Month: September 2015

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Mark Twains final work dictated by Ouija board?

Title page of Jap Herron
Title page of Jap Herron

It’s 1917 and there is a deal of controversy about a new book called Jap Herron. Why the controversy? The publishers claimed that the book was written by Mark Twain, dictated through a series of sessions with a Ouija board.  The book can be read in its entirety through the publicdomainreview.org site. This was weird in a number of ways. Twain was one to poke fun at such things. In 1866 he wrote an account of attending a seance in the Virginia City Territorial Enterprise.

Twain’s family was not happy about the book. His daughter Clara sued to halt publication. The woman who published the work, Emily Grant Hutchings, was not interested in a court battle, so she agreed to halt distribution and most copies were destroyed. It is a blessing of the technical world that we can have access to it at all. I hate when any kind of creation is completely destroyed.

While Twain was the most famous, he was not the only author said to reach across the veil and type their works through a planchette. In 1913, a 17th-century woman named Patience Worth, who said she was killed in an Indian raid, began to communicate with Pearl Curran. Shortly after the first sessions, Patience began to dictate poetry, novels, and plays. The link between Pearl and Patience became so strong that they were eventually able to abandon the board and the words just came into Pearl’s mind so she could speak them outright. (Dictating one letter at a time must be grueling!)

The site patienceworth.org contains a large collection of her poems. Her books Hope Trueblood and The Sorry Tale are available to read online. There is also a contemporary book, Patience Worth : a psychic mystery by Casper Yost, that gives you an idea of how this was seen at the time.

Jane Roberts began communicating in 1963 with an entity that identified itself as Seth. Over time they accumulated a good deal of information that was published as The Seth Material. I also found some interesting video on YouTube of Roberts talking about her encounters with Seth. All of this work seems more geared to spiritual teaching rather than literature.

Recently, the band The Mars Volta claimed their album The Bedlam in Goliath was inspired by a Ouija board. This NPR review lets you hear some of the album and considers the Ouija claim. There is also a YouTube video of an interview with Omar Rodriguez-Lopez (WARNING: CONTAINS SOME ADULT LANGUAGE) where he talks about the more troubling aspects of that experience.

If we consider talking boards to be gateways to other worlds and other beings why wouldn’t they want to express themselves? It seems like a great way to keep in touch with one’s public. Of course, who gets the royalties?

If you are in the Austin, Texas area, I will be participating in a special event presented by the Austin Horror Society centered around talking boards. It’s at Sherlock’s pub on Tuesday, October 13th and it’s free! See more on the Facebook event.

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World survives and NASA reports water on Mars

If you are reading this then it means that we all survived the Blood Moon phenomenon on Sunday and we got through 9-28-15 without being sucked into an artificial black hole or anything. Now NASA announces that they have found actual liquid water on Mars. Did you miss it? Here’s the announcement. Don’t worry. It’s short!

So, what does this mean? It means that we don’t always know what we know and we don’t know what we don’t know. Just a few years ago the article A Tale of Planetary Woe was published on NASA’s Science News web site. In it the author says :

“Mars today is bitter cold and bone dry. The rivers and seas are long gone. Its atmosphere is thin and wispy, and if Martian microbes still exist, they’re probably eking out a meager existence somewhere beneath the dusty Martian soil.”

While it’s true that we have not discovered a lush oasis on Mars, we’ve found that it’s a little less desolate. Does that translate into a Martian civilization? Probably not. However, it seems to be a moving target.

In 2009 scientists believed they had identified fossilized bacteria in a meteorite with Martian origins. This suggests that there was some sort of life, if only microscopic, long long ago. However, the idea of liquid water erodes the idea that life “could not exist” on Mars, making it “probably doesn’t exist.” That leap is huge.

This kind of exploration is literally not an exact science. It is finding information, making the best sense of that information with existing knowledge and then digging deeper. I’m very happy to move from “bone dry” to “under certain circumstances, liquid water has been found on Mars.” Now the idea of water can be part of the thinking about Martian exploration. As that thinking adapts the methods for exploring adapt and we’ll find new things because we begin to look for them.

The existence of water certainly changes the views of a manned expedition to Mars (actually considered by 2030). It’s all very exciting news.

Of course, we hope that none of this is disrupted by the actual martians! Remember this guy?

B&W photo showing a shadow of the Mars rover with what appears to be a shadow of a person doing maintenance.
Photo from Mars rover shows what appears to be a human doing something to the machine.

If the Martians do appear, we hope they are wise and wonderful like it Heinlein’s Stranger in a Strange Land.

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Weird world of spirit photos

Photo of a young lady posing in front of a skeleton on display
One of our Museum guests poses with Emily, the haunted skeleton. Alas! No ghosties.

When someone in the Museum seems to have an especially strong connection to Emily, our haunted skeleton, I always try to take a couple of photos of them standing next to her. I take two so that I can see any differences between them. If I was using a proper camera rather than my phone I’d use the automatic feature to take several frames. That way if there is any sort of anomaly such as an orb I have a better chance to catch it.

The idea of photographing ghosts is almost as old as the camera itself. The first reported ghost photo was taken by a man named W. Campbell in 1860. It was a picture of a chair which, when developed, was found to contain the ghostly figure of a boy. Early camera technology was primitive and very long exposures were required to get a good image. Everyone had to remain very still for a minute or so. Any movement or someone stepping in or out of the picture would create a ghostly apparition. Campbell maintained that this was not the case in his photo. (I looked but have not yet found a copy of this image to share.)

1872 photo of a bearded man with a faint figure of a woman
First spirit photo taken in 1872
Photo of Mary Todd Lincoln in black with a ghostly figure of Abraham Lincoln resting his hands on her shoulders
Photo of Mary Todd Lincoln with the apparition of Abraham behind her

However, after the rise of spiritualism, people began trying to capture images of ghosts on camera. The original king of spirit photography is William H Mumler. His first spirit photo shows the apparition of his deceased wife. Mumler became the first one to do portraits of people that contain ghosts. His most famous one is probably the photo he took of Mary Todd Lincoln which shows her husband standing behind her in an apparent gesture of tenderness.

Remember that these were in the days before digital photography and enhancing photos with Photoshop (or the freely available GIMP). Everything had to be done on glass plates. If we assume the Lincoln photo is faked it still shows a remarkable amount of skill!

Others began to do spirit photos. William Hope started his own line of photos in 1905. Here are examples of his work.

Early 1900s photo of several people seated around a table as a ghostly hand reaches up from a mist
A ghostly hand rises up to rap on the table during a seance.
Early 1900s photo of a seated man as squiggles of light surround him
This man appears to be surround by swirling mists of energy.
Early 1900s photo of a famly visiting a deceased man. An apparition peers leans into the picture.
A ghostly photobomb?
A larger collection of Hope’s photos is available for study. Here is another excellent collection of spirit photos from various sources by photographers Jack and Beverly.

Of course, with all of these apparent fakes does that mean that there were no legitimate spirit photographs taken? Before you decide you might want to take a look at this photo gallery from the folks at paranormal.about.com. These are the cream of the crop from many, many submissions that people receive.

We actually have a video, recently received from a guest that shows some unusual activity. We need to mask a child’s face for privacy reasons but the we will share it with you. If you have ghostly photos you have taken, please share them with us! You might be featured in a future blog!

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Dollhouses of death

B&W photo of a older woman int he 1930s working on a miniature scene
Lee works on another of her macabre dollhouse scenes

This kindly grandmother was  a master of creating intricate dollhouse scenes…with one small twist. Her scenes depicted detailed accounts of actual murders.

Frances Glessner Lee, born in 1878, developed a fascination with forensic pathology, something that was distinctly not ladylike for her time. In the 1940s she began to construct a fascinating series of miniature dioramas that showed details of various crime scenes. They were used to instruct investigators about finding clues and correctly viewing a site. They are still used to day.

Looking at these tiny little snapshots of murder created with toys is quite disturbing. The detail is equal to anything one would see on CSI. Each scene is clearly from an older time, showing quaint iceboxes and a day before televisions dominated the home.

Miniature dollhouse scene in an old paronage with a girls body laying in the center of the floor
Here is an example of Lee’s gruesome creations

Details of bloody walls, bruising and wounds on a body, discarded objects and murder weapons are all intricately reproduced. It is simultaneously compelling and horrifying, as though Ken finally slipped and went on a rampage.

You can see detailed views and explanations of Lee’s works on the Death in Diorama web page. While the images are compelling all on their own, the detailed analysis of what the viewer should consider from each scene is fascinating.

Of course, there is a documentary about Lee, her work and the influence it has had and continues to have on training forensics experts. This video is an NPR story about the film, Of Dolls and Murder. Narrated by John Waters, this film is an eerie glimpse into the world of murder in miniature. Frances Glessner Lee is one weird grandma!

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Hendrix seance artifact up for auction

Waxwork of Jimi Hendrix posed playing guitar
This wax figure of Jimi Hendrix stands in Mme Tussauds of London
Photo by Denis Bourez [CC BY 2.0] via Wikimedia Commons.
We have a number of bizarre artifacts in the Museum of the Weird, but I don’t think I’ll be able to talk Steve into bidding on this one. It’s a hair charm that Jimi Hendrix wore and it contains some of his actual hair!

You don’t think that’s weird enough? According to this article from the radio station 3WV site, this charm was actually used in a séance held by Guitar World Magazine in 1993, 23 years after the guitarist’s death in 1970.

Celebrity séances are not at all unusual. Who wouldn’t like the opportunity to talk to somebody famous? Even in the Bible we have the tale of King Saul who asked the Witch of Endor to put him in touch with Samuel (1 Samuel, Ch 28). That did not go so well.

Harry Houdini, famed turn-of-the-20th-century magician who spoke out aggressively against mediums and séance, died from an accident in 1929—Halloween night to be exact. For years after his death, his wife, Bess, worked to contact him through an annual séance. They were supposed to have a code word he would giverher to prove it was him. Her final attempt was in 1936. While the code was never received, a horrible storm raged over the rooftop where this final event was held. It seems that the storm was isolated to that area and did not affect those surrounding. Weird…

A story in the biography of William Butler Yeats tells how the poet was inspired by a séance to do automatic writing, which resulted in his book A Vision.

Photo of Mary Todd Lincoln
Portrait of Mary Todd Lincoln somewhere between 1860 and 1865. This is around the time she tried to contact her dead son.

After their son Willie died, Mary Todd Lincoln, wife of Abraham Lincoln, held several séances in the White House. Abraham was also said to have had some troubling dreams and visions that could have pointed to his assassination in 1865. Lincoln was not the only First Lady with an interest in this sort of thing. This article on FirstLadies.org describes ways that many presidential wives brought more than cookie recipes into the White House.

Some stars such as Elvis, John Lennon, and Michael Jackson attract a lot of attention. I talk to someone at least once a week who would like to reach Elvis if they could.

So, if we had this very personal item from Jimi Hendrix would we be able to contact him? There’s really only one way to find out. What I do know is that, before you go to bed, if you focus deeply and ask sincerely, Hendrix—or anyone for that matter—can visit you in your dreams. You might be very surprised at the connection!

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Phobia causes actions beyond reason

sept-18-1-kcsd
Aftermath of freak crash by wane.com

You may have heard of the bizarre accident in Northern Indiana where a woman found a spider on her shoulder and leapt from a moving car. Her nine-year old son was in the back seat and tried in vain to get control of the car, which crashed into a school bus. If you managed to miss it, here’s a brief report from local TV station WXIN.

While most stories have focused on the strange nature of the crash, we are interested in the incredible fear that caused a mother to overcome her instinct to protect her son in order to flee a spider. You see, at the Museum of the Weird we encounter certain levels of fear like this daily.

Small children will sometimes be nervous about the shadowy nature of our artifacts, expecting something to jump out at them, though it never does. However, adults are sometimes taken aback by the idea of our ghost and the dealings that I might have with objects and spirits. Some people have needed to leave the Museum at the very thought of such things.

What causes such strong reactions? The term “irrational” is sometimes used, but is that a fair judgment? This article from Scientific American talks about the nature of phobias and our difficulty in finding root causes for them. There doesn’t seem to be a specific genetic reason for an overpowering fear of spiders, but there might be genetics that would make one more susceptible to environmental issues or conditioning. What would develop as an aversion becomes a devastating fight or flight reaction.

One thing to keep in mind is that someone experiencing such a phobia is not thinking rationally. They may even be fully aware of the way their response is out of proportion to the situation. That doesn’t matter. Understanding that it’s irrational doesn’t fix it. It must be treated using methods that range from hypnosis to reconditioning.

When I encounter a child who is scared I will get on their level and do my best to assure them that everything in the Museum is safe and that they are surrounded by parents and myself who want to look out for them. When I encounter this reaction from adults I have to do my best to simply bypass the subjects altogether. In either case I take their concerns seriously and don’t use it to mess with them.

As we saw in the news story, fear like this can drive people to do things that are far beyond even their own expectations. They can abandon their own safety and yours just to get away from what frightens them. If you are lucky it’s just awkward. In a worse-case scenario someone gets hurt.

The 9-year-old boy, who sprang into action to stop the moving vehicle, thwarted only by not having driving instincts—because he’s 9—received some minor head injuries, but seemed to be otherwise OK. The school bus that collided with the car had no children and its driver was unharmed. The mother will be haunted by the fact that something she could not control made her do something unimaginable.

Please respect people’s fears rather than preying on them. If you know you have a serious phobia consider looking into ways to conquer it. We want you safe!

 

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This may be my last entry

Painting of the four horsemen
Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (V. Vasnetsov, 1887)

OK, folks. This one is weird and I don’t know what to tell you. I’m stepping outside of my reporter voice and sharing something personally interesting with you. More regular news tomorrow…if that’s still possible.

Today I was catching up on an episode of Midnight in the Desert, Art Bell’s Internet (soon to be on-air again) broadcast. Yes! I’m a subscriber! (You do know about Art Bell, right?)

The episode was from August 25 and Art starts with some startling information that I want to share with you. It’s weird.

First, you must know something about the CERN project. CERN is a particle accelerator along the Franco-Swiss border near Geneva. It is being used to study the nature of our universe at very fundamental levels and is responsible for some extraordinary discoveries in science.

CERN is also mentioned prominently in the mysterious John Titor story. Titor was a man who claimed to be a time traveler from our future. He painted a gloomy image of society’s fall into dystopia. In some cases his predictions seemed to line up well with things happening in the world. Many are confident that Titor is just a clever hoax while others still wonder at the story. You’ll have to decide for yourself. johntitor.com is dedicated to continuing to explore the questions.

I will admit that this story fascinates me. It’s a wonderful blend of possibilities and improbabilities that make me wonder. I like wonder.

So, now here is what Art Bell shared on his show, and you can see it for yourself:

Step 1: Do a Google Search for 9-23-15.  You will find a series of articles and conversations that talk about an apocalypse that begins…well…tomorrow.

Step 2: Do a Google Map Search for 9-23-15. You will find that it takes you to the CERN facility. Forget that entering a date like this in a map search isn’t even a normal way to search. CERN pops up? Really?

Photo of Shiva with dramatic shadows from the night lighting
This statue of Shiva, the destroyer, stands outside of the CERN facility
Photo by Arpad Horvath [CC-BY-SA-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons
Now, consider that standing outside the CERN facility is a statue of Shiva, donated by India. If you are not familiar with Hindu deities you might be surprised to know that Shiva is also known as the Destroyer. He ends the universe periodically to make way for new creation. (See a more detailed explanation.) Officially we are a little early for the Kali Yuga, when everything changes, but not everyone agrees on the dates. It’s complicated.

CERN is aware of people’s thoughts on these matters and has even set up a convenient rebuttal page to set your mind at ease. The scientists clearly have a sense of humor about this, as shown in this April Fools article, where they claim to have discovered the black hole that Titor predicted. (The article now has a big giant retraction at the top for people who were taking it seriously. There is a lot of interest in this!)

So, are these just a series of coincidences? Google has been known to play games with their maps by giving people silly directions for impossible trips. Did someone at Google add this little Easter Egg as another joke? Does this mean something more?

This is probably all just here to play on our worst fantasies. It couldn’t possibly be real. It couldn’t possibly mean anything. Or…this may be my last transmission. Either way, we’ll see each other on the other side.

 

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Our haunted hotel neighbor

Photo of the Driskill Hotel
The amazing Driskill Hotel is just a few blocks up the street from the Museum of the Weird
Photo by Nika Vee [cc-by 2.0] via flickr

A few blocks west of the Museum of the Weird lies a beautiful, old hotel called the Driskill. It was built in 1885 by cattle baron Colonel Jesse Driskill and designed to be the finest hotel this side of the Mississippi in its day. The hotel has been fully restored to its original glory and is one of those places where time disappears once you enter. It’s also very haunted.

Celebrities Annie Lennox and Johnette Napolitano both are reported to have had experiences in the hotel. Napolitano was inspired by hers to write the song Ghost of a Texas Ladies Man (see the video).

The ghost of a suicide bride haunts the corridors and is occasionally encountered by guests.

The ghost of a young girl, daughter of a U.S. Senator, who was killed after a fall down a marble staircase, is said to bounce a ball and disturb the doors and fixtures in the upstairs bathroom.

Some have reported a strange disturbance in their room. The bathroom mirrors are fogged as though someone had a shower and mysterious scribbling is found on the pad between the beds. The first occurance was discovered when the couple returned to their room one afternoon. The second was discovered when the people awoke that morning!

Staff in the hotel have told me about touches and pinches they have received working in parts of the building, especially on the top floor. In some cases it seems that the spirits will haze the new people a little by giving them some special attention until they show respect.

Several years ago, a colleague and I had our own encounters. We took a digital camera to the 5th floor to take pictures around the legendary room 525. As we stepped down from the elevators into the old part of the hotel my camera ran out of battery. I had thought they were good, but apparently not. We satisfied ourselves with simply walking around and taking the place in. Later, on the street, I activated the camera again to see if it had enough juice to pull the motorized lens back in so I could put it away. It came up with full charge and worked fine for several hours. It just didn’t want to work on that floor.

My colleague reported strolling around on that hallway and hearing a woman’s voice singing what sounded like an old tune in the vicinity of 525. There was work being done on the rooms and they appeared to be unoccupied at the time. He said it sounded “old” to him, not like modern singing, and that I would know what he meant if I’d heard it.  He was with two other people who heard the same thing and could not determine a source for the singing.

Photo of LBJ and his family watching television
LBJ watches the 1964 election results from his suite at the Driskill Hotel in Austin, Texas.

The Driskill is a delightful place. It’s housed many wealthy and powerful people. During the time that the Texas State Capitol was built, the legislature held meetings at the Driskill. LBJ watched his election results there. Many other politicians have made it their center while in Austin.

The next time you are by the Museum, take some time to walk up the street and visit our neighbor. You are guaranteed an experience, though it may not necessarily be a ghostly one. Of course, if you do encounter something otherworldy, please let us know!

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Cave may be a pre-human catacomb

Yesterday, while giving a tour of the Museum, I was talking to a gentleman about the Bigfoot connections in Texas and the Bigfoot mystery overall. Skeptics rightly say “Ubi corpus?” (Where is the body?) Why have we not found at least a corpse of Bigfoot?

One possible theory is that these creatures are intelligent enough to not just leave their dead lying around. This BBC article discusses how other animal species seem to have mourning rituals when one of them dies. This Quora discussion talks about how chimpanzees, magpies and elephants will do some covering of a corpse.

Now, I find this news of a new discovery in Africa. An ABC News report shows how researchers made their way into an obscure area of the Rising Star Cave to find a chamber filled with bones and artifacts from what may be an early human ancestor. It appears that earlier versions of humans may have had a burial ritual. If that’s the case, is it possible that Bigfoot does the same thing?

Bigfoot remains a mystery, but here is video covering the amazing expedition and details about the find. The history of earth becomes more and more fascinating as we find new clues.

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Amazing discovery inside “living fossil”

1024px-Undina_penicillata
65-million-year-old fossil of a Coelacanth
Photo by Haplochromis [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons
Researchers studying the Coelacanth, a mysterious living fossil, discover something amazing.

Thought extinct, the deep-ocean-dwelling creature was found alive and well when fishermen caught one in 1938. The bizarre fish has a number of unusual qualities. It has matching pairs of lobe fins that stick out like legs and even move like the legs of a four-legged animal. It has a hinged skull which can widen it’s mouth to eat larger prey. It has an electrosensory organ in it’s snout that may help it hunt.

Now we find that it once had lungs!

Photo of a diver swimming with a Coelacanth
Living fossil swims with a diver
Photo by Mordecai 1998 [CC BY-SA 4.0], via Wikimedia Commons
An article in Discover News tells how researchers exploring the body of a Coelacanth have found what appears to be an obsolete lung. Humans have an appendix, an organ that seems to serve no real purpose for us, but might have been important long ago. Similarly, it appears that this fish may have once used lungs to breath air and that the organ has faded back over time.

This suggests that the Coelacanth was once an air-breather that evolved to become a creature of the deep. This may be what saved this species while other creatures of the period were wiped out, possibly by a single event.

Earth’s history is a  strange array of creatures, and discoveries like this just fuel the imagination. Will we ever get a clear picture of it all without a time machine? Perhaps not. However, each clue shows us that it was all weirder than we thought. Weird is good!