GHOSTMAP

A number of cleaning ladies that work the overnight shift at a factory near Holy Cross Church in Basildon, England have claimed to have seen a phantom monk on several occasions and conveyed their story to us. The women usually get off work around 4 AM, and it is as they are leaving the factory and walking past the old church that they often see the ghost. They all agree the ghost is definitely a monk, and it walks across the Church Road before it disappears among the graves in the churchyard.

Dozens of reputable witnesses claim to have heard the terrible screams that were coming from the ghost ship Palatine just 5 miles off the coast of Rhode Island. John Greenleaf Whitter committed the legend of poetry, and the story of the ghostly ship has found its way into several formal histories of New England. 

The story of the tragic ship Palatine and her final voyage goes back to November 1752. With a full passenger list of immigrants, all bound for Philadelphia, the vessel set sail from a Dutch port. The immigrantscarried all their worldly possessions because none of them planned on ever leaving the New World.The voyage was uneventful until the Palatine recent vicinity of the Gulf Stream, at that point it seemed as if the entire fury of the whole Atlantic Ocean was hurled upon them. Storm after storm smashed against the ill-fated ship, dried it off course and into uncharted seas. To make matters worse the captain had become ill shortly after the Palatine had set out and the sheer volume of waves caused him to be bed stricken after the storm. With their captain in bed unable to perform his normal duties the crew began the slack off. For weeks the ship was a mauled by the vicious sea and the crew did little to make sure the course was maintained. Without the captain at the helm the crew went below deck to seek shelter from the storm and let the waves decide the Palatine's course.

When the captain died a few weeks later, all hope was lost for the ship's passengers. Ambitious young officers then seized control of all provisions and unless passengers were able to pay exorbitant prices for meager rations of food and water and they started to death and were cast overboard. The supplies finally gave out entirely right around Christmas time. The crew took to the lifeboats in the dead of night abandoning the passengers who were still alive aboard the ship. The Palatine drifted for several more days, until it finally ran aground on the sandy shore of Block Island. The majority of the surviving passengers had suffered such severe mental breakdowns due to conditions that some had turned to cannibalism amongst other live passengers.

The Islanders for their own safety did not allow the survivors to enter the towns instead force them to stay along the shore lines. Desperate to rid themselves of these castaways villagers began to work on the Palatine only to have the ship blown adrift by a sudden storm. In his haste to leave the ship, one of the men working on it accidentally tipped over a brazier of coals. Flames began leaping upward from the now dry timber and workers aboard the ship began to scramble to their boats. As they rowed towards the shore, the Islanders looked towards the Palatine which was now fully and often flames. They heard screams of people who were now burning alive. It seems some of the passengers who were not allowed entry to the villages had been living on the ship and now were meeting their doom.

Some of claimed there was a witch aboard the ship who placed a spell allowing the ship to come back one night a year in order for the victims of the tragedy to attempt to make their way to the nearby villages and take out a vengeance among those who did not render aid. To mark the terrible tragedy the Islanders erected a sign that simply says Palatine 1752 at the spot where it ran aground. To this day on overcast nights some Islanders still claim to hear crying at the marker.

The workmen knew the flames were too intense for any type of rescue effort so they did nothing other than praying for the souls of the passengers. They watched horrified as the wind pushed the vessel out to sea and eventually out of sight. In it's flames the Palatine sailed into legend. Historians have documented nearly 10,000 claims of individuals who have said to have seen the Palatine return to the sea near the island every year on the anniversary of her destruction. There have even been reports from various Navy officials who have claimed to be the lights on several occasions. They say there is a blazing fire the size of the ship which appears near the shore, it slowly recedes until there's just a tiny light upon the horizon.

I have a pet peeve I’d like to discuss briefly today if you don’t mind, and if you do I guess you can move on to another post. I hate the modern trend of people saying so and so is in heaven after a person dies. This doesn’t happen what actually happens is:

1)      You have unfinished business so you become a ghost.

2)      You move on and go to a holding area. It’s kind of a personal Shangri-La.

3)      You move on and go to an area for punishment prior to going to Hell. In this area you basically are forced to live an endless loop of terrible moments that occurred in your life.  

These are the only options. Well actually there is a 4^th option but it happens to very few people upon death and reserved only for the most evil. You can fade to nothingness. You have no thought are experiences other than when you are brought out for torture by powerful beings for amusement at least this is what was explained to me one night by a elemental spirit I spoke with.

What happens when we die? That's a question people have been asking for thousands of years and to this day no one has been able to come up with an answer which holds up to scientific scrutiny. While not exactly ghost's spirits that are out of the body only temporarily have to be viewed as a close relation to ghosts. Novelist Ernest Hemingway used his usual straightforward style to describe the out of body experience less boastfully than some psychics who boast of extensive astral projection tend to do.

Ernest Hemingway was a teenager, wounded in battle in World War I. He experienced his "soul or something" leaving his body for short time. He described the experience "as if a silk handkerchief had been gently pulled from the pocket by one corner". That description is accurate in describing my own experience as well when I nearly died in 1988. While there is no concrete scientific evidence to prove anything happens after death there have been so many first-hand accounts of life after death paranormal happenings that it would be complete lunacy to dismiss them all as a form of crazy talk.

Have you had a near-death out of body experience? We'd love to hear from you and share your story with our readers. Please contact us if you have a story you want to share.

Brit Bailey's final dying request was that he would be buried standing up. He proclaimed that he had spent his entire life stomping over the Texas prairies and he didn't aim to stop just because he died. They buried old Brit in 1833, the residents in the area of Bailey's Prairie, 5 miles west of Angleton, Texas, and Brazoria County claim that the early settler has somehow kept his vow and to this day is still stomping around on the Prairies.

The Thomas family moved into old Bailey's place shortly after he had been buried standing erect in the ground, and they were the first to bear witness to the old-timers return as a ghost. It didn't take very long for Bailey to start from and around again, in fact, in her diary Ann Rainey Thomas made a record of her sighting of him looking through a window at her one night. A family servant named Melinda also claimed a ghost would chase away the hired hands when it was time to milk the cattle at night. Every member of the household has sworn to have heard old Brit's shuffling footsteps moving around the house after dark. Once when Mr. Thomas was ill he even claimed to have spoken to Brit Bailey's ghost who would frequently visit him in his room.

It wasn't until the early 1850s that Bailey's glowing, ghostly image began to be seen away from his house, out on the open prairies. Col. Mordello Munson and several of his guests claim to have seen a glowing ball of light drift inexplicably passed his home at a very slow rate early one evening. Saddling their horses, the Colonel and his houseguests gave pursuit to the strange globe but were unable to capture it or clearly identify it. From that night on, “Brit Bailey's Light” has drifted across the Texas prairies which the old settler was so unwilling to relinquish.

According to a Texas legend the line is actually Bailey carrying a lantern across the flat land of Brazoria County, Texas – at night, constantly searching for a jug of whiskey. Now I can't say for certain if this tell is true or not in regards to the supernatural portion but you do have to admit it does make for an interesting story which deserves some form of investigation. If you're an investigator in that part of Texas please let us know if you come across anything interesting in regards to Brit Bailey’s Light. Thanks and keep it spooky. 

To this day mystery still surrounds the death of televisions “Man of Steel” George Reeves (1914-1957), who starred in the television series Superman (1950-1957). Numerous witnesses have claimed to have seen Reeves restless spirit in the home on Benedict Canyon Drive where his body was discovered. Although Reeve's death on June 16^th 1959, was ruled a suicide by the medical examiner, friends, relatives, and thousands of the actors fans still insist to this day he was murdered. Singer Don McLean wrote the song “Superman's Ghost” in tribute to the anguish experienced by those who still mourn the actor.

People have reported seeing Reeves’s ghost wearing a bathrobe much like the one he was wearing the night of his death. One couple who have the time had no idea about the history of 1579 Benedict Canyon Drive, ended up moving out suddenly in the middle of the night after confronting the spirit of a man who when they described him sounded a lot like Reeves. Other former occupants have claimed to have seen Reeves ghost in the middle of the night dressed in his full Superman costume, cape blowing in some form of nonexistent breeze. 

Reeves body was exhumed and cremated in 1961 forever destroying any possible forensic evidence that would prove definitively if his suspicious death was murder or just a tragic suicide. An interesting note there were note documented reports of any ghostly activities inside of the home until after Reeves was cremated. Could the ghostly phenomena in the home lend credence that the actor was murdered and the police botched investigation or possibly covered it up? It's highly possible as a spirit of a murder victim who’s killer is never identified may feel as if it’s necessary to stay on and hopefully find a way to communicate exactly who it was they killed them and possibly even why. It may sound strange but even spirits need closure.

In the coming weeks you will begin to notice a change to this website as postings begin to show up on this site more often. I decided to redefine the purpose of ghostmap.info and turn it into a bit of a paranormal hodgepodge site posting whatever I feel like in this realm regardless of how insignificant the information may be. Please give it a chance and you may actually learn something because a lot of the information I will be presenting will not be found anywhere else.

I have decided to share stories about different groups of paranormal investigators I come across which I find interesting. Today I am pleased to present you a story about API also referred to as Asia Paranormal Investigators.

***Just in case the above screen capture is to hard to read the text is also rewritten below****

Meet the weekend tomb explorers

Brothers Raymond and Charles Goh visit cemeteries to unearth history

by Huang Lijie Straits Times 17 Jul 11

Weekends spent among dead people may seem a spooky pursuit, but brothers Raymond and Charles Goh have found historical gemstones among tombstones.

The duo are neither mediums nor ghostbusters, but passionate tomb explorers who enjoy unearthing Singapore’s history through graves.

One recent case after a three-year search was their discovery of the tomb, in Bukit Brown Cemetery, of Madam Tan Eng Neo, whom Eng Neo Avenue is named after.

For the siblings, finding where the wife of wealthy Chinese businessman Gaw Boon Chan was buried was fulfilling, and not just because it marked the end of their longest quest for a tomb.

Raymond, 47, the older brother, said: ‘We want people to know that Bukit Brown Cemetery is where many Singapore pioneers have been buried and to appreciate it, not bulldoze it.’

The 86ha graveyard off Lornie Road was in the news recently after heritage activists petitioned for a rethink of the redevelopment of one of Singapore’s oldest remaining burial grounds to meet housing needs.

To keep alive the memory of famous pioneers buried at the cemetery, the brothers conduct regular guided tours of the area. Those who have signed up include students, young professionals and retirees.

The duo also provide a free map which includes the locations of the tombs of more than 30 famous pioneers such as businessman Chew Boon Lay, who has an MRT station, school and housing estate named after him.

The map is on the website of the Asia Paranormal Investigators – http://www.api.sg – founded in 2005 by Charles to research unexplained phenomena.

The brothers’ interest in tombs began in 2006 after Raymond, the regional director of a health-care company, accompanied his father to his grandfather’s grave at Choa Chu Kang Cemetery.

‘It was my first visit and I had a shock when I saw my name on the tombstone.

‘It came to me, out of the blue, that I’m related to this grave,’ said the father of three children, aged 10 to 17.

His interest piqued, he began poring over books on tomb culture and visiting cemeteries at the weekend, walking stick in hand to fend off spiders and even snakes to look for unusual tombstones.

Raymond’s tomb fever got to Charles, who had some knowledge of the subject through his research on urban myths of haunted graves.

Charles, 43, a construction company safety manager who is married without children, said: ‘When Raymond finds an interesting tombstone, he is so excited he cleans it with his towel, then forgets and wipes his face with the cloth.’

They dig into the past of the tombs they find using information engraved on the tombstones, as well as newspaper and land deed archives.

They sometimes spend a few hundred dollars on archive material when researching a tomb but Raymond says their passion ‘cannot be measured in money terms’.

They say their families are supportive of their unusual pursuit.

‘Only our mother, who is superstitious, urges us not to visit the cemeteries at night or during the Hungry Ghost Festival,’ said Raymond. But not being superstitious, the siblings have not heeded her advice.

When historical records that they chance upon reveal the burial of a famous person in a particular cemetery, their search becomes tougher. The hunt for Madam Tan’s tomb, for example, was the proverbial needle in a haystack, with 80,000 tombstones at Bukit Brown.

Families eager to trace their roots or find the resting places of their ancestors have approached the brothers for help, and the duo gladly offer to reunite the living and the dead for free.

Those they have helped include the descendents of businessman Ang Seah Im, after whom Seah Im Road, near VivoCity, is named. The pioneer’s tomb is located in Bukit Brown.

Raymond said: ‘I feel sad and pained when I see tombs that are not taken care of by descendants. The dead should not be abandoned.’

 

 

If you like to learn more about Asia Paranormal Investigators (API) you can visit their website at http://api.sg/

It’s been a long time since the Ghost Adventures Live Halloween show on the Travel Channel in which many people claim that paranormal investigator/expert Robert Bess tossed his electromagnetic field detector and then claimed that a ghost knocked it from his hand. I personally have no idea if that’s what happened or if it was really something paranormal because I was not there. I think it’s deplorable that Mr. Bess wasn’t given the opportunity to defend himself on the follow-up show or any time after that because I for one would have been interested on exactly what he had to say.

I know a challenge was issued by Robert Bess in which the guys of Ghost Adventures would participate in a “Paranormal Showdown” where if Robert Bess  can capture  a ghost on live TV and  produce real indisputable evidence on the spot the Ghost Adventure crew must cancel their upcoming season and tell the world why. You’d think that if  Zak and the guys were so sure in their claims of fraud by Mr. Bess they would jump on the chance to shut him up and all the folks on his side but here we are in 2012 and it’s yet to be resolved.

I’ve personally conveyed Robert Bess’s challenge to the folks at Ghost Adventures and even pulled  some strings to  offer up access to one of their top 3 dream lock down locations if they would just give Mr. Bess one night of their time. Basically I was told they have no interest in ever being put in a situation where they are not in control of what viewers may see ever again. This time he thinking just how much editing goes into the production of the show and how easy it would be to play anyone off in a bad light if they so desired.

In my opinion fans of any paranormal show need to step up to the plate and demand that ghost adventures and the Travel Channel stop playing us off as idiots and actually let us watch just one paranormal show without all the doctored and questionable B.S. that we’re suffering through right now. So what I’m asking you to do is e-mail or write the folks at the Travel Channel and demand that they do this. Also if you really want to send a message I encourage you just stop watching the show until our voices heard.

***EDIT*** Mr. Bess if your reading this I would like to offer you the opportunity to speak on your behalf on this site either via video or unedited blog post. Please contact me if you’re interested admin@ghostmap.info

The city of Harriman, Tennessee is hopeful that ghosts, or to be more specific real life ghost hunters, can assist in raising enough revenue to restore an historical and reputedly haunted building in the town.

A ghost hunter would like to use the “dark entities” purportedly frequenting the one hundred and twentyone year-old Temperance Building, which is acually a former jail, to pull both tourists and paranormal enthusiasts to Harriman, which was founded by anti-alcohol crusaders in the nineteenth century.

This past week, by unanimous vote, the 6 person city council agreed to let Ghost Hunters of Southern Tennessee aka G.H.O.S.T. Paranormal show footage caught during a night spent inside the city owned building. It will be broadcast January twenty-seventh on the internet based Paranormal Network.

This Tuesday, a council workshop is slated to deliberate on ghost hunter Richard Ruland’s plan to begin conductin paid tours of the building, with one-half the proceeds going towards the buildins restoration.

The haunting is a part of local lore, said Mayor Chris Mason, who grew up in the town of about 7,000 occupants. Ghost enthusiasts often visit the Temperance Building, but G.H.O.S.T. Paranormal “found an exceptional amount of paranormal activity” there, said the mayor.

Mason said he doesn’t necessarily believe in ghosts, “but I don’t not believe in them either.”

As part of Ruland’s plan, ghost tourists would pay $299 for all-night visits by up to 6 people and $30 per person for 3 hour tours.

He said he has no doubt the ghost tours will be successful.

“It’s a gold mine to have a different place to hunt,” said Ruland.

The three-story brick and stone structure was constructed in 1891 by the Tennessee Land Co. when it began developing what was to be the “Utopia of Temperance,” about 40 miles west of Knoxville in eastern Tennessee.

The stately building later became Temperance University before serving time as city hall, with a jail in the basement. Now it holds a few offices and the city museum.

Councilman Buddy Holley said the city council’s session with G.H.O.S.T. was hardly normal.

“They showed us video that showed what appeared to be some apparitions, and they had some voices recorded,” Holley said.

Holley is not sure if he saw ghosts on the video, but he is sure the talk of paranormal guests could help in the ongoing restoration of the historic downtown, which includes the Temperance Building.

It will take about $1 million to finish renovations and upgrades to the building, Holley said.

He said he also hopes it will bring some publicity to Harriman and boost tourism. “We’re really interested in getting people to visit,” Holley said.

Ruland, whose group is based in Dayton, Tennessee, is sure of what he and other ghost hunters recorded on the night of December 17, 2011, when they used cameras and other gear, including the Ghost Meter Pro, which detects electromagnetic fields.

“We actually caught a photo of what I believe is a full-body apparition down in the basement,” he said. “We captured overall 50 voices… There were a lot of things in that building that were completely unexplained.”

One voice, he said, even confessed to murder. “That building, everything in it wants to talk, wants to say ‘hi,’ wants to have communication with somebody,” he said.

Most of the ghosts “aren’t your grandma walking up and down the hall,” he said. “Do I think I am dealing with human entities that are trapped there? Yes. But that’s only about 10 percent of what’s there.

“The other 90 percent would be the Wraiths, a term a lot of people wouldn’t know outside my industry,” Ruland said. “They are darker entities, once-human souls.

“In their death, they’ve been transformed into these mischievous, angry entities,” he said. “They live on electromagnetic fields from electricity in buildings, from batteries, from people.”

This particular crew in Harriman isn’t dangerous, he said. “They just like to screw with people.”