; Phantoms and Monsters: Pulse of the Paranormal

jeudi, mai 08, 2014

Daily 2 Cents: Demi Lovato's Ghostly Stalker -- Thylacine Cameraman Bitten on the Buttocks -- Thrilling Vintage Movie Posters


Demi Lovato's Ghostly Stalker

So it’s entirely possible that Demi Lovato has a stalker. Not the fleshy kind (although I’m guessing she has those, too): the undead kind. As in a ghost. As in a ghost might be following her around. Yeah, I know.

“What proof do you have?” you might ask, narrowing your eyes and looking at your screen askance. Well, firstly there’s the terrifying image that has been making the rounds on Twitter of Lovato — clad in a kicky military-esque jacket — a creepy, grinning face looming over her shoulder.

Secondly, we know for a fact that Lovato believes in the paranormal and, in fact, lives in a haunted house in Texas. She has enlisted ghost hunters and mediums to interact with the spirit, who is an 11-year-old named Emily who enjoys messing with computers and cellphones (much like your average 11-year-old girl).

Thirdly, I asked an expert — namely, Brandon Alvis, founder of the American Paranormal Research Association.

“From my analysis I can’t 100% say that the ‘ghostly face’ is a spirit,” he told MTV News on Wednesday (May 7). “One thing to note is if Demi Lovato is a ghost hunting enthusiast and claims to have a strong connection with the afterlife, it is very possible that a ghost or spirit could be attached to her because of her previous attempts at communicating with the dead.”

Perhaps Emily has decided to take her show on the road? Maybe she’s a Lovatic! - MTV

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Thylacine cameraman bitten on the buttocks

The cameraman who took the famous footage of the last captive Tasmanian tiger was bitten on the buttocks while filming.

Biologist David Fleay's pictures shot at a Hobart zoo in 1933 are known around the world as the haunting last images of an animal nearing extinction.

A tiger, or thylacine, known as Benjamin, is seen pacing uncomfortably inside a concrete pen three years before it was to become the last of its species to die in captivity.

But a new exhibition at Launceston's Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery has shed more light on the shoot.

The museum is displaying witness accounts, remembered by Fleay's daughter Rosemary, that recall him being bitten after two warning "yawns" from the tiger.

"The animal managed to get behind him and bite him on the buttocks," curator David Maynard told AAP.

"He had fair warning and he got what was coming to him."

Fleay, who was working under a curtain commonly used by photographers in the early 20th Century, suffered no serious injury.

"Other than his pride," Mr Maynard said.

"Most likely the tiger would have left puncture marks.

"They have quite large canine teeth."

The thylacine was a top-level predator but was generally shy towards people.

No deaths by tigers were ever recorded but the story of one attempting to drag away an 11-year-old boy survives.

Aboriginal folklore has stories of babies being taken by thylacines, Mr Maynard said.

"They were persecuted because of their supposed impact on sheep farming but that's totally overblown," he said.

"It's more likely it was wild dogs."

The museum still receives reports of sightings at least monthly but Mr Maynard said there is no credible evidence the animal survives.

They were slow-growing, producing few young, and the last wild tiger was killed in 1930.

"At best they lived in the wild until 1950," Mr Maynard said.

"The last one probably died in the wild alone and unknown.

"The road kill in Tasmania is exceptional - 293,000 animals a year - and not one of them in the last 50 years has been a thylacine." - News.com.au

The Dream of the Thylacine

The Last Tasmanian Tiger: The History and Extinction of the Thylacine


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Bizarre titles, even stranger storylines, cheesy effects and dead-serious acting (I am not acting in a B-movie, what are you talking about? This is the defining point of my career!). All this adds to the esoteric charm, and even to the addiction that some people feel toward vintage movies and posters - here are some examples that might tickle you fancy:

Thrilling Vintage Movie Posters

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Ghost caught on camera at Cascade restaurant?

Go to website for video

One area restaurant might have caught a ghost on camera.

At least, that's one explanation.

Chuck & Edna's Maid-Rite in Cascade has two possible instances of paranormal activity caught on camera. Owner Pat Orr said his surveillance cameras caught something spooky one night in mid-April.

In the first video, dated April 14 at 6 p.m., a shadowy shape is seen approaching the kitchen's dish-washing sink. It moves haltingly and occasionally, not fluidly.

Some say it looks like a shadow. Others say it could have been a bug that landed on the camera. One thing is for sure: it's unexplained.

"We found you can't make a shadow on the floor back there because of all the lights. Some people said it's a bug on the lens," Orr said. "I don't know what the thing is."

Orr called in Cascade police chief Fred Heim soon after watching the video.

"I still can't tell you what I saw. There was a fuzzy thing on there. I don't know if it was a fly leg, I don't know if it was something that, you know, could be related to ghosts. I really couldn't tell you," Heim, an admitted non-believer in ghosts, said. "(Orr) asked me if we investigated stuff like that, and I basically told him that he probably should call Ghostbusters."

So that's what Orr did. A few days after the shadowy-figure video incident, Orr called a ghost hunting team from Iowa City. As of Wednesday afternoon, he had not yet heard back from them with any results.

Is it phantom or fiction? Orr said his employees have occasionally reported strange activity in the past three years, that this was just the first of it caught on camera.

Besides, there's a whole other piece of possible evidence.

In a second video, dated April 19 at 9:49 a.m., a stack of cups flies (or falls) off a kitchen shelf, hitting an employee, who is preparing food below. Clearly rattled, the employee backs up and turns to walk out of the kitchen.

Wednesday afternoon, Tom Oberbroeckling and his wife, from Anamosa, were eating lunch at the Maid-Rite in Cascade.

When told the restaurant he was eating in might be haunted, Oberbroeckling said he was, "very surprised, considering this is a new building."

The Maid-Rite has been in Cascade for just over three years. Before then, it was an empty lot.

"I've been here in town about eight years," Heim said, "but they said there's been quite a few different things that have actually been on that lot over there. Groceries stores, and there's been some other things in the area, such as funeral homes and the old ambulance garage, so who knows!"

Is it a poltergeist? A prank? A publicity ploy?

"You can believe what you want, whether it's a bug, a shadow," Orr said. "I don't know what's going on down here, but it's kind of funny."

Customers can enter, if they dare, and have a ghostly gander.

For the faint of heart, there's always the drive-thru. - KWWL

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TODAY'S TOP LINKS

UFOs and the Military, 1915: Pt. 2

William Shatner Goes Boldly Into the Topic of UFOs and Alien Abductions on Larry King

Fish rain down on Sri Lanka village

What is a Doppelganger?

Magic Mushrooms Can Open a Person to More Openness


Voices of the Winds: Native American Legends

Conspiracies and Secret Societies: The Complete Dossier

American Conspiracies: Lies, Lies, and More Dirty Lies that the Government Tells Us