Ghostly sightings of the Duke of Monmouth

On the 16th July each year it is reported that recurring sightings of the Duke of Monmouth can be seen in the woods at Horton in Dorset. The Duke was put to death at the Tower of London but his ghost is said to haunt the site of his failed rebellion, carrying his head in his hands.

Source: https://www.paranormaldatabase.com/

The New Jersey Turnpike UFO Sighting.

Just after midnight on the 14th July 2001, droves of motorists including off duty police officer Lt Daniel Tarrant pulled over their cars along the highway at the New Jersey Turnpike and stared in awe towards the sky. A set of orange and yellow lights was sitting in a V-formation over the Arthur Kill Waterway between Staten Island and New Jersey and it was observed for around 15 minutes.

When asked, Air Traffic Control denied any military maneuvers or space operations that could be the lights so many people saw, however the New York Strange Phenomena investigators apparently have FAA radar data that corroborated the event. Still unidentified.

The Hanging of Ruth Ellis.

On July 13th 1955, the last hanging of a woman in the U.K occurred at HM Prison Holloway. The woman was mother of two Ruth Ellis who moved to London from Rhyl and was an escort and nightclub hostess. 

Ruth Ellis was convicted of shooting her lover David Blakely at the Magdala Pub in London, it was witnessed by many people, and when it was done she asked for the police to be called and waited calmly. Today, her story would have summoned sympathy, probable cause and extenuating circumstances including self-defense...but then the reasons behind her eventual act were not even considered in her defense.

She had a dysfunctional, fiery relationship with Blakely - a motor racing enthusiast who was a heavy drinker and abusive man. Ruth (a heavy drinker herself) had been beaten countless times and been hospitalized, she also suffered a miscarriage shortly before she killed Blakely and it is commonly thought to be because he beat her and punched her in the stomach. A love triangle was also an issue, jealousy and tempers added to the violence and ergo the crime for which she admitted guilt.

On the morning of 13th July 1955, Ruth woke, had religious counsel and a large brandy before making her way to the noose - the hangman being the infamous Albert Pierrepoint, the calmest person to go to the gallows according to reports. Public outcry, petitioning and letter-writing began the eventual turn away from capital punishment in the UK, in more recent times it is acknowledged that the years of brutal abuse Ruth suffered would certainly count towards her defense.

All you need is love...

Valentine's Day is approaching and the subject of love is in the air. There is a lot of folklore surrounding love dating back to time immemorial, here are a few known things aside from the better known red roses and chocolates:

- To dream of a dove is a signal of success in love
- Certain gemstones are connected to love, Onyx  represents a joyous marriage, Diamond signifies       victory in love and Jasper indicates reciprocated love.
- If you dream of a number 6 or of something in sixes it foretells of love.
- Touching a wedding ring to an aching tooth meant the pain would be relieved through the power of the love held within it.
- To attract a lover, ashes from the hearth could be sprinkled on the path or road leading up to the front door.
- Turquoise is a lucky stone for lovers, thought to be because blue is considered the best colour to wear when first meeting your love.
- To find an Ash leaf with an even number of points was considered lucky, make a wish and place it under your pillow to dream of your future partner.

So although the modern day Valentine's is somewhat commercial, there are many ways love was celebrated and foretold in the past, and possibly even ways to attract that special someone!

Hellier and Hellier 2 ... watch it!

No Spoilers!
So I just finished watching Hellier 2...and wow. Its hard to find words sometimes to describe something that one's mind can't quite make total sense of, but this is part of the absolute pleasure that is the Hellier series, coincidences, synchronicity and weird parallels abound.

Those of us who follow fortean subjects, social media, blogs, podcasts and the like know of Greg and Dana Newkirk by reputation, very well respected in their field they take us on their journey in a way that makes you feel like part of the crew on an unfolding adventure. Together with the team - Connor Randall, Karl Pfeiffer, Tyler Strand and (we are not worthy) John E.L. Tenney - clues, hints and obvious facts combine to lead a merry dance from what we thought was the main subject back in season 1, through a rabbit hole of strangeness to a whole new place we never thought we'd be...but then detours, revisitings and recurring revelations left me at least, literally saying "what the hell?!" out loud in my living room.

You. Must. Watch. This... in my opinion at least, I wouldn't steer you wrong would I? You will have goosebumps, you will be confused, you will be HOOKED!

I watched it on Amazon Prime but you can also find it on YouTube.

SETI Founded 1984

On the 20th November 1984, the most famous institute (in my opinion) for exploring life in the universe was founded - incorporated as a 501(c)(3) California nonprofit organization - The S.E.T.I Institute which stands for the Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence. It was started by Thomas Pierson and Dr Jill Tarter along with their colleagues and it still going strong today employing many scientists and researchers with the mission to 'explore, understand and explain the origin and nature of life in the universe' and bring it to the general populace.

The SETI Institute has three main centres which cover it's work. The Carl Sagan Centre is primarily devoted to the study of life in the universe, The Centre for Education is focused on astrobiology, astronomy and space science aimed for students and teachers, and the Centre for Public Outreach produces the 'Big Picture Science' radio show, podcast and the 'SETI Talks' lecture series.

By employing the use of many scientific instruments around the globe including the Allen Telescope Array, the Very Large Telescopes in Chile as well as the space telescopes Hubble and Herschel have meant that SETI has been able to delve into the subject of life in the universe for many years and bring the research and result to life, there have been some rocky patches along the way with funding, criticism and skepticism of the work, but I for one will support the institute for as long as possible.

The Real Amityville Horror.

On the 13th November 1974, a well-known and enduring horror story started...in a very real way. A house - 112 Ocean Avenue, Amityville - became the scene of a terrible crime, where Ronald J. De Feyo Jr. shot his family dead in their beds - both of his parents were shot twice, and each of his 4 siblings were shot once according to reports. De Feyo is still alive and is imprisoned at Sullivan Correctional Facility in New York serving six concurrent sentences of 25 years to life.

Jay Anson's book 'The Amityville Horror' was written in 1977 following the story of the Lutz family who bought 112 Ocean Ave, it and subsequent films tell of their brief stay of 28 days before leaving due to terrifying paranormal events. Some of their experiences include unexplained cold spots in the house, foul odors, green slime running from walls and Mr Lutz regularly waking at 3.15 in the morning which was the approximate time of the murders, just the tip of the iceberg.

If you haven't read the book or seen the film I recommend it, draw your own conclusions, as in most cases like this, there is conjecture as to the validity of the Lutz family accounts. The infamous house however still stands and has had a few owners since the events of 1974, although it has been renamed as 108 Ocean Avenue...for reasons we may never know.