From: To: Subject: [IGHS] Newsletter, February 1, 2004 Deming, New Mexico Date: Sunday, February 01, 2004 2:46 PM ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Remove Link To Unsubscribe from Newsletter: Click on Reply To or send email to ighs-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com for an automatic removal from this newsletter. Mission Statement: The Ghostweb is the official Web Site of the International Ghost Hunters Society. Membership in the IGHS is always FREE. The IGHS is dedicated and committed to the research, documentation, education, and investigation of ghostly phenomena recorded through EVP, digital, film and video photography. The IGHS is a society of ghost believers, ghost hunters, and ghost researchers with over 14,000 members in 87 countries worldwide. Travel Along with Dave & Sharon: Join us as we start our fourth year of RV traveling as we explore America's Most Haunted Sites. We had a dream and now we are living that dream of traveling across this great land in our little house on wheels with our Welsh Pembroke Corgi dog named BooBoo. We are currently investigating haunted sites in New Mexico. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ International Ghost Hunters Society Newsletter February 1, 2004 from Deming, New Mexico Dr. Dave’s Notes: We will hit our 4,000,000th visitor to our web site this coming week. Looking back, we had 500,000 visitors to Ghostweb.com when we held our first ghost conference in 1997. When we hosted our web site, the only other ghost site on the Internet got only a 1,000 hits a year, our first month we got over 2,000 hits. Today, we average about 3,000 hits a day. This year when we host our San Antonio Ghost Conference, we will have over 4 million hits on our site. This past week, Sharon and I have been busy conducting EVP, Etheric Voice Phenomena, as Brad Steiger would say, of some prehistoric Indian ruins dating back to AD 900. The Mimbres Mogollon came into the Mimbres Valley from Mexico. The Mogollon culture started in about BC 3000 and is generally considered to the roots of the Anasazi culture that later evolved into the Pueblo culture along the Rio Grande. Not far from Deming, New Mexico is the Hidden Valley Ranch where two large stone pillars stand with dozens of carved petroglyphs from that time period. Pottery shards have bee found on the Ranch, which suggest a village, but the owners are not disclosing the location so as to prevent illegal pot hunters from digging up the artifacts. The Mimbres Mogollon pottery has beautiful art work, recognized as the signature for identifying artifacts associated with the Mimbres Mogollon culture. We have recorded some interesting ghost or ethereal voices from the pillars with their petroglyphs and from the area where the grinding pits are located. The voices from the grinding pit area appear to be female, while the voices from the petroglyph area sound more male to us. Of course, they are not speaking in English so we are unable to determine what they are saying. In front of the stone pillars we believe we found the remains of a pit house, the type of lodging used by the Mimbres people. Some suggest that these are energy imprints that are replaying themselves over and over, but we do not subscribe to this theory, as there is no supporting evidence to validate this theory. We subscribe to the concept that there exist spirits who are still going about their daily affairs, just as they did when alive. Sometimes they interact with the living and sometimes they do not know we are present. Their transition to the spirit dimension did not stop them from continuing with their normal routines. Do they know they are dead? No, we think not. Imagine if you will, if we said to shut your eyes for five seconds and when you opened them again, we said you were dead. You do not feel any different; you still see and think the same as you did five seconds before. Death is a transition that many do not accept when they cross over beyond the grave. As amateur archeologists, we believe in the following axiom: Take nothing but pictures, waste nothing but time, leave nothing but footprints. We have posted some of the petroglyphs on our Travel Page with an active link for Hidden Valley Ranch. The last photo is of our beloved pet, BooBoo standing inside the overhang for the fire pit. Above the fire pit are petroglyphs. We have gone to many prehistoric Indian ruins in Arizona and New Mexico, and each time we have conducted EVP investigations, we have recorded ethereal voices. We realize that not everyone is interested in prehistoric Indian ruins, what we find amazing is that we are recording ethereal voices from the past. The average person might not consider these prehistoric Indian ruins haunted, but in reality, they are very much haunted. What does haunted mean? We might suggest that haunted simply means that when a person dies, and they choose to remain in this earth plane, but in their spirit dimension. Thus, these spirits are haunting the place. However, to them, they simply exist as they did before they passed beyond the grave. Perhaps we could say haunting is like dwelling, it all depends on one’s perspective. We love our family members when they are alive, but as soon as they are dead, and return to be near their loved ones as spirits, the living become fearful and some may consider them demonic. What a slap in the face it is to those who have departed to discover that their loved ones are afraid of them as spiritual entities. We listened to one lady who said she captured ghosts with her camcorder in the Old Washoe Club in Virginia City, Nevada. This old building was where new millionaires came to play and have fun. One day a miner might be poor and the next day strike the Mother Lode and was a millionaire over night. The upper floors became their play ground, which included the ladies who made their living servicing the millionaires. The lady on the radio said she sensed evil in the building. Wow, imagine that! When we held some seminars in Virginia City, we also investigated the Old Washoe Club. We found no evil in the entire building, but we did find tons of airborne dust particles floating everywhere in the abandoned floors above the saloon. Now, I am not sure if she captured some dust orbs and saw faces in them and judged these dust orbs to be evil or not, but one thing is sure, we found nothing evil in the Old Washoe Club. Perhaps she used a psychic who said the spirits were evil without realizing the psychic was having a bad hair day and got confused with their own emotional static. Many times, we have investigated sites declared to be evil by psychics, only to find them filled with wonderful spirits who were talkative, at least to us. Sometimes these psychics have their headbands on too tight. These psychics should not give up their day jobs yet. We will be doing our regular monthly radio program with Jeff Rense on this coming Friday evening. We will be playing some of our EVP voices and perhaps some EVP recordings from some of our members. IF you have any EVP segments that you would like us to consider, send them to us this week. Please send them in wav formats. Dr. Sharon Gill: As I sat down to do some research for an article this week, I came across some very interesting information in an unlikely place. Personally, I enjoy researching different subjects and finding different opinions. It gives me food for thought to read credible accounts of ghost activity and then to read about the subject from a skeptic’s point of view. I enjoy learning both sides of a story, gleaning all the information I can, feeling more able to decide for myself. There is always a tendency for some people, in areas of new research, such as all areas of the paranormal, to perpetrate hoaxes or fraud. This is a historical fact and has been seen, particularly in fields of interest that are gaining universal interest and recognition. We have seen this happen in ufology, in the discovery of crop circles, cattle mutilations, mediumship, and séances, ghost research, Bigfoot sightings, Angel sightings and miracles. Where serious researchers strive to document evidence and gain knowledge, there is always a flipside that perpetrates the hoaxes. In early England, there were numerous cases of faked haunting’s, one of the most dramatic cases took place in 1649. Dreadful ghost activities allegedly took place that drove a group of Cromwell’s administrators from a palace in Woodstock. It was revealed later the haunting was actually the handiwork of a loyalist. Thought it was only later that it was revealed fraudulent, hundreds of people believed the stories to be true. There have been some very famous hauntings that today are said to have been frauds. The one story that attracted my attention was that of the Borley Rectory in Essex. I first came across the story written by a true skeptic. To learn more from a researchers point of view, I found more on Borley Rectory in Real Ghosts, Restless Spirits and Haunted Places, by Brad Steiger. When I was finished, I felt like I had a more comprehensive view of the past and present stories at what has been called, the most haunted house in England. I want to share the skeptical opinion of the Borley Rectory haunting first. I will then present facts obtained from more current documents of the events reported from the Rectory. It seems even today the haunting remains under scrutiny and is very controversial. Harry Price was a ghost researcher and investigator in London, England and in 1940; he published a book, documenting his findings and experiences at Borley Rectory. According to Price, from the time the rectory was built in 1863, some very astonishing occurrences took place there. The author reported many manifestations, including the ghost of a nun that had been seen walking the grounds. Price reported that there were all sorts of noises in and around the rectory that could not be explained as normal. Spontaneous fires broke out, cold spots were felt, crockery flew through the air when there were no humans present to throw things around. There were also ghostly messages written on the walls. Price visited the rectory many times and at one point, May 1937-1938, he rented the rectory himself. He interviewed many witnesses and gave testament of his own experiences in his book. It was considered to be the most conclusive evidence of ghosts ever presented. The rectory burned in 1939. Until the remains were completely torn down in 1944, people continued to visit the site, maintaining there were still strange things happening. Price authored a second book on the rectory in 1946. In 1948, Harry Price died. In the 1950’s the SPR (Society for Psychical Research) in England did a complete investigation of the site and alleged haunting. Parapsychologists Dingwall, Goldney and Hall, declared Borley Rectory was never haunted. When they compared Prices reports with the actual statements made by witnesses to Price, it was found that Price embellished and distorted the reports, making them more sensational. They also found that during the peak time of the reported haunting, Marianne Foyster, the wife of Rev. Lionel Foyster who lived in the rectory from 1930-1935, was actively creating the phenomena taking place, claiming the events to be real. It was discovered that Price, himself faked some of the phenomena while he was there. Price recorded all of the events in his book, whether real or fabricated. For every reported incident at the rectory, Dingwall, Goldney, and Hall claimed to have found non-paranormal explanations. There were a few events that could not be explained, yet once a hoax is discovered, all the evidence is held in question and considered invalid. Harry Price reputation as a ghost hunter and psychic investigator was respected, until he wrote the book on Borley Rectory. Since investigating Price and his revelations of the dramatic haunting of the rectory, according to one skeptic, it has been shown that Price had poor regard for the truth. His reports of other alleged events are held in question as a result. After reading the opinions of the skeptic, I needed to know more about this famous haunting. What I read in Real Ghosts, Restless Spirits and Haunted Places rings similar and yet with the blanks filled in, the overall picture of the Borley haunting started to fit into place and make more sense. I will paraphrase from the information I read. Borley Rectory and the reported events have been contested and have become very controversial over the years. The fact remains that at least twelve clergymen refused to live in the rectory because they believed the stories they were hearing to be true. Also, a window in the dining room was bricked up at the request of a rector as he could not stand to see the ghost of a nun continually peering in at him. That seems like pretty solid evidence that something very strange was taking place there. The rectory was built in more “modern times” but was built on the site of a medieval monastery, the ruins of a nunnery still visible. Many legends surround the nunnery but the most famous was about a nun who was sealed into one of the convent walls, still alive. Her crime was eloping with a Benedictine brother because they had fallen in love. Later, he was hanged for his actions while she was entombed in a convent wall. Not only had occupants of the rectory seen the nun on the rectory grounds, some of the local villagers had seen the apparition also. Rev. Henry Dawson Ellis Bull originally built Borley Rectory for his wife and fourteen children. Rev. Bull ultimately died in the blue room of the rectory in 1892. His son Harry also died in the blue room of the rectory in 1927. The daughters of Rev. Bull all attested to have seen the nun while living in the rectory and to having experienced other phenomena while in residence there. Rev. Bull bricked up the dining room window so the family could enjoy dinner without the spectral nun peering in at them. It was when Rev. Foyster and his wife and four-year-old daughter moved into the rectory in 1930, that the activity increased. The Foysters’ had heard all the dark tales of the Borley Rectory, as Rev. Foyster was a cousin to the wife of Rev. Henry Bull. Rev. Foyster, with the onset of activity, realized the stories about the rectory were true, yet believed his faith would protect him. He kept a journal of the phenomenon he and his family experienced while living there. However, it was Mrs. Foyster who was the target for most of the attacks and she was the one with whom the resident ghosts attempted to communicate. Rev. Foyster knew Harry Price had investigated the rectory and interviewed the Bull family so he contacted Price. Harry Price and his team arrived at Borley Rectory to investigate the accelerated activity. Rev. Foyster shared the journal of the continuing events he had been keeping, with Price. Price related over 2,000 incidents that occurred during the time the Foyster family lived there. The family had endured the paranormal activities at the rectory for five years. Once they moved out, the bishop had the rectory put up for sale. Because of the reputation of the rectory, there were no takers wanting to own such a haunted place. It was in 1937 that Harry Price learned that the rectory was vacant and he leased the place to further research the ghostly activity. He enlisted 40 men who would take turns living at the rectory for one year. Price positioned equipment for detecting ghosts around the interior of the rectory and left clear instructions for proper observations and documenting of phenomena. Messages appeared on walls and two Oxford graduates witnessed the writing appearing on a wall as they were cataloging other new messages that had appeared. All messages were circled and dated as to when they appeared. One observer to the appearance of the writing on the wall was Professor C.E.M. Joad of the Department of Philosophy and Psychology at the University of London. Investigators soon discovered cold spots in the rectory. One such cold spot was on the landing outside of the blue room, where both Rev. Bull and his son Harry had died. Another cold spot of was found in an upstairs passage. Though these cold spots had gone unnoticed during prior investigations, they were now documented and the temperature recorded at 48 F. The temperature was constant regardless of the temperature throughout the rest of the rectory. In late 1938, Captain Gregson, who was not intimidated by the stories about the place, purchased Borley Rectory. He was upset when his dog went wild and ran away the day they moved into the house though. The dog was never seen again. Gregson reported a few unexplainable occurrences he had experienced. On February 27, 1939, Borley Rectory was destroyed by fire. In testimony given by Gregson, he stated that a number of books had flown from the shelves, knocking over a lamp that engulfed the house in flames. Recently, one man stepped forward, writing a book on his involvement in the hoaxes perpetrated at Borley Rectory. Allegedly, he grew up in the area of Borley Rectory and in his youth participated in keeping the stories of the most haunted house in England, alive. It seems that he experienced events that he could not explain away as being normal. We can read and research haunted sites weighing the pros and cons of each alleged haunting. Stories of places like the Borley Rectory that took place so long ago, are sometimes difficult, especially when there are conflicting accounts. There are details in a haunting that will be consistently similar and should be considered carefully. In this day of modern technology and mobility, we are able to visit some of these known sites to investigate and document events that could continue to take place today. Through the use of digital technology, we can easily photograph areas for anomalies and record for voices from the past, to document and validate continuing activity. On the same note, the information and evidence we gather can be shared with others interested in the facts associated with an alleged haunting. The Internet has given us the ability to do just that, bringing a world of people and information much closer together. We can question, confirm, and/or deny the legitimacy of ghosts at places we ourselves may never get to visit. As I read the information in one book, written by a skeptic, I found there were few details about the statements made regarding the events and the work of Harry Price. When reading about Borley Rectory in Brad Steiger’s Real Ghosts, Restless Spirits and Haunted Places, I found that controversy mentioned in the beginning of the story and details were brought to light throughout. The details are what make a difference when researching a haunted site as they can clarify questions in our minds and bring the overall picture into more clarity. Ghosts of Old Town Plaza Seminar: Join Dave & Sharon on February 14, 2004 for a ghost seminar in beautiful, sunny Albuquerque, New Mexico. We love New Mexico and what better weekend for a special get away then at Old Town Plaza, known as the City of the Dead because there is an unwritten saga that suggests that the dead were buried in the floors and walls of the adobe homes within this community. We will devote the afternoon to hands on investigations of various haunts in Old Town. This is not one of those stuffy, stand offish type seminars, but one where you roll up your sleeves and apply what you’re learning, side by side with Dave & Sharon. Check out our seminar page at http://www.ghostweb.com/oldtown.html. We limit the size of the seminar group to allow more time for personal instructions on a one to one basis. San Antonio Ghost Conference: We are preparing for our 2004 Annual Ghost Conference that will be held in San Antonio, Texas on June 12th and will focus on the ghosts of the Alamo and the Old Spanish Missions, with the Alamo being one of these old Spanish Missions. The new film, Alamo, will be released in the coming months and will portray the heroic battle that took place. While history has recorded 183 men died in the Alamo, recent documents have surfaced that suggest that the number of men fighting at the Alamo was closer to 250. All events are within walking distance of your haunted hotel and meeting place. We will have limited seating due to the meeting room limitations, so do not delay registering with Dave & Sharon. Check out http://www.ghostweb.com/alamo1.html. Digital Ghost Photography Handbook: Confused about orbs? What are dust orbs and how do they relate to real ghost orbs? Read our 20 page thermal bound book or download the PDF book and discover how digital photography is the wave of the future. We have been using digital since 1994 and we share with the reader, which are the best digital cameras on the market today. We also share what to look for when purchasing a digital camera and provide some protocols to avoid falling into the dust orb trap. Check it out at http://www.ghostweb.com/booklet2.html. How to Record and Analyze Ghost Voices: Susan Olson of Riverside, California writes, "I LOVE your new EVP booklet! For a long time now, I have experimented with digital recording to no avail. The information in your booklet helped me to get better recordings without background static! Thanks so much and keep up the good work!" Our book, How to Record and Analyze Ghost Voices is the best definitive publication on this subject and we have shipped this book around the world. This twenty-one page book will provide step by step detailed instructions on how to use our secret techniques for successful recording and analyzing of ghostly voices. This new thermal bound book is an easy to read size of 8.5x11 inch bound with a clear plastic cover and a white plastic back cover. The book is USD$10 plus Priority Mail shipping of $4 for a total of USD$14. We will ship this book to Canada by International Air Mail and to Europe by International Ground Mail for the same price. The book can also be downloaded as a PDF file for $10. Upon payment of the $10, we will send an email with the address and password to download the file. The download saves time and saves the postage for shipping the book. Traditional techniques for recording ghost voices are outdated and far less successful. Sharon and I have an accumulated 28 years of experience in ghost research and in evaluating ghost tools for field investigations. Along the way, we have discovered many hidden techniques that enable us to be tremendously successful in recording the voices of the dead. No special equipment is required as all equipment that we recommend is off-of-the-shelf products purchased at any Radio Shack store. Our new book will disclose our time tested techniques in a step by step procedure that is easy to understand and to apply. The book, available via PayPal or through our Online Secure Order Form, will become a resourceful guide to understanding how to perform the investigation and how to operate the software for evaluating the ghostly voices. Check out the book at http://www.ghostweb.com/booklet.html. We ship via Priority Mail through the Post Office, not the slow boat to China known as Media Mail that takes several weeks to arrive at an address. CD Version Home Study Courses: We offer two CD versions, one with the Home Study Course in PDF format that can be read by any hardware or software with the free Adobe Acrobat Reader, version 4 or higher. This option is for those using the Mac Operating system or PC computer with an operating system that is not Windows based. We also offer the second version on the CD as the HTM version for PC computers using Wins95, Wins98, WindowsMe, and WindowsXP. The added features of this CD version, includes color photographs of spiritual orbs, spirit energy ectoplasm, a full body apparition and samples of ordinary airborne dust particles we call dust orbs that fool so many people. The separate Photo Analysis CD is now a part of the CD version. In addition, a printed copy can be made from CD, as in the printed version. We have also added ghostly EVP voices captured by us during our travels, such as the Confederate rebel commenting about the 20th Maine boys at Little Round Top or the Peyton Place Gossip found in a 1753 Cemetery about Mary is a Peach. Listen to an old miner recorded at a mining camp in Nevada or the ghostly morbid whine of a ghost dog, perhaps standing over the body of his murdered master captured in the Cascade Mountains of Oregon where a 1900s rancher and his family was murdered. The CD version is “HTM” based, this is not a “PDF” version, but a true “HTM” version that opens and functions as a web page. We have updated the material and even included a message from Dr. Dave Oester. Buyers from around the world have purchased the new CD version. We pay the shipping charges for Priority Mail in the USA, International Air Mail to Canada and for ten dollars more, we ship it by Global Priority Mail to Europe and Asia. More information is available at http://www.ghostweb.com/cgh.html. IGHS Printed Home Study Courses Since 1998: We offer the premier Home Study Course program on the Internet. We offer the best and most comprehensive ghost hunting and paranormal curriculum available. We have trained more students in this field than any other paranormal organization. We set the standards and the protocols for field investigations that followed by the ghost hunting community. We offer the premier Home Study Course, sharing all of our experiences and knowledge gained over the last dozen years. Read more about our premier Home Study Course Program at http://www.ghostweb.com/mainhsc.html. Fulfill your dreams: Magic Dimensions We all have dreams that we wished that could be our reality, but we do not know how to make that wish come true for us. In our book, we teach about the magic of having your dreams fulfilled. We show the reader how to open a doorway for a new reality where your dream will come true. Many claim this process is a miracle, but Quantum Mechanics teaches us that our miracles are simply an application of this weird science. Out book can show you how to create that miracle! We share with the reader the magical techniques that create the miracle we seek after in life. Magic Dimensions may be one of the most important books that will change people’s lives. Visit our web site at http://www.ghostweb.com/magic1.html for more info on ordering the book. The ISBN number is 0-595-22032-0 and can be ordered from any bookstore or online at major dot.com bookstores. The online e-book can be downloaded immediately. IGHS T-shirts Available: We are pleased to announce that we have our new IGHS light blue 50/50 screen printed T-shirts available. The two sided printing has a large full size on the back and a smaller size image on the front, over the left pocket area. Limited sizes are available ranging from XL to 2XL. Check them out at http://www.ghostweb.com/tshirt1.html. Life Time IGHS Member Certificate: Instead of renewing every year, IGHS members can now purchase a Life Time Membership for $60 or a Life Time Membership and Life Time Clip ID Badge for $75. This is available through PayPal and through our online Secure Order Form. IGHS ID Badges for Investigations: We have received many requests for some kind of Identification Badge to wear while conducting field investigations. We have created a laminated ID Badge with a metal clip that snaps onto your shirt or other piece of clothing. It says that you are a Registered Ghost Hunter/Paranormal Investigator in good standing with the International Ghost Hunters Society and it has our signatures and web address. Order the ID Badge at http://www.ghostweb.com/id_badge.html. Password Memberships: We offer a special membership in our Ghostweb Ghost Galleries. Due to the size of these ghost galleries, we have to limit the number of people because of the bandwidth consumed by downloading the photos, spirit voices, and ghost videos in this area. If you want to view over 9,000 ghost photos, EVPs, and videos, check out our membership program at http://www.ghostweb.com/pass.html. IGHS Membership Certificates: The IGHS offers a beautiful Membership Certificate. The membership certificate is valid for one year Check it out at http://www.ghostweb.com/memcert.html for more information. Kind regards, Dave, Sharon & BooBoo International Ghost Hunters Society Copyrighted 2004 by Dr. Dave Oester All Rights Reserved. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Our next book is spooky! American Hauntings Investigated, due out in Spring 2004 Old Town Plaza Ghost Seminar -- Valentine Day, 2004 http://www.ghostweb.com/oldtown.html San Antonio Ghost Conference -- June 12, 2004 -- San Antonio, Texas http://www.ghostweb.com/alamo1.html Dave Oester, Ph.D., DD. Sharon Gill, Ph.D., International Ghost Hunters Society Web URL: http://www.ghostweb.com Email: MagicDimensions@aol.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~