The Vatican has announced a commission to investigate claims that the Virgin Mary appears on a daily basis in a town in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Six children first reported the apparition in the town of Medjugorje in June 1981.

But, the sightings have not yet received official recognition from the Catholic Church.

The 20-strong commission will report to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the top doctrinal body.

For nearly 30 years, the Virgin Mary has been said to appear daily in Medjugorje, dressed sometimes in a grey dress and veil and sometimes in gold, crowned with stars and floating on a cloud.

It is said she speaks in Croatian, uttering the words: “I’ve come because there are many right believers here. I wish to be with you to convert and reconcile the whole world.”

It is also said that three flashes of light precede her apparitions, during which the voices of the visionaries can no longer be heard.

But the Catholic Church has long debated the credibility of the sightings.

There was a recent visit by a cardinal from Vienna, Christoph Schoenberg.

But the bishop of neighbouring Mostar has frequently criticised unquestioning belief in the claims.

Until the commission reports back to the Church’s top doctrinal body, believers are likely to continue to flock to this small Bosnian town.

Around 30 million are estimated to have visited since the first sighting of what they call “Our Lady”.

[via: news.bbc.co.uk]

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Generally it’s believed that ghosts tend to haunt places which have seen a fantastic deal of life – and therefore death. But apparitions are also reported from the open countryside, even from the most remote locations, as JANET BORD clarifies.

Ghosts seem to be particularly attached to buildings, the spookier the better – churches, castles, stately homes, and ruins of all kinds. They are equally drawn to more domestic settings – pubs, hotels and, of course, everyday houses.

Wherever people have gone about their lives, be it the lords and ladies of bygone eras, or the humble labourers of more recent times, ghostly echoes remain of all manner of traumatic events that have taken place down the centuries.

But what about the wild, windswept uplands?

The wild open spaces of Britain are likely to have been sparsely populated – some rarely even visited – but do they too carry echoes of the past in the form of ghosts and hauntings? It would seem so – and the manifestations are often just as weird and unexpected as those of lowland ghosts.

Sometimes the trigger for a particularly weird haunting may be hard to discern. I am thinking especially of the ghostly ‘hairy hands’ which were said to haunt a stretch of road on lonely Dartmoor in Devon. The first inkling of something weird was in 1921 when Dr Helby, who worked at Dartmoor prison, was flung off his motor cycle and died of a broken neck in March that year. A few weeks later a motor coach drove off the road and some of the passengers were thrown out. The driver later said he had felt invisible hands pulling at the steering wheel. Two men on a motorcycle had distress with their steering while coming down the same hill, and in August that year a young army officer on a motorcycle was slightly injured when he was thrown onto the grass verge. He later commented: ‘It was not my fault. Believe it or not, something drove me off the road. A pair of hairy hands closed over mine. I felt them as plainly as ever I felt anything in my life – large, muscular, hairy hands. I fought them for all I was north, but they were too strong for me. They forced the machine into the turf at the edge of the road, and I knew no more till I came to myself, lying a few feet away on my face on the turf.’

Beinn Fhionlaidh: Climbers make their way up this bleak Scottish highlands mountain, scene of a remarkable ghost sighting

Local people thought the accidents were caused by excessive speed and the road camber, but a man who used to wander on Dartmoor at night told of hearing an dreadful scream near the hill where the accident occurred; and a woman saw the hairy hands in 1924, clawing at the window of a caravan where she was staying, only half a mile from the haunted road.

Whatever was responsible for the ‘hairy hands’, they were linked to a possible death. Death is frequently the catalyst for hauntings, as seems to have been the case in the Dorset hills in the early years of the 20th century. Bill Smith gave a first-hand account of his experience, which took place when he was a lad, walking with his uncle late one bright moonlit night in 1915 from Combe Down to Norton St Philip. They noticed a movement in the dry-stone wall, possibly a sheep that had got trapped, and went to look, but could see nothing and there were no sheep to be seen in the field, only the valley dropping away below them. Then they heard a horrible scream, but again there was nothing to be seen.

They sat and rested for a while, and then heard the scream again – this time they also saw what looked like a man rising out of the ground 20-30 feet below them. The uncle went to investigate, but again found nothing, and he said that the figure appeared to go back into the ground, though there was nowhere for anyone to hide and the ground was firm. As they continued walking up the hill, the uncle pointed out a large stone in the wall which had a large red ‘M’ on it. He said it was known as the Murder Stone, because a man had been murdered there many years ago.

Winnat's Pass: The mournful spirits of two murdered lovers are said to haunt this romantic spot in Derbyshire's High Peak

Some months after this possible sighting of the ghost of the murdered man, a workman found an ancient stone coffin buried in the hillside, but there was no skeleton inside it.

Tragic suicides may sometimes be the trigger for ghostly sightings on the downs above Beachy Head in East Sussex, the high cliff from which so many people have thrown themselves 545 feet on to the rocks below. It is rumoured that there is something about the cliff top that makes people want to throw themselves off it, and certainly if you suffer from vertigo I can confirm that it is a place best avoided!

There have been tales of a black-clad monk beckoning people to their deaths, and a lady in grey often seen on the cliff edge is thought to have been a suicide victim herself in the 1850s. A man walking on the downs in 1976 saw the ghost, as did his dog, which started growling and quivering with dread. The ghost bent down as if to stroke the dog, which ran off howling, whereupon the ghost disappeared. Another cliff-top ghost was that of a woman looking like a farmer’s wife and carrying a bundle, possibly a child, which she hugged close to her before stepping off the edge.

Further west along the south coast, inland from Worthing, stands the high point known as Cissbury Ring, an Iron Age hillfort on the West Sussex Downs. It is a lonely, atmospheric place, haunted, according to local lore, by a highwayman executed there in the 18th century, who said he would never rest after his death. Following burial in the middle of the road, his corpse kept coming to the surface again, and his ghost was seen riding along the track. Cart-drivers would drive straight through him, and they would also report that their wheels had gone over something lying on the road, even though there was nothing to be seen there.

Roman Steps: Two walkers speak to a phantom in the 1920s on this well-preserved stone stairway in the Rhinog mountains of Gwynedd

Violent death was also the trigger for a haunting on the windy hills of the Derbyshire High Peak. A young couple were murdered in 1758 in the spectacular

limestone gorge known as Winnat’s Pass while they were eloping to get married, their skeletons being learned decades later by miners working at the spot, and reburied in the churchyard. On windy nights, or so it is said, the cries of the murdered lovers, begging for mercy, can still be heard in the pass. No doubt there have been many murders in the lonely hills and mountains of Britain down the centuries, some of the victims still lying undiscovered. It is impossible not to wonder whether these tragic victims relive their terrifying last moments for all eternity, albeit rarely seen by any living human.

Do ghosts appear if there is no human being present to see them? Or is the presence of a human consciousness somehow a necessary catalyst for the ghostly manifestation? How much does the eerie mountain atmosphere contribute to the creation of the right circumstances for a ghost to appear – or for the witness to believe that a paranormal event is occurring?

This is particularly relevant to the case of the Huge Grey Man of Ben MacDhui, the highest mountain in the Cairngorms (Aberdeen/Moray). As Karl Shuker’s article on the previous pages has clarified in detail, walkers on the mountain, beginning with Norman Collie in 1890, have reported hearing footsteps following them, and others claimed to have seen giant figures which left no footprints. The mountain is well-known for a distinctly spooky atmosphere on its wild and rocky slopes.

Not far behind in the strangeness stakes are the reports of phantom soldiers, and even whole armies, being seen on hills and mountains throughout Britain. The most well-known case was that of Souther Fell in Cumbria, where there were sightings on Midsummer Eve in 1735 and 1737, and again in 1745 before the Scottish Rebellion. A vast army was clearly seen by numerous witnesses in 1745, but a search of the hillside next morning revealed no hoofprints. A spectral army was seen marching across Helvellyn, also in Cumbria, on the eve of the Battle of Marston Moor in 1644.

More recently two men carrying out geological research on Skye in November 1956 saw dozens of men wearing kilts. The scientists were camping in Harta Corrie in the Cuillin Mountains, and it was early one morning when they watched the men scrambling along the mountainside in total silence. One night soon afterwards they saw them again, this time retreating in disorder towards the Bloody Stone which marks the scene of a battle in 1395. When they reported what they had seen to local people, they were told that Harta Corrie was known to be haunted. If it is right that strong emotion can somehow imprint itself onto a landscape, with the focal events of the emotion being replayed to startled witnesses as a ghost sighting, then it is hardly surprising that many of the ghosts are soldiers and murder victims.

But there are also ghosts who do not at the time appear to be anything other than living people, and it is only later that the strangeness of the encounter becomes apparent. University lecturer Kenneth Richmond was climbing Ben Ime in the mountains of Argyll and Bute when he met an ancient man who was wearing a bowler hat and carrying a large paper parcel. Despite

his age, he did not appear to be out of breath, and Richmond wondered what he was doing there, so he spoke to him. They had a normal conversation, during which the ancient man said he was going to catch a train, and they parted. When Richmond looked down the snowy slope shortly afterwards, there was no sign of the figure, and on his way down he realised there were no other footprints in the snow, only his own. He also learned there was no train at the time given by the ghost.

Another report of a speaking ghost seen in the uplands comes from the Rhinog mountains near Harlech in Gwynedd, where Redfern Thomas and his son were climbing the ‘Roman steps’ in the late 1920s. The mountaintop was deserted except for sheep and birds; then suddenly they became aware of the presence of a nicely dressed young girl, who approached them and greeted them in Welsh. Mr Thomas answered – and then she suddenly disappeared. Although they searched, they could find no trace of her.

Another Welsh case also featured a young woman, who was seen dancing near the top of Moel Famau, the high point of the Clwydian Hills on the Denbigh/ Flint border. A young couple climbed the hill one evening, being the last people up there. Close to the memorial, they saw a young woman in a light blue dress dancing. They were surprised because it was very cold on the hill. Less than a minute later, they could no longer see her, and despite looking on all sides of the hill, she had completely disappeared. Other walkers have reported seeing people on the hill who then disappeared without trace. Cases like these are very puzzling indeed, but at least hese ghosts are of people. Weird as it may seem, it would appear that inanimate objects can also appear in ghostly form, such as the cottage seen by two reliable witnesses in Scotland in May 1987.

Donald Watt and George Bruce were very experienced climbers, and members of the Lochaber Mountain Rescue Team. While descending Beinn Fhionnlaidh near Cannich (Highland) they noticed a two-storey cottage on the loch shore below. It was made of granite and looked in excellent condition, and they chose to head for it. They were puzzled because they hadn’t seen it on the map and didn’t know of its existence. They kept it in their sights for some time and then lost view of it. They assumed they would see it when they got over the crest of a hillock, but when they joined the path along the shore there was no cottage to be seen. Despite their best efforts, they were unable to locate it. Afterwards they found that there had been a lodge at the loch, but it was now under water since the area was flooded and dammed in the 1950s. They were very glad that they had been together and could both confirm that they had seen the cottage clearly. As George commented: ‘This has shaken us. I have an open mind but this defies all explanation as far as I’m concerned.’

It would be simple to dismiss all these witnesses as mistaken in what they saw or experienced, but that becomes more hard when there were two of them, as in the last three cases. But, having myself experienced weird events that defied logical explanation, and with trustworthy friends whose own experiences I have had to take seriously, it is clear that weird and unexpected things do happen, even on Britain’s lonely hills, moors and mountains

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lochaber-news – A series of spooky goings on at a Lochaber hotel has led to the launch of a ghostbusters group to seek out spirits in the area.

Jim Morrison and his fiancee Heather MacLeod are former employees of Ballachulish Hotel, where they and others have reported experiencing paranormal activity.

Staff and guests alike have spoken of apparitions and unexplained occurrences at the hotel, which dates back to the 1830s, and some even have photographs.

The pair worked at the hotel in the summer and, following a spate of weird encounters during their time there, they felt the need to set up the new non-profit making organisation.

Jim Morrison (35), who is from Fort William but now lives in Kinlochleven, told the Lochaber News: “Both Heather and I have always been interested in the paranormal and had experienced paranormal experiences together so we thought we would get together to set this group up to do investigations and prove spirits exist.

“Our experiences happened when we both worked at the Ballachulish Hotel. When we started, other members of staff said they had experienced paranormal activity but we didn’t know whether to believe them until we experienced things for ourselves.”

Jim was a porter at the hotel, while Heather (44) was assistant housekeeper when they stumbled across weird goings on.

He recalled: “One day in room 112, I was helping Heather go a bed when we heard heavy footsteps coming along the corridor and stopping outside the door. But when I looked, nobody was there. Heather had experienced the same thing in the same room a few days before.

“On another occasion, I was in room 204 when the window which normally stays open twice slammed shut when there was no wind or anything to cause it. Then, when I looked over to the bed, there was an imprint on it as if somebody had been sitting on it. There would also be weird feelings in certain rooms like you were being watched.

“After we left the hotel we were watching a ghost-hunting programme on TV, which gave us the thought to set up our own group.”

Along with three others – Rob Price, of Fort William, and Natalie Milne and Jim Rogan, both of Aberdeen – the team will investigate people’s houses and other premises like hospitals, schools and hotels.

Their first probe will be in February at Ancient Inverlochy Castle. All investigations are free, though donations help buy equipment such as video cameras.

Gwen MacAskill, head receptionist at Ballachulish Hotel, said for some years guests have spoken of unexplained phenomena at the hotel.

She said: “There have been people who have mentioned things happening at the hotel.

“One guest who stayed a couple of years ago emailed us a picture he had taken in room 215 of what looks like a small boy standing beside the bed.

“One of our maintenance guys who has been here for 15 years has spoken of seeing the boy in the picture. People have mentioned just feeling things in a couple of rooms.

“In room 121, people say they have experienced seeing someone or feeling as though there is somebody standing in the room.

“Also in room 121, there was a driver staying a few years ago who was convinced he was being held on the bed by something and it wouldn’t let him go. He also said how he had heard children’s voices in the room. That room had been beside the children’s nursery when the hotel was first built.

“Other people have mentioned an ancient lady standing in corridors, while another time a member of staff was staying in a room while the hotel was closed when her partner heard footsteps coming down the corridor. When they looked, no-one was there and the hotel was closed anyway.”

A night porter reportedly heard the tinkling of ivories in the early hours of the morning. But when he entered the lounge he found the piano was playing – on its own.

Ms MacAskill has worked at the hotel for 15 years but hasn’t experienced anything untoward herself.

“It always happens to other people,” she laughed.
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THE HISTORY OF BALLACHULISH HOUSE / HOTEL

Chieftains, Clansmen, Adventurers – all men met at the “crossing of the waters” in this celebrated drovers Inn.

Ballachulish House was built in 1640 as a country estate, although as the building was ruined during the Jacobite rebellions the current house dates from around 1745. In 1692 it was occupied by Sir Robert Campbell of Glenlyon when he received orders signed by the king to place all of the MacDonalds of Glencoe under seventy years of age ‘to the sword’. This order prompted one of the most notorious massacres in Scottish History.

The house is also associated with the murder of the king’s factor, Colin Campbell, in 1752; an event known as the Appin Murder. Colin Campbell is perhaps better known as ‘The Red Fox’, so called because of his red hair, a common feature of the Campbell clan of which he was a prominent member. In May, 1752 he was leading a small detachment of government soldiers into Ballachulish, supposedly to collect taxes although it has also been suggested that he may have had the duty of purging the area of its Stuart Jacobite sympathisers, when he was killed by a musket shot. The site of the murder is about a mile seaward from Ballachulsih, where a signpost from the road will lead you inland and uphill to a cairn marking the spot. The assassin fled, carrying the weapon into Ballachulish where it was learned in the yew tree behind Ballachulish House. Today ‘The Black Gun of Misfortune’ is exhibited in the West Highland Museum in nearby Fort William.

In the aftermath of the murder the authorities carried out a witch hunt in the area. Needing someone to take the rap they dragged the unwitting James Stewart to Inveraray where he was tried by a Campbell judge and jury. Predictably they found him guilty as charged. On the 8th of November, about six months after the murder, James Stewart was taken to Ballachulish where he was hung on a small knoll just at the southern end of today’s bridge, near Ballachulish House. A commemorative plaque marks the spot. His body was left to rot for several months, as a means of discouraging the locals, so that it was small more than a skeleton that the authorities finally allowed to be buried. The Appin Murder formed the basis for Robert Louis Stephenson’s well-known novel, ‘Kidnapped’.

Set against the massive Ben Vair mountain range in a spectacular swirling lochside location, the building is a sentinel both to its own past and the rich history of the surrounding area. Visiting the Highlands, Queen Victoria commented in her diary on the “gorgeous hotel” as she crossed the Ballachulish Ferry.

A ferry has run across the narrows for centuries with The Ballachulish Hotel on the southside and The Loch Leven Hotel on the northside acting as staging posts for travellers. The building next to the existing Hotel is a former stables and garage. The ferries finally stopped when the Bridge was completed in 1975.

A testimony to earlier times is a rock awash in the narrows known as Clach Phadruig or Peter’s Rock. This was named after a Viking who stepped onto it to try and save his son who was drowning. Local tradition has it that the sheltered waters of Loch Leven were much used by the Vikings.

Sources:
www.scottishaccommodationindex.com
www.information-britain.co.uk
www.ballachulishhotel.com

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tampabay – In the eerie silent of the night, Janice Strand and her group climb to the Tampa Theatre’s projection booth to speak to a dead guy named Fink.

“Are you there?” she questions into the air.

“Fink, we’d like to talk to you.”

Then, after a long pause, “Is anyone there?”

The group, frozen in attention, waits for a sign. Any sign. When nothing happens, they go on, hoping the spirit is just out to lunch.

Strand proceeds to tell the tale of Fink, a.k.a. Foster “Fink” Finley, who worked as a theater projectionist for 35 years before his death in 1965. A small, balding guy who took the bus to work, Fink arrived early every morning to shave and delight in a cup of cafe con leche.

Fink fell ill with cancer and one day collapsed in the projection booth. Two months later, he died.

The next year, weird things started happening in the theater, according to its archives. A jingling of keys. Ghost-like apparitions. The scent of ancient-fashioned shaving lotion.

Could it be Fink?

The possibility has puzzled theater workers for decades and added to the lure of one of Tampa’s oldest and most treasured buildings. Opened in 1926, the elaborate movie palace is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

In November, the theater started Late-Night Ghost Hunts for up to 30 people as a unique way to promote the theater and share its rich history. The next tour, on Jan. 23, sold out more than six weeks in advance. Another is in the works but hasn’t been scheduled.

The 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. tour covers nearly every cranny of the theater, including the orchestra pit, basement, green room and other areas not seen on daytime tours. Explorers split off into small groups carrying electromagnetic frequency meters and a noncontact thermometer to monitor atmospheric changes potentially caused by paranormal activity. Most everyone has a camera or a video recorder.

Guests are keen to see something supernatural, but the tour guides are careful not to declare every blip on the meter or dip in temperature a ghost. Rather they say things like, “That was unusual,” or “that’s very fascinating,” and tell documented tales about past activity. At midnight, everyone breaks for snacks, dessert and wine.

“We have a lot of occurrences, but can you say there’s ghosts? I don’t really know,” said Strand, a fan of “all things creepy,” who place together the tours as the theater’s programming and marketing assistant. Strand hasn’t seen any ghosts in her 1 1/2 years with the theater, but has sensed plenty bizarre. She’s heard keys jingle and gotten a whiff of the perfume-like shaving lotion.

During the first ghost tour, guests experienced some unusual activity but nothing that screamed ghost. A few said the batteries on their fully charged cameras died, which seems to happen at the theater quite often for unapparent reasons.

One guide, Bob Pierce, said two nine-volt batteries burned up in his backpack while he was in the green room. (He assured the batteries weren’t touching.) Lea Williamson, a longtime Tampa Theatre member, took some fascinating photographs of orb-like objects in the mezzanine area.

“I still reckon it’s a camera anomaly,” she said. “But I don’t know.”

The guides warned dust, reflective surfaces, windows and even bugs could affect photos. Wiring and copper tubing could send the EMF meter into a beeping frenzy.

Still, ghost or no ghost, participants loved the behind-the-scenes look at the 83-year-ancient working theater. They saw the green room where David Byrne, Ani DiFranco and other celebrities relaxed before concerts. They saw the 10-horsepower blower that powers the organ. They saw the original light board that controls the 99 stars in the theater’s ceiling.

Guests ranged from history buffs to serious ghost hunters to one couple celebrating their wedding anniversary. Admittedly, walking through the bowels of an empty 1,446-seat theater in the middle of the night was spooky, they said.

The tour finished with a photo on the lobby staircase. “Oh no, the batteries are dying,” said guide Tara Schroeder as she aimed the camera.

Everyone laughed.

Not every ghost tale is right.

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Some fascinating links I’ve found this week:
• The Best “Real Life” Ghost Cameos: Real or Fake? – Candid camera ghosts are all the rage, and it’s time we paid respect to the on-camera spirits that paved the way for well loved films like Paranormal Activity. Here are the best of the best from YouTube; you be the judge.
• Experiments with Apparitions in the Laboratory – The ideal way to experiment with a ghost would be to bring it into the laboratory, where it could be studied under controlled conditions. While it is not possible to do so, some parapsychologists have attempted the next best thing.
• How to Bend a Spoon Using Your Mind – Relates one technique for psychic spoon bending, which harnesses the emotional power of the mind, what he calls “peak experiences” and then a release. Worth a try, perhaps.
• All New Links

THE LATEST LINKS: Ghost Videos, Ghosts in the Lab, Spoon Bending originally appeared on About.com Paranormal Phenomena on Friday, November 27th, 2009 at 13:04:44.

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We were at the cemetery for the burial of my sister’s mother-in-law. It was a cold winter day & I chose to wait in the car with my elderly mother while my niece and sister proceeded to the burial site where she would be interned.

A few minutes after they had left the vehicle, I noticed 3 apparitions pass in front of the car from left to right. It was like watching a movie. Each apparition stopped & glared at me for a moment before filing past.

The apparition I remember the most was that of a ancient man with a young girl maybe 2 or 3 years ancient. I could see them only from the waist up. Their clothing was from another period in time. I got the impression that she was sitting on his lap.

The other apparition was another ancient man who gave me a long, evil stare as he passed by the front of the car.

It took me awhile to figure out, but I really do believe that these spirits I saw were going to the grave site to see the new person being buried.

Till this day I have never gone to that cemetery alone.

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Hello. The night before last at approx. 8:30 PM, I was watching television in my living room near a window. I felt like someone or something was watching me. I glanced to my right and there was a being in a gray suit standing outside my window watching me. It had to be 7′ tall or so. (I measured in the morning). I had been discussing this feeling of being observed while watching television with a friend just the day before. I know it was not a human, but someone or something entirely different. This being was only there for a second or two and fled the instant I had noticed it. So I only got a fleeting glimpse of it, but I saw that it was dressed in gray and had a large head. I was not fearful sensing a feeling of cool, nearly protected. As I have not been able to go out and watch the stars for nearly two weeks. It could not have been a reflection of any kind and not a reflection from my TV either. Any thoughts on what it was? Thanks from Florida
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(Click to enlarge image)

Have you ever heard of Meta-Physical Phenomenon or Meta-Physic Phenomenon? Do you know what this is? If you have heard of it and know what it is, you may know as to what I am going through. I cannot get a grip this type of gift I was given, but in reality, I know when something is about to happen. I have seen sightings beyond anything anyone has ever seen. I am shown the truth, yet every time I have no photo or physical evidence.

I know that the Bermuda Triangle is not a triangle in shape, but consists of 3 huge square areas. Yes, UFOs are involved. I may send you a tale and drawing that truly happened to me on Sept. 29, 1979 from 8:45pm to 9:00pm. When you read the tale and look at the drawing you will know me better. I called someone on these sightings and they said it was weather related. I say ‘hog wash’.

I also reckon I know what is causing the animal mutilations. Once, I was stopped at a red traffic light and noticed this thing in my rear view mirror. I still can see it in my memory. It looked like a mixture of a preying mantis and one of those raptors in the Jurassic park movies, gray in color, scaly skin, powerful hind legs, the front arms were jointed. What appeared as hands were not hands but these things that looked like sheaths, pointed at the end. I only saw one eye as it was sideways in my rear view mirror. I am trying to figure out how much I can see towards the back of my truck if something were to stand on the back of my pick up. It could of been 4 to 5 feet in height, just tall enough to see every detail of the thing. It vanished and I sure wasn’t going to get out and see if it had left any type of tracks or see how it went. I floored my gas pedal right down to the floor and got home quick.

NOTE: if I receive the tale of this reader’s experience on Sept. 29, 1979, I will surely post it. Once again, I welcome reader encounters with the unknown, no matter how weird and unusual…Lon

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Shadow people may be the most commonly seen apparitions. What are they? Dark ghosts? Beings from some other time or dimension? Whatever they are, they can be terrifying to those who see them, as you’ll read in the frightening cases told here. In all of these encounters – including some in which these shadows have really been felt – they seem to have intelligence and may even be following some mysterious purpose. What are they… and what do they want?

Scariest Shadow People Encounters originally appeared on About.com Paranormal Phenomena on Friday, October 30th, 2009 at 23:22:49.

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citizen.com – Grace Herbert of Gilford, NH does not have a problem living inside a house where she has witnessed ghost activity and apparitions and experienced some fascinating happenings involving the spirits of the dead.

It all started in 1973, when Herbert and her husband bought the house at 324 Hoyt Road. The first apparition Herbert witnessed was an elderly woman lying in bed with her arms crossed in the upstairs bedroom, which she keeps as the guest room when people visit.

Most of the activity she has witnessed has occurred either in that bedroom or in the living room downstairs, directly beneath the bedroom.

“The people who lived in the house before us had similar experiences as us,” said Herbert. “The owners before them in the 1930s had experienced things as well.”

Herbert said they believe the ghosts are two women named Agnes and Ann. Agnes is thought to have been in her 80s at the time of her passing and Ann is believed to have been in her 40s. Herbert said Anne had one son who died in an accident on the farm sometime in the 1800s.

According to Herbert, anytime someone suggests dealing with the phenomena as something involving the devil, a cult, cult worship, a Ouija board or palm reading while inside the house, the ghosts become very disruptive.

“They don’t like that subject at all and neither do I,” said Herbert.

Herbert said she doesn’t know what is going on lately, since she has seen quite a bit of activity recently.

“They do get active, for whatever reason, between September and November,” said Herbert. “There always seems to be a lot of activity.”

She is not sure if Halloween or having a reporter come to the house to do a tale was a factor in the recent activity on Friday, but the ghosts have been “tweaking” Herbert, she said.

“When this happens, I just tell them to knock it off,” said Herbert. “Lately they’ve been stealing or hiding things.”

She said the ghosts placed a credit card of hers underneath a door mat when she had been looking for it. In another incident, the ghosts hid a hair brush of hers when there was no one else in the house.

“I went into the bathroom and, when I came out, the brush was gone,” said Herbert. “I looked everywhere for it.”

The next day she opened the cabinet where she keeps extra supplies and the brush was sitting right next to the spare rolls of toilet tissue.

According to Herbert, both the ghosts like children but were somewhat jealous of Herbert for having children of her own. Just a year after she bought the house, she claims that, as she was walking down the stairs, one of the ghosts pushed her as she was holding her one-year-ancient child.

“Coming down the stairs, I could feel those 10 fingers push me,” said Herbert. “I was livid; I was crying in the living room.”

She managed to hold on to the baby as she fell, but told the ghosts that, if anything were to happen to her or her family again, she would leave the house, burn it down or whatever it took to get back at them.

“I told them if I am going to live here, that’s the way it’s going to be,” she said.

To this day, Herbert said, if she ever feels as frightened as she was that night, she will go out of the house. Fortunately for her, nothing extreme has happened since that incident.

Sometime during the 1980s, Herbert had a specialist come to the house to investigate the situation. A man by the name of Norm Gauthier, who was the founder of the Society for Psychic Research of New Hampshire, an amalgam of believers and practitioners, questioned Herbert where the activity was coming from and which part of the house was most affected to give him a starting point for his research. Accompanying him on his vist was his wife and a reporter who was doing a tale for a newspaper.

Gauthier placed a recording device in the second-floor bedroom where Herbert said she first saw the ghost and closed the door. After 10 minutes, he returned to the room to listen to what was on the tape and she said he picked up on a noise.

“The first recording produced a voice saying, ‘What are you doing here?’, but in a whisper,” said Herbert. “At that point I was getting a small freaked since I knew there were ghosts, but I didn’t know they had voices.”

The second recording, she said, produced a rhythmic pattern of a rocking chair. Herbert said the noise must have been coming from the ghost’s dimension since the floor in the bedroom is carpeted.

“It was a rocking chair noise,” said Herbert. “The last 10-minute recording produced a noise as if someone was frantically looking for something in a paper or book.”

She said the reporter that tagged along was skeptical about the situation and searched the entire room for something that could have been making the noises.

Herbert also said the ghosts are very opinionated. Herbert runs a day care service at her house but she said the ghosts do not like bottles or pacifiers.

Herbert said that, a while back, when guests visited her at the house, they called her back saying a ghost had followed them home. The solution, according to Herbert, was to have them drive back her place, since ghosts are welcome at her house.

“If you would have questioned me 37 years ago if I believed in ghosts, I would have thought you were crazy,” said Herbert. “They [the ghosts] don’t scare me. I like the house; what’s here is here.”

Herbert said if she ever had to sell the house, she would have to tell that the house may be haunted.

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