SOS Shepherdstown Haunting

Shepherdstown, West Virginia lies along the Potomac River.  Chartered in 1762, it's arguably the oldest town in the state and is home to Shepherd University.

The town was a focal point for both the American Revolution and the Civil War and is rich in history, the arts, and ghost.

Shepherdstown has long been known for its high amount of ghostly activity, perhaps due in part to the area's involvement in the conflict between the states.  During the Civil War, the town was overrun with the dead and dying, and countless buildings were used as makeshift morgues and hospitals.

Recently, Nick Groff's series, Ghost of Shepherdstown, has brought a lot of awareness to the

 

numerous hauntings in the small community.

The Society of the Supernatural recently spent some time in Shepherdstown for some filming, below is an investigation we conducted at one of the town's haunted cemeteries.  Apparently, the spirit of a horseman went by during our time at the spot, check out the video for more.

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTI2U7-yWbyHAS7XeRVzJ8w

Mandatory Exorcism Classes

Spain's University College of Barberan and Collan has added compulsory classes in Exorcisms to its curriculum.

The college is connected to the public research institute Complutense University of Madrid.  Curiously, aside from standard student fees, the college is funded by Spain's Defense Ministry.

Father Jose Antonio Fortea Cucurull was recently called on to teach a course entitled "The Evil" for almost 200 students.  The class included information related to the devil, hell, exorcisms, and possessions.

According to reporters with El Diario, the aim of the obligatory program is to "promote intellectual, physical and moral development" of its students.

Cucurull has in the past, been connected to the Vatican's chief exorcist, Father Gabriele Amorth.  Father Amorth, now 91, claims to have conducted over 160,000 exorcisms in his twenty four year career.  He publicly stated that the child abuse sex scandal that rocked the Church was evidence of Satan's presence.  He further claimed that Pope Benedict had agreed with him regarding the need to cast evil out of all corners of the Holy Church:

"We have cardinals who don't believe in Christ, bishops connected with demons.  Then we have these stories of pedophilia.  You can see the rot when we speak of Satan's smoke in the holy rooms of the Vatican."

Father Cucurull has written a treatise on demonology and a manual on exorcism.  He has lectured in a number of countries on topics related to the demonic and states:

"The devil has horns and a color, is an incorporeal entity...that roams the world."

He also writes a popular blog "Blog del padre Fortea," Father Fortea's blog, dealing with many of the topics he discusses in classes and interviews.

http://blogdelpadrefortea.blogspot.ru/2016/05/cuestiones-matrimoniales-vivimos-una.html?spref=fb

 

 

 

Chased into Hell by the Devil

May 15, 1687, three British naval commanders docked their ships under the Mediterranean volcano Stromboli off the coast of Sicily.

The Captains went ashore for a hunting expedition.  Several junior officers and crew members accompanied them to the volcanic island.

At 3:14 in the afternoon, the assembled hunters saw two strange men race past them and down the beach.  The man in front was dressed in gray, and the figure pursuing him was in all black.

Captain Barnaby, on observing the figures, exclaimed:

"Lord bless me, but the first man looks like my next door neighbor, Old Booty the London brewer.  But I don't know the other one behind."

The figure in black chased Old Booty directly into the "burning mountain."  They disappeared inside and there followed what the witnesses described as a "terrible noise."

Captain Barnaby asked a Mr. Spink and other junior officers to recored the details of the incident in their log books.

The British vessels eventually returned to Gravesend, England on October 6th of that year, and Captain Barnaby's wife was there to meet him at the docks.

In the course of conversation, Mrs. Barnaby stated:

"My dear, I have got some news to tell you.  Old Booty is dead."

The Captain replied:

"Yes, I know.  We all saw him run into hell."

Captain Barnaby relayed the story of the strange pursuit to his wife, who proceed to tell one of her friends.  The woman in turn took the story to Old Booty's widow.

Mrs. Booty was so outraged that she launched a lawsuit against the Captain, seeking damages for slander.

The case went to trial with Booty's widow seeking one thousand pounds in damages.  Mr. Spink and twenty other officers all swore in court that they had witnessed the strange pursuit as Old Booty was run into hell, just as reported by Captain Barnaby.

The log books were also examined, and they all agreed on the details, within two minutes, of Booty's death in England.

The clothes that the old brewer was wearing when he died were also brought into the courtroom, and again, the officers all testified that they matched the clothing worn by the man on the beach in Stromboli.

The charges against Captain Barnaby were dismissed and the trial documents were entered into the Westminster records.

The judge hearing the case reported:

"Lord grant I may never see the sight you have seen.  One, two or three men may be mistaken, but 20 or 30 cannot."

This story was reported in a couple of different publications in the 1970s, including Fate Magazine.  There's no record as to whether anyone has taken the time to research Westminster records to verify the proceedings in court documents from the period.

Midnight in the Desert with Heather Wade

Great time last night on Midnight in the Desert with Heather Wade.  If you've never listened to the show, check it out.  Heather took over for Art Bell, big shoes to fill to say the least, and she's done a remarkable job.  She's a real natural and the hours flew by.

 http://midnightinthedesert.com/

 

SOS Ghosts of the Antietam Battlefield

The Battle of Antietam took place on September 17, 1862.  It was the first major battle of the American Civil War that took place on Union soil.

It is also the bloodiest single day battle in American history, with a combined total of 22,717 dead, wounded, or unaccounted for.

The battlefield is a haunting reminder of the tragedy of war and the bloody conflict that raged on American soil when brother fought against brother.

And there are other haunting aspects of this sacred soil.  Numerous people report strange experiences on the battlefield.  Whispered voices, phantom gunshots, the boom of cannon fire and ghostly apparitions of soldiers from another time.

Phantom drumming has been frequently reported on the battlefield and strange light anomalies have been seen by many witnesses over the years.

Bloody Lane, the site of some of the most intense fighting during the battle, is a hotspot of activity and is perhaps the most intense area of the battlefield overall.  An observation tower lies at the end of the lane and offers a wide view of the site.  From the tower, witnesses have seen strange things on the field including what they thought were civil war re-enactors who were there one moment, and gone the next.

The Union's famous Irish Brigade fought at Antietam and attacked the Confederate line at Bloody Lane.  The Brigade lost over half of it's 1000 men during the assault.  The intensity of this area has lead to many reports, including phantom voices shouting "Faugh-a-Balaugh," (clear the way), the Irish Brigade's Gaelic battle cry.

There's no doubt that the intensity of the battle, the suffering, and the resulting trauma unloaded a massive amount of energy and poured it into the land.  This is a place that is forever scarred by what happened here and the residual energy alone likely accounts for many of the reports of haunted activity.

The Society of the Supernatural had a chance to conduct a rare, daytime investigation on an area of the battlefield.  Check out the video below for a glimpse of what we captured.

 

And be sure to subscribe, lots more coming from Society of the Supernatural!

SOS at the Silver Queen

Back at the end of May, Society of the Supernatural was in Virginia City, Nevada for a number of investigations.

Spending time in Virginia City is like stepping back into the old west.  There's history around every corner and the whole town seems to be filled with specters.  Many locals talk freely about the abundance of ghostly activity.

Dave Spinks and I had a few nights at the haunted Silver Queen Hotel in the heart of the city.  Here's one of the videos of our investigation of this amazing location:

 

Be sure to subscribe to check out the youtube channel for more great videos, and hit the subscribe button!

 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTI2U7-yWbyHAS7XeRVzJ8w

 

 

July 2016 BEK Update

The monthly BEK updates have been very popular, so as long as there are relevant stories, I'll continue these regular posts.

This month's collection of links on the creepy black eyed beings that are continually reported around the world kicks off with an article from Coast to Coast AM highlighting Listsverse and its run down of ten unsettling encounters with black eyed kids.  Included is one of my cases from the 1950s:

http://www.coasttocoastam.com/article/10-unsettling-encounters-with-black-eyed-kids

Next up, an account of a black eyed shapeshifter in Nebraska.  The account describes a man around 18 or 19 years old dressed like a typical "goth" who stopped the witness on a city street and asked for money.
The account turns even more bizarre as the witness claims the man's form shifted as he was in the midst of a strange discussion with him.
I'm posting this one with the disclaimer, I personally doubt it's authenticity, but, read it for yourself and make of it what you will:

http://cryptozoologynews.com/nebraska-man-met-black-eyed-shapeshifter/

Finally, another recent report making the rounds on the internet.  As usual, the creepy little dark eyed thing is trying to get inside, this time with the excuse of wanting to use the telephone.  This is actually a common request in black eyed children reports and is one of those oddities where the kids seem out of synch with modern times.  In this day and age, there are few people who don't have cell phones, kids included, and fewer and fewer homes have landlines anymore.

http://www.myhauntedlifetoo.com/2016/07/08/another-report-black-eyed-kid-trying-gain-entry-home-anyone-safe/

X Zone Radio

Just made an appearance on the X Zone Radio Show with host Rob McConnell.  This was a Society of the Supernatural special with Dave Spinks appearing from 12-1 and I was featured from 1-2.  Rob is a great host and has been doing his show for years.  If you missed the live broadcast, check out the show's archives at the site below. 

X Zone is also available on iTunes

 

http://www.xzoneradiotv.com/

The Strange Healing of Sergei Kapustin

On a warm June day in Russia in 2003, seven year old Sergei Kapustin went out for a walk.  His mother, Svetlana, instructed him not to be long or to go far.

He didn't return.  His mother raced to the local police and reported her missing son. 
A search was launched for the boy, but it was made difficult by the fact that Sergei was unable to speak and his hearing was gravely impaired.  Sergei also suffered from a very serious form of epilepsy.  The condition was so severe, that the boy needed medication each day.  Doctors had given Sergei's parents a stern warning that failure to take the medicine could well result in seizures that would cause Sergei's death.

Despite extensive searches, no sign of the boy was found.  There was no evidence of a crime and no one in the area had seen him.  His disappearance was a complete mystery.

Two years later, in May 2005, a city assistant noticed a boy loitering outside the building and called on the local police to investigate.  When authorities arrived, they noticed a resemblance to the child that had gone missing two years before.  Police took the boy to a local hospital for examination and doctors stated that he was in good health.

Sergei's parents were notified and they rushed to the hospital to see if their child had indeed surfaced after vanishing for so long.  The boy recognized the pair and immediately leapt into his father's arms.  His mother admitted that she felt a bit confused when she first saw him.  Despite the boy's reaction, the couple felt that something was wrong.

Just like their son Sergei, this boy had a distinguishing birthmark on his chest.  He also had a scar above his right eye just as Sergei had.  But, his mother noted, the shape of the boy's head was different than her son's.

Doctors informed the couple that their boy was in good health in general, but that there was a horrible scar on his back.  It was unclear what had caused the scar.  Svetlana was shocked at the site of it.

"Our Sergei did not have anything like that, someone must have mistreated him."

Doctors added that Sergei was indeed still deaf and mute, but, they added, there was no sign of epilepsy.  Somehow, the boy had been cured of the condition.

The couple took the boy home and resumed their daily life.  Svetlana noted in an interview that Sergei had developed a fascination with trains:

"Sergei has a thing about trains, he gets very excited every time he sees one.  We have to watch him when he's outside because he has tried to run away."

For her part, Svetlana has speculated that the boy was abducted by criminals who made him beg for money.  She can not however, explain his miraculous cure.

Some people in the village of Yessentuki where the incident occurred have their own opinion.  They believe that the boy was abducted, and cured, by aliens.

They point to sightings of strange, multi-colored lights that shimmered in the night sky and illuminated the town on the very day that Sergei vanished.

One of the family's neighbors stated that he believed the boy was carried to another world for study and that extraterrestrials cured the brain disorder before returning him to his home town.

To date, there is no record of the boy ever discussing his experience during the missing two years.

Strange Sounds From the Sky: 1572

In recent years, there have been countless stories of strange sounds coming from the skies. 

Reports vary, with some people reporting a noise like great trumpets, others say there hear weird moaning noises, or something akin to massive machinery.  There are no visible manifestations to indicate what may be causing these strange sounds but most people report that the experience is unnerving.

Those who hold to a biblical perspective interpret these sounds as another sign of the end times, the very sounds of heavenly battles, trumpets of the angles, or approaching forces of light, or darkness, or perhaps both.

Indeed, some people find the sounds so terrifying that they believe some evil force is pushing its way onto the planet. 

The sounds have been called omens and portents of greater disasters to come and despite the countless accounts, no reasonable explanation has been found to explain the occurrences.

But is this in fact a new phenomena, or has this occurred before?
Digging through some historical records, it becomes clear that such things do have roots in the past. 

Take for instance a case from 1572, reported by none other than the Lieutenant-Governor of Paris.  The Marquis Cristobal Juvenal filed his dramatic report after a night spent at the Louvre.  In his own words:

"The 31st of August, 1572, some six or eight days after the assassinations, so called, of St. Bartholomew, I had supped at the Louvre with Mme. Fiesque.  It being considerably warm weather, we went to a little balcony by the river to get the fresh breeze, when suddenly we heard in the air  a horrible screaming, tumultuous voices, mingling cries of rage and fury.  We were immovable, fixed to the spot in terror, and gazing at each other speechless.  This noise, I believe, continued for nearly half an hour.  It is certain that the king, (Charles IX) heard it and was dismayed.  He could not sleep the rest of the night.  Two hours after he retired he leaped from his bed in affright, summoned his household and sent them to listen and seek out the great noise and the groans that filled the air.  These cries were so distant that the king thought it possible the enemies of the Montmorencies and their partisans had surprised and were attacking them, and he sent a detachment of his guards to repulse them but they returned with the report that Paris was tranquil and that the noise proceeded from the air."

The mention of the "assassinations...of St. Bartholomew" is a reference to what has come to be known as the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre.  The massacre was a period when the king of France ordered the deaths of tens of thousands of Huguenots.  At least three thousand were killed in Paris alone, and an estimated seventy thousand across all of France.  The massacre reignited religious civil war in France.

Were the strange sounds heard in the skies a residual energy from the massacre, or something else, an omen perhaps of the coming days of strife?

Another historical puzzle to consider as we try to decipher the meaning behind the modern phenomena of sky sounds.

Dogman Conference

Upcoming Dogman conference in Defiance, Ohio.  It's going to be a fantastic event!

 

http://dogman.weirdlectures.com

 

 

 

The Ectoplasm Show

Had a great time recording for the Ectoplasm show this week with host Josh Heard.  Check it out at the link below, we hit a lot of topics and the hour went by fast!

 

http://ectoplasm.podbean.com/e/123-ectoplasm-david-weatherly/?token=081d40270d0f5abbf06f3cb26c06d602

 

Sasquatch 75'

In the spring of 1975, areas of New Jersey and Maryland produced a number of strange "monster" reports. 

The first, and perhaps most intriguing one, came from a Green Beret camping at High Point State Park in New Jersey.
The man, a Vietnam veteran, reported that a huge, unidentified animal routed him from his campsite. The vet stated that the creature made strange screeching and growling noises.

Investigator Robert Jones interviewed the man and was quite impressed by his account.  Jones stated:

"This isn't a little old lady who got scared in the dark."

Jones went on to interview a number of other people in the area who had reported the beast.
At least three dozen other people claimed to have seen the creature, described as huge, hairy and possibly nine feet in height.

An additional dozen people claimed that they heard the creature and some reported a "booming roar" that was chilling to hear.  Additionally, multiple witnesses stated that the creature emmitted a "skunk-like aroma" that was stomach turning to be around.

Over in Bel Air, Maryland, a driver reported hitting a seven foot tall hairy creature with his car.  The man said the figure was standing on two legs in the road but, despite being struck by the vehicle, it ran off before he could get a clear look at it.  The man's car receive damage to its grillwork and there were reports of hair samples, but no follow up appears to have been done.

In Darlington, Maryland, a woman found footprints measuring between 18 and 20 inches in her garden.  The tracks were several inches deep and the woman reported that she believed the creature had jumped over her eight foot fence to reach the garden.  Unfortunately, the woman's son-in-law plowed the tracks over assuming they were fakes, or perhaps, not wanting any attention drawn to the family.

Numerous residents in the area also reported that their dogs were acting strange during this period, reacting perhaps, to the presence of something they were afraid of.

Despite the density of population in both of these eastern states, there are still reports of encounters with strange creatures.  More evidence that we certainly don't know everything about what may exist in the wild.

The Abduction Reality

A recent news story paraded around the Internet created a stir in the UFO community with its headline:

"Why Alien Abductions are down Dramatically"

At first glance, I thought it was a joke, but I read through the muddled article a couple of times in an effort to understand what the writer was attempting to get across.  Did she have a point, or was it all nonsense and an attempt to grab attention?

I've explored this more thoroughly in my latest article for "Politics, Prophecy and the Supernatural."

Check out this great publication at:

http://lamarzulli.net/news_magazine.htm

Roswell UFO Festival 2016

 

The annual UFO Festival in Roswell, New Mexico is indeed a sight to behold.  Overlapping with

World UFO Day, the festival pulls in people from around the world, from the serious to the completely zany, anyone and everyone interested in UFOs seems to try to make it to the festival at least once in their lives.

 

From Alien costume contests, to alien pet contest, to live music, parades and more, Roswell seems to go crazy for a few days.

 

On the serious side of the field, the UFO Museum is certainly a highlight and there are lectures from various figures in Ufology throughout the festival.

 

 

World UFO Day 2016

It's world UFO day!  Plenty to do and see if you're in Roswell, New Mexico for the annual festival!

If you're not, check out www.worldufoday.com for events near you.