'My Dad Fired at the Devil'
There has always been a little on going joke within my family about the time my Dad stood a few yards away from the Devil and shot at him. It's always been one of these little jokes that get mentioned once in a blue moon. I can remember as a kid if I was ill or hurt etc he'd mention it The point is I never really got a good explanation for it except that off the cuff remarks about it. I've never believed in anything paranormal, I like ghost films etc. But I've never really bought into the whole idea.
Anyway a few years ago the whole family and friends where over celebrating New Year. As the party was dying down, for some reason or another it got to people telling paranormal experiences in life. It was the first time I really heard the full story about the Devil incident.
This happened back in 1982, I was only a baby back then so I've no memory of it. We live in a small town in Scotland called Blackburn which is famous/infamous now for Susan Boyle. Anyway back then my parents were not long married and had their first home, a little bottom floor flat in a street called Rowan Street, it's a dump now and I bet it was a dump back then.
So the story goes that my Dad was working late one night, it was just me and my mother in the flat, my Dad comes home late in the evening eats his dinner and then our dog starts going nuts barking at the kitchen door, real aggressive frantic barking at something outside. This was strange for our dog Sinbad as he was one of those Dogs that just never barked and was a good natured Dog. He died when I was nine so I've a good memory of his characteristics. So the fear was that there was a intruder in the back garden my dad reasoned. So he quickly ran into his bedroom and got out his 2.2 air rifle, hey it's Scotland not America.
So he ran back into the Kitchen, the Dog still going nuts barking and scratching at the door. Air Rifle over the shoulder and a torch in hand he opened the door to the Garden. The Dog ran down the steps, stopping at the pavement, still going nuts. My Dad stepped down too, scanning the area, seeing nothing. Until he looked where the dog was barking at. What he described to me is the stuff of nightmares.
He looked across the garden and what he saw he described as a black moving form of mist like floating smoke, blacker than the blackest black with glowing red eyes moving from left to right across the garden. Raising his torch to it only illuminated it against the night and made it's features stand out more, a smoky black form, those red eyes burning. So he went into Soldier mode, he was in the Territorial Army back then. He raised his rifle and began firing at it. I still find the idea of shooting at this thing with air rifle pellets funny, but God had that been me I'd have been running in the opposite direction.
It was around that time telling the story that my mother chimed in mentioning that she too had witnessed this thing from the kitchen window and she too watched it pass into through the brick wall separating the gardens. I had always assumed it was only my dad that saw this thing, but I got the impression that neither of them where really keen to dwell upon those memories. The logic was that way back in 82 the upstairs neighbour was a guy known to be into weird stuff like Ouija boards and the like. So naturally the think there was a connection. I know they moved away from there not to long after and in my job now as a postman I've been to that block of flats and saw the garden. Also the morning after the event my dad checked back fence and found no pellet marks so he shot and hit the devil, or a rather large cat. - reddit.com/r/Paranormal
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Indian State Maharashtra Bans 'Black Magic'
Maharashtra heralds a progressive new era with a comprehensive law banning black magic, witchcraft and other superstitious practices coming into effect, officials said Sunday.
Governor K. Sankaranarayanan signed an Ordinance Saturday evening which will curb all these practices, and award stringent punishment for practitioners. Maharashtra is the first state in the country to enact such a law.
The state government is likely to notify the law, which stipulates a maximum sentence of up to seven years in jail for various practices, by Monday.
The move comes five days after the killing of rationalist Narendra Dabholkar, the founder-head of the Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti (MANS), which was at the forefront of the movement against these blind and often harmful practices.
Among other things, the new law will ban inhuman practices, human sacrifice, rituals to enable sex selection by pregnant women, and all forms of acts known as 'Jaadu-Tona' in common parlance.
The governor signed the Ordinance after it was drafted and cleared by the state cabinet last Wednesday, a day after Dabholkar's killing in Pune sparked outrage and protests across the state.
The Ordinance has replaced the draft "Maharashtra Prevention and Eradication of Human Sacrifice and Other Inhuman, Evil and Aghori Practices and Black Magic Bill" 2011, known simply as the 'anti-Black Magic Bill," pending before the legislature.
Under severe pressure for delaying the long-pending legislation aimed at ridding the society of the evils of such practices, the state government adopted the Ordinance route instead of waiting for the next session of legislature in Nagpur, in December.
Dabholkar, 67, was shot dead by unidentified gunmen Aug 20 while on a morning walk in Pune. - New Indian Express
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Silent Rattlesnake
It may be terrifying to hear a rattlesnake's signature sound—but, hey, at least it's giving you a heads-up. Now, hikers in South Dakota's Black Hills have to keep their eyes peeled for rattlesnakes that can't rattle, NPR reports. These snakes have curled tails like pigs thanks to what seem to be atrophied muscles, says an expert. It may be a genetic defect.
"Defect" or not, it's probably helping the snakes: Those that do rattle are likely to get spotted and killed, so the non-rattlers have built-in protection that they may be passing on to their descendants. On the other hand, it could just be that certain snakes have had their tails broken "during failed predation attempts," says a researcher. Either way, it seems hikers may need more than just their ears to avoid them. - Newser
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Ghost Of Bank Robber Seen At Intersection
Do you believe in ghosts?
Many people do and say they’ve seen the man who robbed a Wells Fargo Bank and killed himself when he was cornered by police.
A paranormal investigator says he’s been contacted by two people in East Memphis where the bank robber died.
Those who’ve apparently seen this ghost have seen it at the exact spot where the bank robber ended his life.
“I haven’t been looking but I will probably see it now that it is in my head,” said Lori McCaghren, who lives on Walnut Grove.
From her front door, McCaghren has the perfect view of the corner of Walnut Grove and Perkins. She has yet to see the ghost
“I mean, what time of day?” she asked.
“A shadowy figure that you can see through,” said Mike Einspanjer, the owner of Memphis Paranormal Investigations and grief counselor.
Einspanjer says he’s had two people contact him, a man and woman, about seeing Marvin Amerson at night, back from the dead.
Amerison killed himself July 23rd after robbing a Wells Fargo Bank on Poplar.
He took police on a chase and then crashed his van.
Instead of surrendering, Amerson ended his life.
Einspanjer says suicides often produce ghosts.
“This wasn’t a planned event,” said Einspanjer. “He did it in the spur of the moment and that’s a lot to deal with and it takes time.”
Amerson also left behind a wife and a son, “So that’s a lot of pain and a lot of grief that he has to work through.”
“I have a perfect view and I look out all the time,” said McCaghren.
Those we spoke with live near the intersection and say they aren’t the ones who called the ghost hunter for help.
“So you haven`t seen him either?” asked reporter Sabrina Hall.
“I haven’t seen him and I sit out here quite a bit too,” said Steven Loughridge, who lives on Perkins. “I haven’t seen him or heard him.”
If the ghost is real, the paranormal investigator says there is no telling when it will leave because he says earthbound spirits only cross over when they are ready to let go.
Einspanjer says he keeps those who contact him confidential. - WREG
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China Lunar Mission
China's Chang'e-3 lunar probe is scheduled to be launched at the end of this year for a moon landing mission, the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence announced on Wednesday.
"Chang'e-3 has officially entered its launch stage, following its research and manufacture period," said a statement released by the administration after Wednesday's meeting on the mission.
The mission will see a Chinese space probe land on a celestial body for the first time.
"The Chang'e-3 mission makes best use of a plethora of innovative technology. It is an extremely difficult mission, that carries great risk," said Ma Xingrui, head of China's space exploration body and chief commander of the lunar program.
The Chang'e-3 mission is the second phase of China's lunar program which includes orbiting, landing and returning to Earth, following the successes of the Chang'e-2 missions, which include plotting a high-resolution, full-coverage lunar map.
Chang'e-3's carrier rocket has successfully gone through its first test while the launch pad, control and ground application systems are ready for the mission.
Chang'e-3 will be launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China. - Xinhuanet
China's Space Program - From Conception to Manned Spaceflight (Springer Praxis Books / Space Exploration)
21st Century Chinese Military Issues: People's Republic of China's Nuclear Force Modernization - Command and Control, Undersea Nuclear Forces, BMD Countermeasures, Chinese Space Program
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