Born in Vienna, Austria in 1920, Hans Holzer was destined to become a world-famous TV host, Author, Researcher, Parapsychologist and Paranormal Investigator. Credited with writing over 100 books on the paranormal and occult topics, Hans would also write plays and musicals.
Hans starred as host of the TV show “Ghost Hunter” (not to be confused with the current Ghost Hunters television show) and was also seen on “In Search of” starring Leonard Nimoy, the “Today” show, “History's Mysteries” and the more modern “A Haunting”.
Hans interest in the paranormal was sparked by his uncle Henry, who told him ghost stories as a child. Hans, who became a strict vegan at age 11, went on to study Archaeology and Ancient History at the University of Vienna. In 1938, as World War II closed in, the family fled to New York City to avoid the oncoming conflict.
After his arrival in America, Hans went on to learn the Japanese language and studied religion and parapsychology at Columbia University. Later Hans went on to teach parapsychology classes at the New York Institute of Technology
Hans Holzer is often credited for coining the term “Ghost Hunter” after his first book in 1963, but, Harry Price (who we profiled in a previous story) had already used the term in the title of one of his books “Confessions of a Ghost Hunter” in 1936.
Hans is also often credited for coining other phrases and terminology still used today in the paranormal community such as “The Other Side (of Life)”.
Hans Holzer believed that ghosts were imprints left on the physical plane's environment that people, who were sensitive enough, could perceive, or “pick-up”. He believed Spirits were intelligent beings, able to communicate and interact with the living, whilst “Stay behinds” were souls bound to Earth after death (for reasons not yet known).
Holzer also believed in “levels of consciousness” and reincarnation.
Many of today’s theories regarding paranormal investigation, particularly those involving spirits, or ghosts, are directly influenced by Hans Holzer's body of work and case studies.
The case with the widest notoriety for Hans Holzer would have to be the infamous Amityville Haunting in Suffolk County, New York. Amityville came to the fore after Ronald Defeo Jr. shot and killed 6 members of his family in 1975. Then again in 1977 when the Lutz family claimed the house to be haunted, of which there has been much conjecture to the validity of the haunting since.
Amityville House
Hans wrote a non-fiction book about the Amityville murders entitled “Murder in Amityville” which was released in 1979, he later wrote two novel titles “The Amityville Curse” and “The Secret Of Amityville” released in 1981 and 1985 respectively.
The book “Murder in Amityville” would later be the basis for the screenplay of a movie released in 1982 titled “Amityville II: The Possession”
During an interview about the goings-on at Amityville Hans Holzer made a statement that rang true with us here at Eidolon Paranormal. When asked by the interviewer;
“Can you tell us your first impressions of the house when you arrived?”
Hans replied with;
“I don't get impressions as I am not a medium. My job is to investigate the facts”
Obtaining a PhD from the London College of Applied Science, Hans travelled the world extensively in search of first-hand reports and interviews on phenomena, interviewing paranormal researchers everywhere he went.
Hans Holzer referred to himself as “A scientific investigator of the paranormal”. He disliked the words “supernatural” and “belief” because supernatural implied that phenomena were not in the reach of explanation by science, and belief suggested irrational adherence to doctrines and ideas not supported by facts.
He had a dislike of electronic gadgets that are the core of paranormal investigations today, instead, he used psychic mediums for direct contact with any spirits present.
In an interview with Leonard Nimoy for the series “ In Search Of”, Hans is quoted as stating
“In all my years of Ghost Hunting I have never been afraid, after all, a ghost is only a fellow human being in trouble”
Hans Holzer died on April 26, 2009, aged 89, he is survived by his two daughters and many grandchildren. One of Hans daughters, Alexandra Holzer, author of “Growing Up Haunted” will be the subject of a future presentation
What happened in Hylton Castle in Sunderland England, will forever remain a mystery. The Castle is but a shadow of its former self, a ruin, attracting tourists and ghost hunters from across the globe.
There are rumours of a haunting by an elf, a barghest, a brownie, and a poltergeist. They all may exist, they all may exist in this location, but almost all the actions of the spirits in this location are attributed to one spectre “The Cauld Lad of Hylton”, Robert Skelton.
The origins and stories of the murdered stable boy are varied. It is thought he lived sometime in the 16th century, with the ghost story arising sometime soon afterwards.
One interpretation of the legend states that Robert, a stable boy, was caught by Baron Robert Hylton courting his precious daughter and that the Baron being so angered that a lowly stable-boy could ever think of offering his affections to his daughter, killed the boy.
Another of the legends has a different take on happenings, in this version it is stated that the boy overslept, and had not prepared the Baron's horse in time for him to leave for a very important engagement. The Baron, angered by the boy's insolence and neglect of his duties, killed the boy.
There are varying details on how Baron Hylton ended the life of Robert Skelton, depending on the storyteller. You may hear that the Baron decapitated the boy with his sword, or you may hear that Robert was hit repeatedly with a riding crop across his head, fatally wounding the boy. There is also the version, that, in his angered state, the Baron reached for whatever was near to strike the boy down, grabbing a pitchfork that was sitting nearby, and instead of hitting the young lad, impaled him upon the fork.
The rumours of ways in which Robert was murdered differ greatly, but the way in which the body was disposed of does not. It is said the Baron disposed of the remains of Robert Skelton by dropping his body down the shaft of a used well on the property.
It is here that the stories, of which the variations lead to legends, become facts. Several months after the boy died, his body was recovered. The Baron was tried for murder, but an old estate farmer, one of the Baron's workers, came forward telling the court that the boy had ordered the Baron to get some tools from a high shelf in a barn, the boy had slipped, fell and mortally wounded himself in doing so. The Baron, being the good man he was, tended to the boy's wounds, but the poor young chap died. Baron Robert Hylton was pardoned of the crime in 1609.
Was the court corrupt?
Was the farmer corrupted?
It is hard to know in this day and age, as records are not going to state such things, but you can guess at what a local court would rule against a man in their village with such high standing, against a boy with such low standing.
After the trial of the Baron, strange events began to occur in his castle. Kitchen staff would tidy their kitchen, and ready it for the morning, only to find in the morning, the kitchen to be messy again, and, if they didn't clean it, the next morning it would be clean!
Other stories of an “unseen” person taking hot ashes from the stove fires, and placing them on the ground, then laying on them, and leaving a body imprint in the hot ashes are also told.
Chamber pots around the castle would be upturned, spilling their contents onto the floors.
Intrigued as to what was going on, legend has it that one of the kitchen staff stayed up one night in the kitchen, awaiting the phantom causing so much trouble. He saw the ghost of a young naked boy enter the room, crying to himself “I'm Cauld" (I am cold ).
The next night, the kitchen staff left an old cloak in the kitchen for the naked boy ghost. It is said a voice was heard through the castle, “Here's a cloak and here's a hood, the Cauld Lad of Hylton will do no more good”.
It is said that after the voice was heard, the mysterious ghostly goings-on at the castle came to a halt.
Or did it?
To this day, people speak of hearing a young boy's hallowed cries within the castle walls, eerily coming from nowhere, but seemingly from everywhere....does Robert still haunt the old ruins, seeking the justice that was never served for his death?
Born in London, England in 1881, Harry Price was to become one of the most controversial figures in London in the 1920s and 1930s.
Armed with a passion for investigating paranormal events, and exposing frauds, Harry also had a flair for getting public attention brought to his investigations, research and reveals.
He is the forerunner to the modern ghost hunter, using gadgets and science to prove or disprove, psychic and paranormal phenomena.
At the age of 15, Harry and a friend gained permission to stay overnight in an allegedly haunted house in Shropshire, in the West Midlands of England. It was this night that would shape the rest of Harry Price's life. During the overnight stay, Harry and his friend heard a number of noises that indicated a spirit or ghost may be present in the house when Harry tried to take a photo, he found in his over-excitement that he had loaded too much flash powder into his camera, that caused the photo he tried to take of the ghost not work. This one event would change life direction.
One of Harry's earliest writings is that of a play he wrote for his own “Carlton Dramatic Society” detailing his experiences inside the house where he had an experience with the poltergeist.
It was around the same time Harry developed an interest in magic, illusion, hypnotists and fortune-tellers. His obsession led him to learn whatever he could about the “magic arts”, and to become a very skilled magician himself. In later life, this would lead to Harry becoming a member of the “Magic Circle” and “Society of American Magicians”.
These skills would, in turn, give Harry insight into debunking and exposing various acts of trickery and fraud whilst investigating phenomena.
Harry Price also had a keen interest in archaeology, in 1908 he moved to Pulborough in Sussex where he had begun writing for the “West Sussex Gazette” and the “Southern Weekly News” about antiquities.
It was also in 1908 that Harry married his fiancee, Constance Mary Knight who would be his companion until death.
In 1920 Harry joined the “Society for Physical Research”, already known as a leader in this field, it was from here that the reputation of Harry Price grew exponentially, one case would promote him into the public eye in England and abroad.
As a representative of the “Society of Physical Research”, Harry would expose “Spirit Photographer” William Hope as a fraud.
William Hope specialised in taking photos of people that would feature a dead relative in the final print, Harry Price, whilst visiting Mr Hope, Harry secretly switched the photographic plates Mr Hope was using, revealing that William hope had been using pre-prepared photographic plates for his “spirit photos”.
After making public his findings, Harry Price's became somewhat famous, whilst William Hope faded into obscurity.
It was also in 1922 that Harry, along with other notable members of the Society, travelled to the home of Baron Albert von Schrenck-Notzing in Munich, Germany to investigate the noted psychic medium Willi Schneider [1], Harry was now an International Investigator.
In 1923 Harry made an offer to the University of London to equip the university with a “Department of Physical Research”, The University of London Board of Studies in Psychology replied with a positive answer and a collection of books and equipment was loaned from the National Library, as well as Harry Prices own collection. Many years later, in 1934, the National Laboratory of Physical Research, holder of Harry Prices collection was renamed as the University of London Council for Psychical Investigation, with Harry and as Honorary Secretary and Editor.
1927, Harry Price became a member of the “Ghost Club”, it was also in 1927 that Harry claimed to have Joanna Southcott's “box” [2]. Inside the box, it was claimed, was a number of prophecies written by Southcott. Harry set about opening the box only to find it contained some unimportant papers, a lottery ticket and a horse-pistol. It has since been disputed by followers of Southcott that the box Harry opened was indeed the true box of Joanna Southcott (We will be following up on Joanna Southcott in another future post)
In 1932, upon hearing Harry Price had a copy of the “Black Book” a handwritten manuscript that involves many magical practices and rituals, written in the 1500s, The Harz Goethe Centenary Committee invited Harry to Germany to be involved in the centenary celebrations of the poet the Goethe, recreating the ritual. The experiment became known as “ The Brocken Experiment”.
Goethe had written an intensive study based on a ritual called “Blocksberg Tryst” in the book Harry now owned. The classical scene is known as “Walpurgisnacht” in the play “Faust”.
Harry set about re-creating the experiment for Goethe's centenary. The following extract is from Harry's own writings:
“Where the Bloksberg Tryst differs from similar experiments is that it can be effective only at a certain spot (on the Brocken 'neer the Granit Altar') and only during a full moon. And the apex of the triangle has to point to the Tower of Kassel and its base to the Hexentanzplatz - a famous plateau opposite the Brocken where tradition has placed the scene of the witches' orgies. So we journeyed to the Brocken as the guests of the Harzer Verkehrsverband, determined to carry out the experiment with scientific exactitude in order to forestall any criticism by the remaining devotees of the Black Art. I was accompanied by Mr. C. E. M. Joad, whose interest in magic and psychic matters is well known.”
Harry Price's work included many famous cases, he examined Helens Duncans “ectoplasm”, which would later lead to Price giving evidence in court against Duncan, he found she had swallowed cheesecloth and regurgitated it. [3]
Harry also investigated the Karachi Indian rope trick and the fire walking abilities of Kuda Bux, but he is most often remembered for his work with Borley Rectory.
Borley Rectory
The Borley Rectory investigations were to prove the most controversial for Harry Price, and the investigation he is most often known for. Accusations of misleading and falsifying evidence for public gain and acknowledgement were aimed at Harry by the media and members of the paranormal community (which continues to this day).
Harry denied any wrongdoings and presented various evidence and writings to try and disprove his accusers. He wrote various reports and books about his time at the Rectory and even rented the rectory for a year.
Harry Price produced a large volume of work in his time including the following books
Revelations of a Spirit Medium 1922.
Cold Light on Spiritualistic "Phenomena" 1922.
Stella C. An Account of Some Original Experiments in Psychical Research 1925.
Rudi Schneider: A Scientific Examination of his Mediumship 1930.
Leaves from a Psychist’s Case Book, 1933.
Confessions of a Ghost-Hunter, 1936.
The Haunting of Cashen's Gap: A Modern "Miracle" Investigated 1936.
Fifty Years of Psychical Research: A Critical Survey Longmans 1939.
The Most Haunted House in England: Ten Years' Investigation of Borley Rectory, 1940.
Search for Truth: My Life for Psychical Research, 1942.
Poltergeist Over England: Three Centuries of Mischievous Ghosts, 1945.
The End of Borley Rectory, 1946.
Harry Price suffered a heart attack on the 29th of March 1948 and passed away in his home in West Sussex. His archives of research, reports and anecdotes were donated by his widow in 1976 to the University Of London, where they remain to this day.
The Grave of Harry and Constance Price
To this day Harry Price remains a controversial figure, with his love of media as a means to gain more cases, and his use of devices and contraptions to garner evidence. He is the Godfather of the modern Paranormal Investigator, with a legacy and style that lives on today
A video featuring Harry Price for the BBC in England
Australia has a fascination with the Gold Coast in Queensland and the theme parks it offers, but did you know the rest of Australia has also had a share of theme parks, but sadly, most have shut their doors and since made way for redevelopments and urban renewal.
Today I am going to present a small list of some of the abandoned, closed, redeveloped, or “newly” reopened theme parks around this great country of ours.
Some may also be haunted......
Canberra
Canberry Fair – Now a Housing Development
New South Wales
African Lion world - Warragamba - Bullen Animal Park: are essentially the same place, run by the same man, an Ex-Circus owner who died in 2001, both places now appear to be closed to the public
El Caballo Blanco – Destroyed by fire, the site is now used for equestrian events
Magic Kingdom, Lansvale NSW - There are attached stories of haunting to the location, which has been abandoned for some time this link shows an aerial view of the location, note the large yellow slide, still intact!
"I went to another place one time with some mates one random night, Its at Liverpool or Lansvale, its called magic city or magic kingdom. It used to be a theme park like wonderland but got shut down because some of the rides killed people and pretty freaky going there at night, Hearing shit and seeing shit I never want to go there again I get freaked out easily with ghost and stuff like that hahaha "
"Well apparently the place is haunted. There are many witness accounts to the mystery. My cousin and his friends also went there once and my friend was with them. She told me she saw a white ghost figure opposite the big slide. Off course they all then ran away. They also mentioned an old lady who lives in a house just outside the park and that she's a bit scary too."
Posted by Haunted, 2/07/2009 3:39:56 PM
"Sorry to say this, but the place's haunted. As it said that the Ghost Train caught on fire in 1979 and 7 people die. Some of my friends told me that if you visit the kingdom at day or night, you might hear strange noises or you might see a white figure near the big slide. I guess the 7 people died in the Ghost train are still there. So, I won't support the idea of restructuring or opening the kingdom. Mind you, what could happen if we do open it again?."
Manly Fun Pier– redeveloped, no longer there.
Old Sydney Town:
- http://www.oldsydneytown.com.au/ - Now used for movie shoots, this location has considerable historic buildings and rumours of hauntings
Wonderland – Sydney: complete demolition of the park was undertaken in September 2005
Queensland:
Marine Land - “The Spit” Gold Coast”: demolished in 1995, now the site of Sheridan Hotel
Marineland on "The Spit" - Gold Coast,
Amazons Water Park – Jindalee:Now a Housing Development
Grundy's Entertainment Centre: Now a “Timezone” or “Funtasia” games centre
Magic Mountain: Nobby Beach: demolished, the site is now resort-style apartments
Mirage Grand Prix – Oxley: all that is left of the former park is a rusted slide between the WOW, Harvey Norman and McDonald's (I have visited this site as I lived close by at one point and used to shop at "WOW: Sight and Sound" rather often, there was very little left standing at the time.)
Nostalgia Town, Pacific Paradise: Vacant lot ready for subdivision
Olympia Theme Park, Alexandra Head: now a “tourist park” (caravan/camping park)
Adventure Parc: Mt Tamborine: not really a theme park, more to do with “flying fox” style rides, and adventure climbing
South Australia
Luna Park: Glenelg – Luna Park became “Magic Mountain”, which was demolished and become “The Beach House” which is still in operation.
“The boy who fell off with his school bag was sitting on the hand-rail of the escalator (which is fairly low). That's why he overbalanced and went backwards over the edge - he was on the moving object (escalator) and he had this heavy bag on his back hanging over the side.
I heard the story about this person on Wednesday on the radio, then I didn't know what happened to him until I found this thread - I understand why they do it (prevent copycats, prevent dramatisation etc) but it's odd the way they have a media blackout in relation to suicides.
Sometimes you are late on a train one morning and wonder what happened and never know...I was there in 1994 ish prior to the sales being there when a guy fell/jumped...he landed down the bottom in that food section area. sorry, it's been a few years since I've been to Myer in Rundle Mall.
But it was horrible. I remember standing on one of the higher levels looking down and he was laying all 'crumpled' on the ground. Not actually sure what happened to him after that. But I think that's what prompted Centre Management to erect those white sails.”
The chapter called 'Suicide, Smoking and the Unsticky Cigarette' was particularly interesting. Do you Adelaideans remember the Myer Center suicides in 1996? First, there was an incident, a teenager fell off an escalator. There was confusion about whether it was an accident or suicide. And then, a few days later, there was a suicide. Both were reported widely in the media. Soon the Myer centre had an epidemic of suicides. There were between 12 and 15 suicides (and one or two attempted suicides) in all, I don't remember exactly. I was working there at the time, and it was chaos. At one stage there was a suicide (or attempt) every week for two months. After a woman (who actually survived) landed one table away from some people sitting and eating on the basement level, a net went up briefly as an emergency measure and was then removed in favour of the sails. Shoulder high perspex sheets went up around the higher levels to stop people climbing over the rails. The media stopped reporting the suicides very early on, and at the time I thought that was wrong, but now I realise it was entirely the right thing to do.
Victoria:
African Lion Safari: (Rockbank) – Now a garden nursery
Dinosaur World, Creswick: all that is left is a couple of old sheds
Dreamland, St Kilda: this attraction would have sat roughly where “Luna Park” sits today
Dreamland circa 1908
Hi Lite Park – Geelong: demolished to make way for foreshore redevelopment
Leisureland Fair, Langwarrin - now a housing estate
Rosebud fun and Picnic Park: Golf Course
The Swagmans Hat Amusement Park: Corinella – Unknown if the site is occupied
Wirths Olympic Circus: now the site of the Melbourne Arts Centre
Wobbies World:
A plant nursery now resides on the Springvale Road site as well as the Saxon Wood townhouse estate, with the concrete castle, bridges, a train station, the Birthday Room and the miniature golf course still remaining (within the nursery) from the former amusement park.
Western Australia Action Park, Mirrabooka: Was located at the back of the ice rink next to where ‘World 4 Kids’ toyshop used to be, now just a vacant sandy block.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2010-03-22/the-once-and-future-king/374976 Since its closure in 1990, the park has been abandoned and vandalised.
The site is currently owned by property developers, the Fini Group. A plan has been put forward to the City of Wanneroo to develop the area into a mix of retail, commercial and entertainment land uses. In the plan, key features of the Marine Park such as King Neptune would be retained.
This website is by far the most descriptive of the sites current conditions – looks like an excellent place to investigate – but needs more research at this point: http://escobar.id.au/articles/atlantis.php
It might seem to the outside observer that Eidolon Paranormal is doing very little right now, however, I can assure you this is not the case. We are as busy, If not busier than we have ever been.
We have some very exciting projects that we are working on behind the scenes, and also organising some new investigations, all of which takes time, add to this a backlog of Private House Investigations, and we barely have time to live our day to day lives!
We went and watched the amazing Kevin Smith and Jason Mewes perform at the Thebarton Theatre in Adelaide over the weekend. Both Karen and I have been big fans of Kevin Smiths and Jason Mewes work for a long long time, so it was truly amazing for us both to be able to witness the great men in action on their "Jay And Silent Bob Get Old Tour".
Even more amazing was Kevin was his own opening act, recording a "Smodcast" with his "hetero-life-partner", and best friend, the also awesomely amazing, Scott Mosier - this just made an already evening even better!
We were very lucky to also get some signed merchandise, which will soon be framed and join our other signed memorabilia on the Eidolon Paranormal Office Wall, right next to Aaron Goodwin, and The Booth Brothers signed Merch!
Kevin Smith on stage
The following day we went and watched "The Avengers" in 3D. I am a big fan of comic-book/superhero movies, and this was one I had been waiting for this year (as well as the "The Amazing Spiderman" and "The Dark Knight Rises" (Batman)).
If you are into fast-paced action with a little comedy thrown in, The Avengers is for you, it is a masterpiece of comic book moviedom!
In other news, I have just been featured in a newspaper article about Schneider's Alley in Stonyfell:
Eidolon Paranormal's first newspaper interview...and I've been doing this for how long now? - so that's one TV Appearance, one Podcast and one Newspaper article (for those of you keeping score) in 5 years of Eidolon Paranormal being a publicly known entity....hmmm..maybe in another 5 years time I might make a radio appearance!
Until then Constant Reader, you will have my intermittent blog posts.....enjoy, or not :)
EXIF FILES - What Are They, and How To Access Them?
Recently it has been brought to my attention that the term "EXIF File" is being thrown around by paranormal teams and investigators, without any real explanation of what it is, what it does, and how it is used. I thought I would take it upon myself to explain to you, Constant Reader, what an EXIF file is, and what it does.
EXIF data can also be found in other photo file formats, these are "RAW" (associated with DSLR) and "TIFF" formats, we may discuss these at a later point.
The reason behind its prolific use of late has to do with accusations from some sectors of the paranormal community in regards to teams "faking" photographs of ghosts.
EXIF Files are very useful in finding out certain information from when the photo was taken, and if it has been tampered with electronically, this is not by any means infallible information, as you will see as we get further into this research and discussion.
- Allen Tiller
What does EXIF mean?
The Acronym "EXIF" stands for "Exchangeable Image File Format"
So What is it?
EXIF is a non-industry-approved standard that was created by the "Japanese Electronic Industries Development Association" to capture data associated with tagging aspects of Smart Phones, Digital Cameras, Scanners, and Audio associated with these media types. It can also capture Geo-location data via satellite in certain smartphones and newer cameras.
The stored information can include but is not limited to, shutter speeds, date and time a photo was taken, focal length, exposure compensation, metering pattern, and if a flash was used. This is what is known as a "meta tag".
So who uses it?
Professional Photographers often examine their EXIF data to compare two or three photos taken in succession, as one photo may be considered "successful" whereas two others may not. This gives the photographer visual clues as to what may have gone wrong with the "unsuccessful" photos, allowing one to adjust or compensate in future photographic shoots.
Paranormal Investigators are often flooded with photos from the public asking "What is it in this photo?", a vast majority of the public is honestly unaware of what an image could be, but there is that small percentage that fake a photo to try and catch an investigator out. This is where EXIF data can be utilised by the investigator to determine if tampering or photo-shopping has been done to the photo, it can also expose the current trend of phone APPs that create ghost images - however, as I said in my opening paragraph, it is not infallible.
So how do I see it?
To view your EXIF file data you have a few options, the software that came with your digital camera should allow you to view the data. You can also find EXIF web browser plug-ins online, photo editing and organizing programs usually have an option for viewing as well.
You will find in different programs different terminology used other than EXIF,. In Picasa the term "Photo Information" is used, whereas in Flikr it is referenced as "Properties"
Most Internet Browsers have plug-ins available that will allow you to view the EXIF data of photos posted online. This is useful if you are interested in examining different aspects of photography, or want to improve your own technique.
This link will take you to a site that shows a variety of different EXIF data from various camera makers
http://www.exif.org/samples.html
Does it have drawbacks?
Yes, here is a brief sample of drawbacks associated with EXIF data sourced from Wikipedia
- The Exif standard specifically states that colour depth is always 24 bits. However, many modern cameras, such as the Nikon D70 which captures 36 bits of colour per pixel, can capture significantly more. Since Exif/DCF files cannot represent this colour depth, many manufacturers have developed proprietary, non-compatible Raw image formats.
- Exif is very often used in images created by scanners, but the standard makes no provisions for any scanner-specific information.
- There is no way to record time-zone information along with the time, thus rendering the stored time ambiguous.
You stated earlier that EXIF files are not infallible, how so?
I always check the EXIF file of any photo sent to me, it allows me to see what settings the camera was on, this is valuable information, as often cameras will be set to " night mode" which opens the shutter for a longer period of time. If the camera is focused on a light source, and that light source or the camera itself moves at any point in the duration of the open shutter, the light will have a streak effect or a glowing effect. Many people mistake this for ghosts, spirits or other phenomena.
I also check to see if a photo has been made on an APP, like the infamous ghost making APPS found on Apple's I-Tunes :
The truth is EXIF data can be altered, changed, lost or deleted, and rather easily too, with a variety of programs available to do so. Here are some links with information about changing EXIF data:
So as you can see EXIF data is not infallible and not really a valid argument when accusing another of faking a photo, because the reality is, you can never be 100% certain the data is or isn't correct. I normally recommend to all budding paranormal investigators to forget the photography and go with the video, as photography gives you an image and no data, no start and finish point, whereas video gives you a start point, an action point and an endpoint, allowing for better examination of a phenomenon represented by the images - but, video is also fraught with so many possibilities for tampering, editing and faking....but we'll leave that for a later discussion!
David was a grumpy old man. He had spent 40 years working in
poor conditions in a factory for minimum wage. He had spent his life living in
public housing, never able to afford a house of his own. His children had grown
up with hand-me-down clothing, as money was always tight. This led to
complications with his marriage, which ended in divorce.
Even as a young man, David was always in a bad mood. The
world around him got him down. He found no happiness from sport, no
satisfaction from work or family, and eventually, David died a miserable old
coot with no friends...
Now, I have a question for you, Constant readers. If ‘David’
from my story above lived a miserable life, and was generally a sad miserable
person, would he be released from his anguish and be a happy man in the after-world,
or would he be as he was in life?
It is an interesting question and one I have pondered upon
for quite some time. Firstly, let's remove religious bliss, things like going
to Heaven and receiving forgiveness from this equation, and focus purely on the
soul of the man that has shed his dense earthly skin.
So, now David is a Ghost, he looks much like he did, he
sounds much like he did.... does that mean he is the same ‘soul’ he was when he
was alive?
It is my wager that he is the same person, just without the
dense human vessel around him.
Now, let us leave David to his misery and change the focus
of emotion to something a bit darker, let us say, Anger.
Same scenario, but I'll name our Angry character
"Susan".
Susie has been angry her whole life, and, if my theory is
correct is angry in Death.
New people move into Susie's house after her passing, she does
not like them much (she doesn’t like anyone much) and begins to cause trouble,
little things at first, but as her anger builds, so does her efforts to cause trouble.
Soon the new occupants are worried and call in a paranormal
investigation team.
The team begins their investigation, and Susie becomes even
angrier as these strangers start asking inane questions of her...she scratches
one of the investigators to get her point across...
Now, constant reader, you are that investigator, and you
know nothing of Susie in life...do you jump to the conclusion of ‘angry ghost
lady’, or do you jump to something “demonic”?
My belief is most would jump to the demonic theory and not
even contemplate an ‘Angry Susie ghost’, this is partly because of the current
trend of TV shows that come to the “demonic” theory all too quickly, partly
because of the movie industry (think “The Exorcist”, “Amityville”, etc.) and
maybe a little bit of presumption on my part.
It is my belief that as we are now, we are the same person
after death, of course, this is just my own personal theory, and may not apply
to every living person. I imagine someone in intense physical pain, or with a
degenerative disease, such as Alzheimer’s, maybe freed from their affliction
in death, and become negative or positive, depending on their outlook, and
return to something like their old self – but who is to say really? As with all
things in the paranormal world, it is just a theory and probably opens more
questions as to what is possible...
It is, my goal to get you thinking about such theories, and
hopefully adding your views, thoughts or questions to the discussion about this
article in the Eidolon Paranormal forums found on our website at
www.eidolonparanormal.com.au – I look forward to reading your comments (but
please keep the negativity to a minimum).
Obtaining a PhD from the London College of Applied Science, Hans travelled the world extensively in search of first-hand reports and interviews on phenomena, interviewing paranormal researchers everywhere he went.
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