfiles.com/the-ghost-of-anne-boleyn/#ixzz3l2waWN5B
Now that girl seriously needs to franchise out some of her work. It's a wonder she gets any rest.

It did get me to wondering why, IF ghosts exist, why they haunt specific places. I know the theories. Images recorded in the fabric of buildings. Places where traumatic events trapped a spirit. People who died suddenly and did not realise they were dead. Maybe people who just don't want to go.

Judging by this I would think Ann would want to be in the first, third and fourth locations. I discount the others because being born somewhere is unlikely to make you linger there after death, Living at Hampton Court and Windsor may qualify under the first reason but not the others. The church, well if people haunt where they are buried the Graveyards must be very crowded by now. As for Marwell hall, I can't see why she would want to haunt the home of her successor in Henry VIII's bed. If you visit this website Ann is mentioned right at the end.:-

http://www.hampshire-history.com/marwell-hall-an-intriguing-medley-of-hampshire-history/

Go to the next link and you may be able to see another reason to lay claim to a famous Ghost.

http://www.frightnights.co.uk/index.php/haunted-locations/marwell-hall/

Yes the old profit motive raises it's ugly head although Ann is NOT mentioned in this Ghost Hunt website.

Call me Mr Cynical but money is behind many a claimed haunting, the more high profile the better. If you visit the Tower of London you will be told of haunting and grisly tales aplenty. Quite simply Ghosts, especially famous ones, equal tourists and their cash.

So what of less celebrated Ghost. I know of someone who was killed in a certain location. I know the place well, a perfectly normal house. He was killed by a razor to the throat. If that ain't traumatic I don't know what is but there has been no Ghost mentioned anywhere in connection with the property. My own father died very suddenly in hospital but I have never heard of him haunting anywhere.

You would think that, with all the Roman and Saxon remains under our feet, there would be fields and woodland crawling with the Ghosts of Romans, Saxons, Vikings etc. But again any stories of these tend to be told in places where someone has a financial motive for a resident Ghost.

I watch a lot of daytime T.V. and there are a lot of Ghost Programmes. According to these every other house is haunted. These are mainly American and British and just having a ghost is not good enough, the hauntings in these locations have to be Demons or Witches. And you know what? Most of them make a living from tourism. Can you see a pattern here?

O.K. So a resident ghost is good for business, better still you can probably drag in more people  if you can get your ghost on T.V. But there must be ordinary houses with Ghosts. If you trawl the net there are cases such a Borley Rectory or the Enfield poltergeist:-

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borley_Rectory

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enfield_Poltergeist

The latter was the best documented modern Ghost I know of and I am still unsure if the phenomena could have been faked by two young girls. Even so both of these stories have been subject to claims that they were faked. In the Enfield case one of the girls involved claimed to have faked at least some of the phenomena.

I have a sister whose husband runs the Butchers shop in Pluckley, a small Kent village near Ashford. This village is supposedly the most haunted in England. It has a headless coachman, a screaming woods and several other spectres. I have been there several times and stayed in the village. Not a Ghost or Spectre has ever appeared while I was there. If you ask the local kids they will cheerfully admit to setting up ghostly encounters for unsuspecting tourists. Yes they have a tourist trade based on the Ghost claim.

Conclusions:-

Ghosts of famous people in your tourist attraction are great for business.

Lesser known Ghosts are just as likely to boost the tourist trade for a small village or town.

No one takes these hauntings seriously except for gullible tourists.

There may be Ghosts but I have never seen convincing ghost story in the multitude of T.V. ghost shows. Many of these featured locations also have a financial motive. Some people turn a few strange phenomena into, at least, a resident demon in order to 'big up' a fairly banal story.

Of the few 'real' Ghost stories that have been documented I have found nothing convincing and some things which hint at them having been faked.  There is a famous picture of a flying brick at Borley which has been discussed in many places. For a balanced view of the picture try this:-

http://www.foxearth.org.uk/BorleyRectory/TheFlyingBrick.html

The whole Borley and Enfield phenomena are very worthwhile as research cases.

I think, if Ghosts exist they are weak energies in the main. If they are seen at all it is in light and sound phenomena. I have seen items supposedly moved by Ghosts on film but never with a wide field of view which would remove the possibility of fakery. You have to feel sorry for any ghost linked to a long demolished and buried building who would now have to haunt an empty field.

Of the Ghost programmes I have watched, one of the most sensible is that featuring TAPS.

http://the-atlantic-paranormal-society.com/content/

They at least will debunk a story if they feel it necessary.