The White-Haired People
Tuckerman, Arkansas: I've been with the white haired people. They stood me in front of a mirror. They did not reflect. A small girl child and boy. What I assumed to be parents spoke to me through telepathic means. The children had white hair too. They were perfect in proportions. All were perfect. They seemed to be out of place. As if they were in disguise. I reflected in the mirror, they did not. Then I came back in to my space, hit hard on the way back, hit hard on reentry. Exhausted for two days. Wasn't the first time. Like falling on your back from a three story building on cement. Muscle and bone fatigue. First time was at age 14, and then at 15. Then again at 40. Told no one. I'm 52. The boy I was with at the time we encountered the UFO never spoke again. I would really like to speak with someone about this. I've seen the orange orbs too. How did you know the ship was grey lead color? Also had OBE experiences. More than one. Thank you. - MUFON CMS
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Bizarre Syndrome Makes Visitors to Jerusalem Go Crazy
As Christians and Jews around the world prepare to celebrate the holidays of Easter and Passover, many will flock to the city of Jerusalem. Since ancient times, the city has been a magnet for religious pilgrims from some of the world's largest faiths — namely, Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
But for a small percentage of these visitors, their reverence of Jerusalem may become pathological — in other words, a visit to the city may trigger obsessive ideas, delusions or other psychotic experiences.
Some psychiatrists have dubbed this condition "Jerusalem syndrome," and say it happens in people who have no prior history of mental illness. However, others dispute the diagnosis and say the condition is more likely part of a broader psychosis, and is not unique to Jerusalem.
"I'd never heard of it before," admitted Simon Rego, director of psychology training at Albert Einstein College of Medicine/Montefiore Medical Center in New York City. "You see things like this emerge periodically in the literature, where people think they have found a unique syndrome," but it may just be the result of an underlying mental illness, Rego told Live Science.
Jerusalem syndrome was first identified in 2000. Israeli psychiatrists reported in The British Journal of Psychiatry that they had examined 1,200 tourists who had been admitted to the city's Kfar Shaul Mental Health Center with "severe, Jerusalem-generated mental problems" between 1980 and 1993. The researchers identified three varieties of Jerusalem syndrome.
The first type included people who suffered from a previous psychotic illness, which often made them believe they were characters from the Bible. For example, one American tourist who had paranoid schizophrenia believed he was the biblical Samson, and visited Israel because he felt compelled to move one of the stone blocks in the Western Wall. (After some commotion, police intervened and took the man to the hospital.)
Patients with the second form of the syndrome may have some signs of mental disorders but not a full-blown mental illness. This category includes some people in nonmainstream Christian groups who settle in Jerusalem to wait for the reappearance of Jesus Christ. The researchers also gave the example of a healthy German man who was obsessed with finding the "true" religion, and came to Jerusalem to study Judaism, but wound up having a psychotic episode in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (built on the site where Jesus is believed to have been crucified and buried).
Finally, the third type of patient identified in the study had no previous history of mental illness, had a psychotic episode while in Jerusalem and recovered spontaneously after leaving Israel. Only 42 of the 1,200 patients in the report fit these criteria.
However, the classification of Jerusalem syndrome has been criticized by a number of psychiatrists.
In a commentary on the study, published in the same journal, other researchers remarked that it was "regrettable" that the authors of the report did not include any epidemiological data about the condition, such as the factors that may increase a person's risk of developing it, or the factors that may protect against it or the prevalence of it.
Dr. Alan Manevitz, a clinical psychiatrist at New York City's Lenox Hill Hospital, said he thinks Jerusalem syndrome may result when a person who is at risk for psychosis undergoes the stress of traveling to another country and is immersed in a place of religious significance.
"I think what happens is, vulnerable people can be inspired by the circumstances around them," which, in Jerusalem, happens to be religion, Manevitz told Live Science.
Rego agreed that the psychotic syndrome is not unique to Jerusalem. It may be influenced by being in the city, he said, but not caused by it. "If it was purely causal, you would expect everybody who visits Jerusalem to get it," he said.
In psychology, there have been many examples of reportedly unique psychotic syndromes, Rego said. "Historical factors, including culture and context, can influence the way delusions are experienced," he said.
For example, after the film "The Truman Show" — in which the main character is a man who does not know that his whole life is the subject of a television show — came out in 1998, psychiatrists in Montreal started reporting cases of patients with "Truman Show delusion." These people thought they were the subjects of a secret reality show. And back in the 1940s, people suffered from delusions that they were somehow being controlled via radio waves. - Bizarre Syndrome Makes Visitors to Jerusalem Go Crazy
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Woman Told Investigators Dog Shot Police Officer
Tyaina Finch told investigators initially that the police officer's yellow Labrador had his service revolver in its mouth, and as she attempted to pull it out, it fired, killing the officer.
But Delaware County District Attorney Jack Whelan said the statements by the 27-year-old Glenolden woman were "inconsistent."
On Tuesday, she was charged with first-degree murder and related crimes and ordered held without bail in the death of Mark Hudson, 26, also of Glenolden.
Whelan described the couple's relationship as "tumultuous" and said officers had been called to the home numerous times for domestic disturbances.
"We believe she acted on this particular day with specific intent to kill [Hudson]," said Whelan. Finch already was being held in jail for allegedly making terroristic threats and other charges.
"We never let go of her as a suspect," said Darby Township Chief Leonard McDevitt. He said only two people were at the home at the time of the shooting.
Hudson had filed a protection-from-abuse order Jan. 30, saying Finch "came at me with a knife and threatened to kill me." She also allegedly struck him in the face and said she would burn down his house.
The order was dismissed Feb. 19 when Hudson failed to appear in court for the hearing.
Investigators are still looking into the couple's domestic history, Whelan said.
On Saturday about 4 p.m., Whelan said, Finch told detectives the two were "playing around" in the master bedroom of Hudson's three-bedroom corner rowhouse in the 600 block of Magnolia Avenue.
According to court records, the two were "smacking" each other when Hudson "grabbed her from the back and pushed her down on the ground." Finch yelled at Hudson to stop.
The dog, named Simba, was getting in the middle of the two of them. As Hudson went to close the window blinds Finch said she saw the dog carrying his service weapon in its mouth. She grabbed the gun and it discharged. She called 911.
On Monday, Whelan said Finch changed her story, telling detectives she wanted to tell the truth. Her statement was taken at Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital, where she was being treated for diabetes, he said.
"This time she tells us a completely different version," said Whelan.
She told detectives that Hudson grabbed her hair and threw her to the ground. She then locked herself in the master bedroom, picked up his service revolver, and threatened to call "his chief." Finch said she came out of the bedroom, and the two began to fight physically. She returned to the bedroom, took the gun, and went into another bedroom.
Hudson approached, and Finch pointed the gun as he advanced, she said.
But Whelan said her story became inconsistent again.
As Hudson approached her, Finch said: " 'Mark, I'm going to call the cops, stop just stop, please just stop.' "
Finch told police Hudson "flinched" at her, his foot came off the ground and "after that he was shot." She did not recall pulling the trigger, she said.
"Babe, I don't think I'm going to make it," Finch said Hudson said.
Hudson later died at Presbyterian Hospital of his injuries. The medical examiner ruled his death a homicide.
"I believe she was using his position as a police officer as a wedge," said Darby Borough Police Chief Robert Smythe. Smythe said he believed Finch had threatened to file a protection-from-abuse order against Hudson. He would have had to surrender his service weapon, which would have threatened his career as a police officer, Smythe said.
Hudson was described as a caring young man who was a rising star in the department.
"We have lost something great in this police department," said Janice Davis, president of the Darby Borough Council.
Services for Hudson have been scheduled tentatively for Saturday in Collingdale. - Police: Girlfriend cited dog's role in officer's killing
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Woman Hit By Yellow Taxi Now Has Severe Phobia Of All Things Yellow
A 51-year-old woman who was hit by a yellow Hackney taxi and suffered a broken hip also developed a curious fear of all things yellow following the accident. Lorraine Cobourn from Oakwood in the UK, can’t even face a banana since the accident as the yellowness suddenly scares her.
Ms Cobourn spoke to reporters about her new phobia of yellow, explaining how her life has been changed.
“It sounds crazy I know, but I can’t even touch bananas unless they’re wrapped in cellophane – and I only ever buy green ones. I can’t look at yellow number plates either. And If something yellow comes into the corner of my eye when I am watching TV I have to switch channels. I also gasp or sigh if I see a yellow taxi when I am out. I’m terrified of them, and if I saw a yellow taxi on the street I would feel this urge just to drive into it.”
Since the accident, life for Ms Cobourn has become weird as well as painful, and she has no idea where her new-found phobia comes from, “Obviously It didn’t but it felt like there was something in my brain that needed to be released. It’s very difficult but I try to have yellow flowers in my house to try and cure this fear,” she said.
Cobourn was struck ten months ago by a yellow taxi in the city centre as she was crossing a road. Making matters even worse, while she lay on the ground in agony, the driver took off. “I looked up and the next thing I knew I was on the road. I couldn’t feel anything from my waist down, I thought I had broken both my legs. The pain was like nothing I have ever felt before – it was absolutely agonising,” she recalled.
Ian Whittaker, a lawyer from the firm of Irwin Mitchell, described his client’s ordeal to reporters.
“This case is a terrible example of the life-changing consequences that road traffic collisions can have on those involved. Not only did Mrs Cobourn need major hip surgery and require adaptations to her home, but she has suffered financial worries due to being unable to work and continues to receive counselling support as she works to come to terms with the psychological effects of the incident.” - Woman Hit By Yellow Taxi Now Has Severe Phobia Of All Things Yellow
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