The best place to hunt for ghosts are places where a lot of people tragically died. So really, the question isn’t why 100 paranormal investigators are heading out to look over the sunken wreckage of the Titanic in 2011. It’s what took them so long?

“I think it will be dramatic,” the 35-year-old author and freelance writer said. “We’re probably going to hear people screaming for help.”

The Titanic Endeavor Tour, headed by Matthew “Sandman” Kelley, a paranormal researcher from Markleysburg, Pa., will charter a boat to the shipwreck 960 miles east of New York and try to invoke the spirits of those who died there. Expedition members will dine from the Titanic’s menu, observe a memorial service and strain to detect, through psychic sensitivity or special equipment, traces of souls who haunt the site.

Question: if the spirits are confined to the remains of the ship, are they really upset they’re still underwater? They surely weren’t used to it in life, so would they become used to it over time? Even if they want to scare you are they going to be do busy ghost drowning?

Is James Cameron involved?

[Sun-Sentinel]

So Justin Robert Young and I have been scoping out murder scenes, ancient burial grounds and sites of all out massacres in research for our Weird Things Live project (where we investigate paranormal phenomena in front of a live internet audience). On a recent moonlit night standing in the middle of a mass killing field I had an epiphany. What are we going to do when we make contact with some kind of demonic spirit that may have caused people to go on murderous rampages and infect the scene with some kind of contagious inter-dimensional gloom? We need protocols and stuff.

Sure, we’re skeptics and we don’t actually believe in ghosts and spirits, but to be scientific about it, we have to accept the possibility that our premise could be wrong and this stuff is pure concentrated wickedness. We have a moral imperative to do something when we come face to face with wicked evil supernatural forces. So I decided to develop a plan and protocol for capturing and containing all that evil we’re going to encounter for your entertainment pleasure. I’ll describe our method for the capturing process in a later post. Here I’ll describe how we plan to contain it for transport and permanent confinement.

Level 1: Ghosts aren’t real Our first level of protection is based upon the virtual scientific fact that ghosts aren’t real. While we’re confident this should protect us and you, it’s only our first defense.

Level 2: Physical confinement We’re going to use airtight glass jars to physically contain the malevolent spirits. If there is some unknown physical property to dark spirits (like some kind of intelligent airborne bacteria) this should help confine them inside a physical medium.

Level 3: Sacred ground Inside each jar we plan on putting dirt from some kind of sacred holy ground where spirits are able to chill out peacefully. Our plan is that this should contain the spirit long enough to transport it to our final containment area.

Level 4: Sacred seal Using the Egyptians as a guide, we’re going to seal the jar with some kind of inscription designed to keep evil spirits inside. As we know from movies, breaking sacred seals are a bad thing, so we’re going to get some and put them on our jars. So don’t break them.

Level 5: Super Evil Super Max We’ve staked out a couple of remote plots of land located near burial grounds. We plan to bury these jars of tortured souls in this resting spot that will then be festooned with a variety of religious artifacts. We plan on bringing in some kind of Holy Man (under blindfold) to consecrate the grounds. We also plan on creating a ring of powder and pouring holy water everywhere.

That’s just the starting point. Your suggestions are welcome. Our goal is to keep adding to our final resting spot of evil as we capture more spirits. For it to work we’re going to have to keep the actual location a very closely held secret. We don’t want some interlopers to stumble in there and unleash what may be the greatest concentration of evil ever.

If this sounds silly to you, ask yourself this: Would you want these jars filled with the presumed spirits of serial killers and maniacs under your bed at night? When asked if they’d briefly wear a sweater that belonged to a serial killer (dry cleaned no less) most people flat out refuse. I’m sure they’d be even less happy to have our jars buried in their garden.

Weird Things Live: Hunting the Night Creeper from Andrew Mayne on Vimeo.

Last Monday night in front of a live internet audience we set out to solve the mystery of the Night Creeper. Ghost? Frogman? Or something else? Although we’re pretty sure we figured it out, we haven’t definitively proved our theory. The mystery continues…

Running time 55 minutes.

Check out our photos of the scene on Flickr.

As we prepare for tomorrow’s live hunt for what is known as the “Night Creeper”, we thought we’d share with you some photos from a recent reconnaissance of the area. Our first nighttime recon resulted in Justin and I getting stopped by the police FYI. It appears we’re not the only ones paying attention to the weird reports coming from the area.

What stood out most to us is the fact that this area forms a triangle with two other hotspots of unusual activity and they both have large bodies of water nearby that lead straight to the Everglades – a wild environment filled with cryptid and unusual phenomena.

On Monday night’s live show (9PM EST) we plan to go into a tunnel that’s the main access point between the wetlands and the area of interest. We’re not assuming it’s a cryptid or some other creature that’s been sighted. We just find it very interesting.

During our daylight investigation we found signs that something was living underneath there or at least spent some time there. The above photo shows a very large fish head that was dragged 10 feet above the bank into a dark corner. A raccoon or Gollum? We hope to find out.

From Psychology Today we get this less than riveting ghost story from sleep specialist Dennis Rosen, M.D. who determines that part of his patient’s sleeping disorder may be attributed to a ghost in the house. It starts off pretty good:

“Do you ever see or hear something you know isn’t there as you are falling asleep or waking up?” I asked her. “We have a ghost in our house” she answered. “His name is Simon”. I looked over to her father to see his response, and was surprised to see him nodding his head in agreement. The conversation then continued, with both the patient and her father taking part.

What happens next you ask? Not much. It’s less entertaining than a debunking…

Since then, I have met with the family a few more times. Besides helping my patient with her sleep apnea, sleep hygiene, and schedule, I have learned more about Simon (that he prefers to hang out in the basement, and that he likes to walk through people when they’re doing the laundry).

We’re not sure what to make of this. Are you saying he’s real? A figment of the families imagination that you’re patronizingly entertaining?

We understand you’re a sleep specialist, but we need more information or at least help Simon with his sleep hygiene.

link: A ghost in the house | Psychology Today

What’s better than a photo? A photo of a ghost. What’s even better than that? Capturing that photo on a friend’s iPhone. Of course the problem is, ghosts are never very cooperative and not likely to show themselves on demand. That’s why we’ve created this handy tutorial for faking a ghost image on a friend’s iPhone.

via http://www.iPodTricks.com

Want to see something spooky? Click on these slideshows and see some various ghost photos on Flickr.

The spirit photographs of William Hope

Vintage Spirit Photography

Seances

Got a spooky photo or video you want to share? Upload it to Flickr and tag it with #weirdthingscom

Previously, this week, on Weird Things.

• A few tips for the novice Bigfoot hunter.

• Could the Son of Sam, a UFO investigating Air Force base and the birth of popular science fiction have helped create the Dover Demon?

• Michael Jackson may be dead, but his ghost is on a world tour.

• What happens, when myriad ghosts, have chosen to haunt a house, stop beings polite and start getting real? They say some really kooky stuff, that’s what.

• Rhode Island has never had a Bigfoot sighting, but that might be about to change.

Enjoy the weekend, as always, send weird photos, stories, sounds and happenings to JustinRobertYoung@Gmail.

Recordings reportedly capturing the voices of the dead are nothing new, but we couldn’t help but wonder what some of the oddest things ever uttered via EVP were. We contacted Chris Page, the founder of Ohio Researchers of Banded Spirits to find out:

Most Common: TIED between “Help!” (including derivations ‘help me’ and ‘help us’) and “Get out!”

Chris Says: At times they’ve even gotten mixed messages from a single spot that is particularly packed with paranormal activity. For example it happened once while investigating an insane asylum. “There’s going to be more than one spirit running around,” Chris added. He stopped short of speculating that it might have just been one schizophrenic specter.

Whoops From Beyond The Grave: When asking one spirit how it shuffled this mortal coil, Mike’s team was answered with “accident.”

At Least They Used The Magic Word: Two or three ghosts have requested that the paranormal investigators “please check” into the circumstances of their demise.

Sassiest: While recording in an abondoned Victorian home, investigators asked a spirit if they were one of the maids who worked the residence. The response, “Hell No!”

Chris Says: “It was angry, like ‘how dare you!’”

Trust Me, I’m An Expert: During an investigation of a sprawling home built on an indian burial ground, investigators made their way to library where they recorded the words, “you’ll die.”

Chris Says: A family abandoned this house after hauntings (including visions of floating severed heads and being thrown out of bed by unseen forces) reportedly became too intense to ignore. Mike aded it was the scariest single quote they’ve captured.

Dead Language: Again, at the indian burial ground house, while trolling the grounds recorded a voice saying “Tuebor.” After much researching, the team discovered it meant “I will defend” in Latin.

Blue State: The team has recorded spirits mentioning Presidents Clinton and Roosevelt.

Double Talk: Once asked a group of spirits, “Can you see us?” only to receive the answer “Can you see us?”

Child’s Play: Often while the ghost of child is being investigated, researchers will record “mommy.”

Chris Says: Nothing is creepier than the child spirit recordings.

Thanks to Chris and the Ohio Researchers of Banded Spirits for help with this.

We’ve all been there, you’re making a pastrami sandwich on toasted rye when you become enveloped in fear because a Civil War-era general’s spectral remains has come upon you seeking misguided vengeance because you’ve grown similar facial hair to a defected private who sealed the General’s fate when he gave away his position to the enemy in exchange for a bottle of rye.

Then you realize it’s just a mosquito that flew into the bug zapper. Don’t let this happen again!

Thanks to the Ohio Researcher of Banded Spirits who’ve published this handy checklist of tell-tale signs of a real-deal otherworldly infestation so you can know the difference between a genuine haunting and a stress-induced panic attack…

1- Unexplained Noises

2- Doors opening and closing

3- Lights turning on and off

4- Items Disappearing

5- Unexplained Shadows

6- Strange domestic animal behavior

7- Feeling of being watched

8- Psychokinetic phenomena–seeing a door open

9- Feeling of being touched

10- Whispers and Muffled voices

11- Cold or Hot spots–major temperature changes

12- Unexplained smells

13- Objects moving

14- Physical Assault

15- Hand or Foot prints

16- Apparitions

They also list mice, settling house noises, plumbing rattles and odd headlight reflections as natural phenomenon commonly mistaken for proof of the supernatural.

This video, filmed by the Greater Central Ohio Paranormal Society, is being touted on the main page of Ghost Videos as evidence of a ghost girl. Are we the only ones who don’t really see…..anything of interest at all?

Check out this dramatic investigation of St. Peter`s Church in Essex.

An Indonesian Paranormal TV show is touting the above video as the real deal. This ghost video starts off looking like it’s going to be incredibly lame, with a person in a white gown slowly crossing the screen. Then suddenly with no explanation the figure takes to the sky, jumping to a tree before mysteriously exiting via the top edge of the frame. Why the cameraman didn’t follow eagerly with his lens? We don’t know.

These clips were taken at a house on Cleveland’s historic Franklin Avenue. Investigate, inspect, let us know.

The Mayor of Newtown in the UK has called for a paranormal investigation at her Mayor’s Chambers after she apparently sensed an “otherworldly presence”. A British paranormal team was summoned to her office and found that they agreed with Mayor Sue Lawson’s assessment, read the full article in the County Times.

This ghost video has been circling around the internet since 2007. Do you think it’s real “100% proof” of ghosts, or just a bizarre man screaming like a baritone school girl?

Above is a photo snapped of a purported apparition at the Jenner Museum in Gloucester, England. It was taken by BBC journalist Chris Sandys. Edward Jenner is the man who pioneered the smallpox vaccine and the museum that bares his name has been claimed to be haunted for years.

It seems convenient that so much press attention has been given to the ghosts in the attic at Jenner Museum, especially because they have a new exhibition called ‘Ghosts in the Attic’: From Smallpox to MMR. But the proprietors of the museum swear that the title is metaphorical and they did not have a hand in any sort of publicity stunt.

We at Weirdthings believe the photo above could be of….anything.

Picture of Holton House Bead and Breakfast, the most haunted building in Kansas.

We know you Kansans have been waiting, and finally the Top 5 Most Haunted Places in Kansas have been announced! And unsurprisingly a former mortuary tops the list. Here are the results:

1. Holton House Bed and Breakfast- Holton
2. Constitution Hall- Topeka
3. St. Mary’s Church- Kansas City
4. Hotel Josephine- Holton
5. Holton Country Club- Holton

Hotels, Churches and Old Buildings, just like everywhere else. Now we’re expecting a lot of good investigations and pictures from you Middle of the Country folk, so get hunting. To find the original post on Ghost Tours of Kansas’ website click here.

Image Credit: Twinmama

Not one, but two paranormal conventions took place this last week in Salem, MA. The above photo shows serious paranormal enthusiasts and convention goers enjoying each others company (not really). Both Ghostock 7 and Witch School International’s “Three days of Wicca, Witchcraft and High Ritual” wrapped up a week long bout of investigating, speaking and witching it up. The town of Salem, which usually has no paranormal convention going on at any given time, had a perfect storm of conventions and doubled its paranormal population for the week.

The Skeptical Analysis of the Paranormal Society, founded by Alison Smith, has been hunting ghosts since 1996. Is this video proof of a ghostly specter, or an effective demonstration of how we often misinterpret everyday occurrences as fantastic and paranormal?

-Hint: It’s the latter.

The remote control tank, designed by Paul Bradford, the co-founder of Sonoran Paranormal Investigations (SPI)

When the ghost hunting going gets tough, it’s time to bring in the big guns. The big guns being the multi-terrain camera or MTC, designed specifically for paranormal investigation. We found an article about it over at paranormalnews.com. Though our mortal movements are limited by pesky obstacles, like walls and floors, ghosts have no such limitations and are able to move freely unhampered by solid objects. Until now, ghost hunters had to give up on their investigations when entities they claimed to be chasing went under houses or in to crawlspaces or attics. Now when a ghost you’re hunting goes where a human can’t follow, you can wheel out this baby and continue the chase.

Unmanned RC Vehicles are all the rage with the police and the military, so why not ghost hunters? This startlingly advanced device comes equipped with an arsenal of high-tech features:

IR Extender/Strobe/Beacon – From the first run Paul found that he required better and clearer illumination in pitch black conditions. In addition to the IR Extender, the light has a setting that turns it into a strobe and has a number of different flashing light patterns.

Camera on/off switch – Originally the camera powered on as soon as a battery was connected, on that basis Paul was losing valuable battery power while the MTC was not in use or waiting.

Flexible Antenna — The original upgrade was a large three foot antenna, which if Paul wanted to use the MTC in a crawl space, he would have limited head room. Therefore he needed something that would cope with limited space.

3V Power Boost (Camera) — This is another camera quality upgrade. Now the camera has the option to run 9V, 10.5V or 12V giving better quality image and a further distance of video feed.

Spring Suspension — Under the camera lens housing is a spring, used to reduce wobble/vibration of the image while the camera is in motion.

Vocal Communication – Built-in is a walkie talkie receiver so that the tank can go into a location and the person monitoring can also attempt to get responses by asking EVP questions.

Turret — Rotates 270 degrees giving the viewer the ability to monitor an entire area while the tank remains in one spot.

Sounds like ghost hunting is getting incredibly sophisticated these days. The question is whether or not the addition of sophisticated technology will help ghost enthusiasts finally prove the existence of these mythical spectres. It certainly makes them look ten times cooler. What will they think of next, ghost hunting UAVs?