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[news] NSW Premier Nathan Rees believes panther roaming Sydney suburbsPosted by Shaddow on 20 Sep : 12:17
I was 13 when I was in Sydeney (this is 17 years a [ more ... ]
[news] Massive squid hauled off Victorian coastPosted by Ocelot on 16 Sep : 01:41
I read about this the other day. Said it was a col [ more ... ]
[news] Expert disputes claim of great white shark in Tuggerah LakePosted by Ocelot on 16 Sep : 01:03
I was out in the dingy at Wangi the day I first he [ more ... ]
[news] WTC 7 report: end of the line for 9/11 conspiracy theories?Posted by Murray on 25 Aug : 01:19
I wonder how much they got paid or threatened to w [ more ... ]
[content] WHAT BLOODY CENTURY ARE WE LIVING IN? (Re: Religion)Posted by Murray on 23 Aug : 15:36
"Imagine there's no countriesIt isn't hard to doNo [ more ... ]
[content] WHAT BLOODY CENTURY ARE WE LIVING IN? (Re: Religion)Posted by Alladar on 23 Aug : 09:39
I am torn on the subject. Firstly i do not believe [ more ... ]
[news] Expert disputes claim of great white shark in Tuggerah LakePosted by Alladar on 23 Aug : 09:19
If a sharks body is covered by water than its deep [ more ... ]
[news] Expert disputes claim of great white shark in Tuggerah LakePosted by johnden on 23 Aug : 08:14
Yes you're right. Before we moved up to the centra [ more ... ]
[news] Bigfoot body a hoax!Posted by Murray on 19 Aug : 15:42
What a surprise!
[news] A past Space Shuttle ScO, admits ET's are Real.Posted by supernataGal on 09 Aug : 01:10
Wow weee!! God I hope this is real!! The cat's out [ more ... ]
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Posted by MurrayWelcome Damian I like the cut of your jib, most of[more ...]
08 Oct : 06:00
Posted by Damian A.I guess this makes me some kind of rare animal tha[more ...]
08 Oct : 04:45
Posted by MurrayNo need to back off its not exactly busy here righ[more ...]
05 Oct : 16:20
Posted by ShaddowMy life moves in waves. So as it gets quiet I get [more ...]
30 Sep : 08:52
Posted by RatbagsAnd it will be quiet for another week from me 'cau[more ...]
27 Sep : 23:26
Posted by MurrayIts gone awfully quiet here again?
27 Sep : 02:18
Posted by MurrayHi Shaddow drop me an email @ Murray@unexplainedau[more ...]
21 Sep : 10:50
Posted by ShaddowHaha Snob. No way mate. I totally understand where[more ...]
20 Sep : 12:08
Posted by Ocelot^If you need any local info I could ask around to [more ...]
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20 Sep : 03:46
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Welcome to Unexplained Australia.
Unexplained Australia is a Paranormal Investigations group based in the Hunter Region of NSW Australia.
If you have any information on haunted locations or houses in the Hunter we would love to hear from you. If you have any information on Yowies, or other cryptic animals we want to hear from you. Have you seen a UFO or had a close encounter or if you have found or seen a structure or artifact that does not fit the Australian bush we would like to talk to you. Please contact us today!
Unexplained Australia Investigations are conducted professionally and scientifically, we use state of art the gear and techniques, which are akin to the methods used by TAPS.
We also provide you with Articles on the Unexplained and the latest Paranormal news from Australia and around the world.[/b]
Do you run a Paranormal Investigations group and are from Australia? We are currently creating a network of Aussie Investigators submit your info here!
Have you had a Paranormal Experience? Please share your stories with us here!
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Saturday 04 October 2008
Courtroom ghosts bring forth tales
IF only the spirits could talk what tales they would tell.
According to the Australian College of Mediumship (ACOM), spirits don’t really talk, but they do communicate with humans and certainly have some great stories to tell.
The ACOM will hold their first Ghost Tour at the Berrima Courthouse on Sunday, October 11.
The tour is run by psychic mediums.
ACOM founder Kerrie Wearing said having a tour run by mediums presented quite a few differences to their normal tours.
“Namely being that we have spent quite a great deal of time, in fact, many years studying and working with the afterlife in a broad range of experiences,” she said.
“This stands us in good stead to be able to provide knowledge and insightful answers to many of the questions that may arise from the tour participants regarding their experiences and curiosities.
“Secondly, because we are able to work in partnership with the spiritual energies through our mediumistic connections, this allows for all sorts of additional experiences.”
Berrima Court House does offer some quite interesting subjects.
One of the spirits, John Lynch, is actually going to help lead the tours.
Lynch, a serial killer, was hung at the courthouse in 1842.
For the full story see the Southern Highland News, Friday, October 3
leah.obrien@ruralpress.com
http://bowral.yourguide.com.au/news/local/news/general/courtroom-ghosts-bring-forth-tales/1324682.aspx
Monday 29 September 2008
Almighty profit in coffee mug face of Christ stain
ADELAIDE man Sam Marinos believes he has been blessed with the holiest of gifts - the image of Jesus Christ - in the dregs of a Greek coffee.
So strong was Mr Marinos's belief that he has preserved "Christ's" image by storing the stained mug in an air-tight container for more than four years.
Now he wants to put his cup of Christ to the litmus test of public opinion and is considering selling it on eBay.
"When I saw it I thought it was the icon straight away," the 53-year-old said. "There was just some feeling about it, that's why we never washed it and we sealed it, and we kept it.
"I'm just curious as to what other people think." Father George Athansiadis, from the Greek Orthodox Community Church of Croydon, was shown the cup on Friday.
He said while there certainly appeared to be an image resembling Jesus Christ he would not go so far as calling it an "apparition".
"It's remarkable what the coffee beans did in the cup, but I will not support the idea that it is God-sent or God-made," he said.
The image appeared after Mr Marinos enjoyed his daily ritual of a morning cup of coffee with his wife.
He followed his family tradition of "reading" the coffee grounds that collect at the bottom of the Greek coffee.
The empty coffee cup is turned upside down to allow the remaining "mud" – a feature of Greek coffee – to run down the inside of the cup and dry.
When Mr Marinos returned the coffee to its upright position he was "absolutely stunned" to see what he believed to be Jesus Christ staring back at him.
"I thought that's got to be the Almighty in there," he said.
"My wife was stunned, my whole family was stunned, and my wife said let's not wash it, just keep it.
"We were showing the rest of our family and they couldn't believe what they were seeing."
The caffeinated Christ is the latest in a long line of food-related sightings of religious icons.
In 2004, a decade-old toasted sandwich said to bear the image of the Virgin Mary sold on internet auction site eBay for more than $50,000.
The American owner said the sandwich had not decomposed in 10 years and had brought her luck including a $70,000 win at the casino.
Mr Marinos – who said he has already received one offer for his Jesus Christ – said he was nearing a decision on whether to auction the cup on the internet.
If it did sell for a significant amount he would donate a percentage to charity, he said.
VISIONS SPLENDID
A US woman sees the image of Jesus in a tortilla shell and builds a shrine to the apparition.
A woman sees Jesus in a forkful of spaghetti on a Pizza Hut billboard in the US.
A family in Mumbai, India, finds a potato shaped like the city's patron god, Ganesh.
A Texan man preparing his mother's breakfast sees the face of Jesus in the contents of his frying pan.
A Swiss bar manager finds an oyster shell with the image of Jesus Christ – he puts the shell in a bank for safe-keeping.
Yankalilla hits international headlines after the image of the Virgin Mary and Child appears on the wall of the Anglican Christ Church.
http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,24412265-2682,00.html
Uncovering the science of the Ancient Egyptians
By HOWARD FRANK
Pocono Record Writer
September 28, 2008
A real secret message discovered by a local man among Egypt's ancient ruins could be stranger than the fictional stories we love involving Indiana Jones or "The DaVinci Code."
East Stroudsburg-born Edward Nightingale says he has unraveled the most famous of ancient Egyptian riddles.
And he believes his discovery has uncovered a collection of advanced mathematical principles that could change our understanding of matter and the universe.
But that's not all.
Now, hold on to your seats. He also believes this information was intentionally embedded in the blueprint of the ancient ruins, for future generations to discover.
The mystery
Nightingale, who lives in Upper Mount Bethel Township in Northampton County, has studied the Giza plateau in Egypt for almost 20 years. He even traveled there with famed Egyptologist John Anthony West to study the ruins.
The Giza plateau lies on the outskirts of Cairo and contains the Great Pyramid, the Great Sphinx and many other historically significant structures. A total of nine pyramids stand on the site.
The construction and layout of the complex, about one square mile in area, has been the subject of scholarly study and adventurer exploits — think Indiana Jones — for centuries.
The most well-known of the mysteries is how the actual structures were built. The pyramids include massive blocks of granite and stone, machined to amazing tolerances, and too heavy to move without modern equipment.
"There are 2.5 million blocks of stone in the Great Pyramid that cover 13 acres in the footprint and stands 480 feet tall, with blocks of granite in the interior that are up to 70 tons. They are machined to tolerances that you can't slip a dollar bill into," Nightingale said.
"That tells me they (the builders) knew something we don't, because we sure can't do it. As a craftsperson, I had to figure out how they did that."
But the larger, greater mystery is why the pyramids and other structures are arranged the way they are. Is it haphazard? Surely not, since some of the elements, constructed in different dynasties, were in perfect alignment. There seems to have been some enduring plan.
Three pyramids dominate the Giza complex: the Great Pyramid, or Pyramid of Khufru, the Pyramid of Kahfre and the the Pyramid of Menkaure. The sides of all three pyramids are astronomically oriented to be north-south and east-west, within a small fraction of a degree. Quite a feat, considering the pyramids were built thousand of years ago.
Researchers have been looking into this for centuries. There have been many theories over the years, but none have explained how to take into account all the architectural aspects of the plateau.
"Everybody who was studying this was using the Fibernachi series, and they were coming up with little snippets of what was occurring. But I wanted to allow an open mind without putting myself in that box," Nightingale said. (Fibernachi numbers are a series of figures built by adding the two prior numbers in the series, for example, 1,1,2,3,5,8.)
Other theories have been proposed. A fairly recent and now dominant one by researcher Robert Bauval suggested the arrangement of the three pyramids matched the Belt of Orion, three stars in the midsection of the Orion constellation. A shaft in one of the pyramids points to the spot in the sky Orion occupied thousands of years ago when the pyramid was built.
Enter Nightingale
Ed Nightingale was born at Pocono Hospital in East Stroudsburg but lived in Hope, N.J. "East Stroudsburg was our local hospital, the closest one to us," he said.
A master wood-carver by trade, he creates architectural elements for high-end clientele. He's worked with Dennis Collier on projects for the National Marine Museum in Washington, D.C., and Trinity Church in New York City. Nightingale also did a project for singer/actor David Bowie.
Nightingale approached the design of the Giza complex as an architect would, by creating a drawing. The complexity of the site was apparent. "They had to have a pretty good plan," he said.
To begin his journey to understanding, Nightingale back-engineered the site. "I examined it as an 'as-built blueprint,'" he said. With laser-accurate surveys, he applied his drafting and design skills.
"As a craftsman, I've been a woodworker all my life, a fussy one at that. I had an interest that these things were placed here with an incredible accuracy that we can't even accomplish," he said.
Nightingale works with geometric shapes when he plans a sculpture, and so he began to see geometrical relationships between elements in the plateau.
Full Story: http://www.poconorecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080928/NEWS/809280321
VIDEO: Security Camera Catches Ghost?
Security cameras in a fitness centre in Kansas, which are activated by motion at night, caught the mysterious white shadow moving amongst the exercise machines, reports CNN.
The cameras were activated nine times during the night. The owner of the centre Kim Peterson and the company that installed the security cameras are certain that there is a logical explanation for this illogical event, but cannot explain it themselves.
The fact that the cameras are not activated by flies moving, dust or headlights of cars passing by the fitness centre, make this event even more mysterious.
Did the camera record a ghost? Take a look and decide for yourself.
http://www.javno.com/en/lifestyle/clanak.php?id=186834
Saturday 27 September 2008
Yes, it’s a yowie
WHILE the majority of scientists do not acknowledge their existence, a leading cryptozoologist believes a Glendonbrook property was recently visited by a yowie.
After receiving some photographs taken by Glendonbrook resident Lloyd Stapleton of some strange footprints found on his property, cryptozoologist (person who studies animals whose existence is disputed) and environmental scientist, Professor Gary Opit, said the shape and size of the footprints had the hallmarks of a yowie.
“From my viewing of the photos, the footprints were made by a large bipedal (two legged) animal, and in my opinion, more than likely a yowie,” Professor Opit said.
“It appears as if the yowie has leapt over Mr Stapleton’s gates and landed quite heavily on the balls of its right foot, not flat footed, and this left a deep impression.
“There is another print of its left foot and then it appears to have walked onto the grass.”
The photos were sent to Professor Opit after a number of zoos and museums were unable to identify the footprints.
The yowie, the Australian version of the yeti / big foot, has been dismissed by most scientists as a myth because of a lack of physical evidence.
Professor Opit believes that yowies are a descendant from the genus Australopithecus, which were closely related to humans, stand around two metres tall, and are highly intelligent, ambush predators, eating mainly kangaroos, possums and bandicoots.
He believes that yowies were once in abundant numbers in Australia, but were hunted into near extinction by Aborigines and dingoes.
However, with no hunting threats for quite some time, their numbers have begun to grow, which has resulted in increased sightings by people.
“Most people don’t believe they exist for one second but I’m fortunate that I’ve actually seen one and heard their calls,” Professor Opit said.
“And so many people have contacted me with reports, I can’t say they are all hoaxes.”
While initially disbelieving of the fact he had a yowie visiting him, Mr Stapleton said a number of strange occurrences, other than the footprints, led him to suspect that there was something out of the ordinary getting around on his property.
“A few years ago, I heard a growling near the tree line when I was doing some work on my shed at night,” he said.
“I’d never heard anything like it before, it was too big a volume in noise to be a dog.
“It frightened the daylights out of my two German Shepherds who were with me at the time.
“Also, at the top of the mountain, the dams are full and there is plenty of feed for the cows but nowadays they choose to stay down near the house.
“It’s strange that they would just leave it.”
Mr Stapleton said he took the recent photographs the morning after a particularly wet storm in April.
“The creek that night was four and a half to five metres deep and 120 to 130 metres wide, so I’m pretty sure it would have been a very big effort to go to if it was someone playing a practical joke,” he said.
Professor Opit said he would like to hear from people who have stories of unidentified animals, such as Mr Stapleton’s, and can be contacted via email at garyopit@bigpond.com
http://singleton.yourguide.com.au/news/local/news/general/yes-its-a-yowie/1283858.aspx
Monday 22 September 2008
New JFK findings debunk single-gunman theory
DALLAS - New research suggests that science cannot support the assertion that Lee Harvey Oswald was the lone assassin of President John F. Kennedy.
Cliff Spiegelman, a professor of statistics at Texas A&M University, said that five bullet fragments taken from JFK’s body could have come from more than the two bullets which are said to have cut down the president in Dallas in November 1963.
“The claim was made that those five fragments could only have come from two bullets,” Spiegelman said. “Our research showed it could have been two or more.
“And if it is more than two, there is an increased likelihood that someone else provided one of them.”
He organized a six-member team that compared the composition of the fragments from the JFK shooting to other bullets from the same manufacturer.
The group found that those fragments weren’t nearly as rare as the government’s expert witness concluded in 1976, when Dr. Vincent P. Guinn determined that all five fragments came from two bullets fired by Lee Harvey Oswald. A third shot missed.
Spiegelman said many of the test bullets showed the same “chemical composition,” and one matched fragments from the assassination bullets.
The study does not say there were two or more gunmen, only that the single-gunman theory can’t be supported by science.
Naturally, that triggered “a bit of a buzz,” said Gary Mack, curator of The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza.
“The no-conspiracy folks, they accepted (Dr. Guinn’s) analysis without too much questioning,” Mack said. “But others wondered whether he knew what he was talking about. And the sharp ones were very skeptical that (the one-shooter findings) could be so definitive.”
The team’s research won them the American Statistical Association’s 2008 Statistics in Chemistry award.
Saturday 20 September 2008
NSW Premier Nathan Rees believes panther roaming Sydney suburbs
NSW Premier Nathan Rees believes something big and furry is roaming Sydney's west. And he wants to find out what it is.
Despite a lack of firm evidence, Mr Rees no longer thinks stories of big cats such as a black panther stalking western Sydney are just an urban myth.
He said he has been in contact with a local woman who has compiled a database of some 600 alleged big cat sightings.
"I don't think it's necessarily an urban myth,'' Mr Rees told reporters in Penrith today.
"There are too many people reporting sightings.''
It is a turnaround for Mr Rees, who as water minister in August said the "black panther is an urban myth''.
The black cat sightings have already been subject of a three-year NSW Agriculture-led investigation, which was wrapped up in January 2002.
But Mr Rees said a recent spate of new sightings could warrant a new investigation.
"Of particular concern is if there are little kids out there, and there actually is one of these things,'' Mr Rees said today.
"It is easy for all of us to dismiss these things ... but if we're actually wrong then there is an altogether different set of scenarios.''
Sighting of big cats - dubbed either the Penrith Panther or Lithgow Panther - have been part of local folklore in Sydney's west and the Blue Mountains for decades.
Rumours persist the big cats escaped from private zoos or a circus in the area years ago, and even the local NRL club is called the Penrith Panthers.
While many people believe it is some type of exotic cat, possibly a panther, cougar or leopard, myth busters say they are nothing but large feral cats with thick winter coats.
The creatures are said to roam from Penrith to the Hawkesbury region in Sydney's north-west, along the Nepean River and across the Blue Mountain to Lithgow.
Believers say the big cats have been able to survive by roaming the three large national parks - Kanangra-Boyd, Blue Mountains and Wollemi - which connect across the mountains.
Mr Rees has won the support of renowned crypto-naturalist Tim the Yowie Man, who welcomed suggestions that the fabled black cat required further investigation.
However, he also wants the state government to look at other NSW mysteries such as the Burrawang Bunyip, the UFOs of the Central Coast and his pet project - the yowie.
"Mystery big cats aren't the only mysterious phenomena in NSW,'' Tim the Yowie Man said.
Mr Rees is unlikely to win bipartisan support for his new search, with the NSW opposition showing its sceptical side.
"This is Nathan Rees' 'beef stroganoff moment and demonstrates how out of touch Labor has become,'' said Deputy Liberal leader Jillian Skinner, referring to the uproar caused after federal Labor MP John Murphy complained earlier this week about the size of meal servings at the parliament house canteen in Canberra.
"Nathan Rees needs to get his priorities right.
"Looking into the so-called black panther, but not into the budget crisis, says a lot about this bloke and it's not good for the people of NSW.''
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,24370998-662,00.html
Friday 19 September 2008
New lifeforms found in study of Australian reefs
MARINE scientists may spend years learning all the secrets of hundreds of new lifeforms found by a huge study into what lurks in our sea waters.
The four-year research project, based on Lizard and Heron islands on the Great Barrier Reef and Ningaloo Reef off Western Australia, has taken four years and revealed some bizarre creatures.
Among those found was a "tongue biter" parasite that eats the tongues of host fish and then essentially becomes the new tongue by attaching itself to the fish's mouth.
The study also found hundreds of previously unknown soft corals, brightly coloured jellyfish, crabs and other creatures they believe may hold the key to curing some human diseases.
Coral researchers say the discoveries are just a tiny fraction of an estimated 9 million species of coral yet to be found and identified.
"We know more about the dark side of the moon than what is at the bottom of the ocean," said lead scientist Dr Julian Caley, of the Townsville-based Australian Institute of Marine Science which led the research.
"It is amazing how much we don't know about what is under our waters.
"This was a voyage of modern day exploration."
The project, known as the Census of Marine Life, will release its final findings in 2010.
Chief Scientist Ron O'Dor said hundreds of thousands of forms of life remained to be discovered.
"Amazingly colourful corals and fishes on reefs have long dazzled divers," he said.
"But our eyes are just opening to the astonishing richness of other life forms in these habitats.
"Knowledge of this ocean diversity matters on many levels, including possibly human health - one of these creatures may have properties of enormous value to humanity."
Dr Nancy Knowlton of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington said the new Australian expeditions revealed how far we are from knowing how many species live in coral reefs around the globe. "Estimates span the huge range from one to 9 million," she said.
The Australian studies discovered about 300 soft coral species and dozens of crustaceans - some with whip-like back legs and claws longer than their bodies.
Some of these species are believed to be previously unknown to science.
They also documented the cassiopeia jellyfish, which turns upside down and waves its tentacles in the air so algae living on it can capture sunlight for photosynthesis.
Also recorded were various isopods, or small crustaceans often referred to as vultures of the sea, because some feed on dead fish. One species, cymothoidae, burrow into the flesh of live fish and eat their tongues out, the team said.
The Census of Marine Life is a global network of researchers in more than 80 nations engaged in a 10-year initiative to assess and explain the diversity, distribution, and abundance of marine life in the oceans - past, present, and future.
The network is led by scientists at AIMS, the Smithsonian Institution, and the Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Centre of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Wednesday 17 September 2008
After the storm: Floating coffins and prowling alligators amid Hurricane Ike's £7bn trail of destruction
Not even the dead were safe from Hurricane Ike's wrath.
On the Texas coast, this cemetery was flooded and coffins were forced above ground by the sheer volume of floodwater .
Distraught relatives wandered among the empty graves and the saturated coffins that were strewn throughout the cemetery.
Two days after Ike's landfall, water gurgled and bubbled ominously from submerged graves, and an invisible cloud of formaldehyde stung the eyes and throat.
The only water left was now filling empty graves and vaults.
Meanwhile a lone alligator prowls across the deserted motorway as the storm waters from Hurricane Ike gradually subside.
Today, as the death toll from the hurricane had risen to 25 across nine states, one of the biggest search and rescue operations in U.S. history got under way.
Nearly 2,000 people were plucked to safety from their flooded homes with hundreds more awaiting rescue.
The confirmed death toll from Hurricane Ike stood at 13.
But search teams stocked with body bags were scouring communities including Galveston, where 20,000 ignored a mandatory evacuation order.
‘We hope for the best but I want to prepare people for the fact that we may have some fatalities,’ said Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff.
Some told remarkable stories of survival.
Denis Covington, 63, of Port Bolivar, southeast of Houston, had his home smashed in two by a falling pylon.
Both halves crashed into 14ft of floodwater. ‘I had to spend the second half of the hurricane in a tree just clinging on. The rain was like nails sticking in to me,’ he said.
Full Story: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1055660/After-storm-Floating-coffins-prowling-alligators-amid-Hurricane-Ikes-7bn-trail-destruction.html
Tuesday 16 September 2008
Is this evidence of Norwichs Ghost
When Janice Mark decided to take a picture on the corner of Elm Hill the best she hoped for was a nice shot of historic Norwich.
She never imagined that it would lead her to question whether she had snapped evidence of ghostly life in the city centre.
But when she downloaded the picture of St Peter Hungate Church, on the corner of Princes Street and Elm Hill, she was drawn to a white image in the church window.
And on closer inspection she noticed that the image is remarkably similar to a human figure.
The senior telesales executive at Archant, owners of the Evening News, said: “I have an open mind, but I have had someone say that he is a medieval preacher.
“We also have a friend who has gone to the church to see if there is something in the window, but there isn't anything there.
“If you zoom into the top window of the church, you can see an image of a white figure with a long bushy beard.
“If you look closely, you might be able to see his eyes, nose, mouth and ears.
“You may just about be able to make out that the figure is wearing something on his head, which also goes down his back.”
The church, which is open to the public one day a week, is run by The Norwich Historic Churches Trust, which manages, preserves and maintains many of Norwich's redundant medieval churches.
The trust's chairman Rory Quinn said he had never heard of any ghosts in the church, but he suggested one possible identity.
He said: “It could be the spirit of Mordecai Hewett, who gave his name to the Hewett School in Norwich.
“It's the 50th anniversary of the Hewett School next week so it could be something to do with that. There's a memorial to Mordecai in the church.”
However, according to city-based paranormal investigator and author Dominic Zenden, 45, from Old Catton, who has been a spiritual medium for more than 25 years, those hoping it is evidence of an after-life will be sorely disappointed.
He said: “I have had a really close-up look and have seen this type of picture before. Sorry to disappoint but this in my opinion is not a photo of a ghost.
“It is the light relaxing back from the angle of the window to the camera. This is a very common misconception when it comes to photographs of ghosts.”
A study last month identified Norwich as the ninth most haunted city in Britain in terms of the number of ghostly sightings.
The Supernatural Britain Report was conducted by Lionel Fanthorpe, president of the Association for the Scientific Study of Anomalous Phenomena, who studied archives, websites and his own reports to identify sightings and recordings.
Derby came out as the most haunted in the survey with 315 sightings of ghosts, poltergeists, werewolves and vampires since records began, which equates to an average 14 sightings per 10,000 members of its population. By comparison Norwich had an average six sightings for every 10,000 people.
St Peter Hungate Church was built in 1254, but the current structure was only finished in 1460. It was used as a museum of church art from 1936 until 1995.
Have you used your camera to photograph something that is newsworthy? Contact reporter David Bale on 01603 772427 or email david.bale2@archant.co.uk.
http://www.eveningnews24.co.uk/content/news/story.aspx?brand=ENOnline&category=News&tBrand=ENOnline&tCategory=news&itemid=NOED06%20Sep%202008%2010%3A07%3A33%3A183
Pope urges crackdown on reported visions of Mary
The Pope has instructed Vatican officials to adopt stricter criteria for the approval of visions of Mary.
As Pope Benedict XVI began his first visit as pontiff to France, being greeted at Paris airport by President Sarkozy and his wife Carla Bruni, it emerged that he had asked a Spanish Jesuit to draw up new guidelines for bishops around the world on the recognition of reported apparitions.
The Vatican said it had asked Monsignor Luis Francisco Ladaria Ferrer to launch his investigation because the Pope wanted to avoid "excesses and abuses" of such visions. The pontiff believes bishops should resist being swayed by the emotional reaction of believers and be guided instead by strictly applied "scientific, psychological and theological criteria".
Ignazio Ingrao, Vatican correspondent of the weekly news magazine Panorama, said the inquiry had been prompted because of the readiness of a bishop of Civitavecchia, the port north of Rome, to approve reports that a statue of the Madonna owned by a local family had wept tears of blood. The bishop even claimed to have seen the tears himself while holding the statue in his arms. The bishop was later replaced.
The Vatican is also sceptical about reported Marian apparitions since 1981 at Medjugorge in Bosnia-Herzegovina, despite the fact that the site is visited by two million pilgrims a year.
Vittorio Messori, an Italian Catholic writer who is close to the Pope, said the then Cardinal Ratzinger had told him in 1985 that "patrience and caution" were the key to validating Marian visions. "No apparition is indispensable to the faith" the future Pope told Messori. "The Revelation ended with Jesus Christ".
Guidelines for the approval of apparitions and revelations were last issued in 1978. They lay down that a diocesan bishop can "either on his own initiative or at the request of the faithful" choose to investigate an alleged apparition. He then submits a report to the Vatican for approval.
The news came as the Pope visited France and prepared to hold talks with Mr Sarkozy as well as visiting a religious shrine at Lourdes. France is overwhelmingly Roman Catholic - at least nominally - but also has large Muslim and Jewish communities and adheres to the separation of church and state. Mr Sarkozy is himself a lapsed Catholic who has been divorced twice. While in the country, Benedict is to deliver a keynote address on the role of religion in society to the French Academy, of which he has been a member since 1992.
Before leaving Rome on his trip, Benedict, who speaks fluent French, said he would pray at the feet of Our Lady of Lourdes for the Church, the "sick and abandoned", and peace in the world.
"I go as a messenger of peace and fraternity," he said in a message to the French people. "Your country is not unknown to me. On several occasions I have had the joy to visit it and to appreciate its generous tradition of hospitality and tolerance, as well as the solidity of its Christian faith and its lofty human and spiritual culture."
He added: "May Mary be for all of you, and in particular for young people, a Mother always attentive to the needs of her children, a light of hope that illuminates and guides your ways."
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article4739281.ece
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