At a time when everyone is talking about "fake news" and which news sources and stories should be deemed "fake" The Daily Star has taken the bold move to claim the title in perpetuity. Their stunning effort to capitalise on the fake news phenomena comes with this story from 28/02/17, entitled "Chilling video of family home so HAUNTED it was evacuated by police."
The report tells us of a Chilean family allegedly forced to flee their home after calling the police to investigate an alleged haunting.
"Officers were called to the property after reports of a fire but when they arrived the residents admitted they had actually called because of the strange activities happening inside. They claimed objects had begun floating and moving. Video of the alleged poltergeist has been published online."
The Star links a video at the top of the page and gives a description of the events that take place in the video.
"In the clip a light fitting seems to sway all by itself before a broom in the corner moves. Objects on the kitchen counters including a frying pan then move before a cupboard door flies open. Finally, a bucket flings itself across the floor. While the authenticity of the video cannot be guaranteed, officers who were called to the house in Puerto Montt, Chile, claimed they were attacked by a knife that jumped out of nowhere."
So far, so fake right? So what makes this one stand out from the average piece of ghost "news" offered by the Star or any other tabloid? Perhaps the fact that the video the Star links and describes in the article was not filmed recently, nor was it filmed in Chile. It was actually filmed in Cork, Ireland and was uploaded to facebook by user Ashy Murphy in September 2015. As of yesterday, the original video had received over 23 million views.
Let's play spot the difference!
Facebook, Sept 2015.
The Star, 28th Feb 2017.
Here's that original version:
The beauty of the original "Ashy Murphy" version of the video is that not only is the original sound is present, but the video is clearer and far less pixelised. This makes it child's play to spot the wires that Ashy has used to achieve her "poltergeist" effect. The final shot of the video being particularly striking.
Now let's play spot the fishing wire!
Wire or thread is also visible on the cupboard door that opens, but it's far less striking and glimpse and you'll miss it.
You can watch Oskar Jungell replicate the effects of Ashy's video below:
There is an actual video (below) that represents the story the Star is reporting on, and the story itself isn't a complete fabrication. It's clear why the Star didn't use the correct video from watching it, as you can below. It's remarkable only for how unremarkable it is.
Essentially all we see is a pillow fly across a room, not convincing in any way. I believe that the Star reporter intentionally attached a more interesting, more eventful video to this article in an attempt to "spice it up" for the simple reason that would illicit more shares, more clicks and more revenue.
It's not every day that you can highlight the Star as lacking even their usual bar lowering standard of journalistic ethics.
I recently appeared on the Spooktator podcast to discuss this story and others with Hayley Stevens and the crew. It was a great discussion if you'd like to watch that discussion it's here:
Hugh Grant, star of...erm... lots of films.... spoke to James Corden on his Late Late Show on Thursday night regarding his experience of calling a ghost hunter to exorcise his London home after one of his three-year-old boys claimed to have seen the ghost of a little boy. The ghost hunter in question, Wendy Mandy, came recommended to him, seemingly made several visits and claimed she could exorcise the spirit haunting his child.
Grant tells us"{She} burnt about 7lb of sage, then banged a little drum and played an instrument and said all the spirits are gone" Before concluding"It's bollocks"
But wait! Don't post Grant's membership badge to the club of wise and venerable skeptics just yet. We may want to look at his reasons for concluding that Mandy's stick waving and herb immolation ritual isn't quite on the level first. The reason he gives is...
Because his son saw the ghost again the next day.
What I don't understand is why Grant called Miss Mandy at all, he describes feeling "ashamed" at the whole idea of calling a "ghost-hunter". I'd say the issue isn't that he called a ghost hunter, but rather the type of ghost hunter he called. I know plenty of "ghost hunters" who would've approached Grant's request with seriousness and professionalism, I doubt he would've approved of the conclusion they came to either. He probably would've appeared on a similar chat-show complaining that skeptical ghost-hunters had dismissed the idea of his son seeing a ghost, as a normal extension of childhood imagination. Grant wanted a woo-merchant who would tell him what he wanted to hear and act in line with that. Sorry mate, sold as seen. You wanted New Age horse shit and you got it, you can't return it 'cos it stinks.
Of course, Miss Mandy (below) isn't taking this lying down. She took to the Daily Mail (where else) to berate Grant, and suggests the reason the exorcism didn't take was the fault of his cynism causing a"negative frequency". She also claims, that she doesn't normally work with "cynics". I'd hazard a guess, that's because cynics (and skeptics) ask too many questions and may be suspicious of her methods. Like many new age practitioners, Mandy requires complete acceptance for her abilities to work.
‘I did what I could. When you’re dealing with frequency you’re dealing with something in the intellectual left brain. Science is proving that plants have their own language, animals have their own language – it’s a frequency language, it’s not upper-class English Hugh Grant language.
Of course, this is all just obfuscation, skeptics are well accustomed to woo-peddlers using the specific excuse of "negative vibrations" they give off preventing any kind of testing using the scientific method giving positive results. James Randi has frequently described being told his "negative vibrations/energy" disrupt the abilities of those taking his million-dollar challenge to prove the paranormal. Believers in psi-phenomena have even coined a term for the phenomena "the Shyness Effect". Of course, this is just special pleading and an ad-hoc rationalisation and that is all Miss Mandy is doing here, attempting to rationalise her apparent failure. Her adoption of scientific terminology in a completely nonsensical way, pointing to non-existent scientific research and even claiming to be an expert in quantum physics, is her attempt to trick the reading audience into believing she has a level of expertise and knowledge that shouldn't be questioned.
"...It [frequency] is actually quite a complicated subject, I can tell you I’ve studied feng shui for ten years amongst other things....There is no course where you can learn what I’ve learnt. I’m the genuine article. This is science... quantum physics."
All this translates to is "I'm an expert, I couldn't possibly explain it to you peons. Just take my word for it." How about no. The "bollocks" that Mandy practices is not directly related to "quantum physics" or "frequencies", the latter of which aren't that difficult to explain really, in any way. Saying that it is, is just her attempt to avoid the inconvenience of having to explain exactly how her method works.
Any physicist you ask will confidently assure you that the relatively young discipline of quantum mechanics has yet to find a use for the "Tibetan singing bowl" or even the burning of sage. As for Grant, he seemingly fails to consider that there was no ghost in the first place, that instead of calmly sitting his son down and talking to him about imaginations and imaginary friends, he threw some money at the problem and resorted to New Age horse-shit. I doubt that there is a parent in the western world whose three-year-old didn't at some point claim to have seen something that isn't real. My son had a long-running relationship with an imaginary friend called Mr Monkers, a well-rounded character with many quirks and foibles, who generally was most disruptive at bath time and bed time. Funny that. The times of day most children would do anything to avoid, Mr Monkers would suddenly appear to wreck havoc. He also had a propensity for putting his fingers in the jam.
What I did was calmly explain to my son that it was OK to creatively use his imagination, but he must remember the difference between this and reality (and that jam was far more palatable on toast rather than fingers). This kind of fantasy can be encouraged and nurtured without blindly indulging it, and it probably shouldn't be dismissed out of hand, hopefully leading to a healthy approach towards role-playing, a vital part of the childhood experience. Hopefully, this helps discourage Miss Mandy's approach to role-playing, granting oneself mystical powers which no-one else is capable of understanding, protecting these fantasies with a haze of misunderstood science and carrying it well into adulthood.
Sometimes you find the stupidest paranormal stories in the most unexpected places: On 15th May WOW! FM's "Rick" reported on an alleged rise in exorcisms in Idaho, stating:
"Some may laugh… some may scoff… but facts are facts. Exorcism calls are on the rise here in Idaho."
I do indeed laugh and scoff, but if you're stating something is a fact you'd normally provide a source to back this up. Rick fails to do this, we aren't told where he's pulled the year-by-year figures for exorcisms from. He continues:
"It’s a common practice in third world countries. Here in the United States we seem to take a more scientific approach when the unexplained can’t be explained."
When the unexplained can't be explained? Surely the unexplained can't ever be explained as then by definition it wouldn't be unexplained. Also, I question why Rich isn't absolutely terrified and embarrassed that Idaho is following the example of third world countries. So where did Rick find this story to comment on it in the first place, tracking it down should at least lead to a citation of the source stating a rise in Exorcism in Idaho, right?
The story was first featured on Fox 9 news on, you may see this coming, Friday 13th. The piece cites two sources that allege exorcism is on the rise, "exorcism expert" and founder of Apparitions Paranormal Investigations Jeff Mason and Pastor Mike Freeman. It's Mason who seems to be making the claim that exorcisms are on the rise, not based on any actual figures or anything, just the fact that he's being asked to perform them more...
But Mason is a credible source, after all, he is a doctor.... erm... of clinical hypnosis. which isn't an accredited degree in the US or anywhere else, essentially it's a mail order qualification. It's hard to understand how this team actually came to Fox's attention, the team only has three members and their Facebook page has only ten likes!
Meanwhile, pastor Freeman discusses the popularity of exorcism in the Third World, a point that clearly resonates with Rick at least:
“You step into the Third World and it’s definitely a ‘We’re not in Kansas’ anymore moment. To assume our way of viewing reality as the only way is to limit ourselves.”
Is it me, or does this backwards idiot sound like he actually admires the third world for continuing to adhere to stone age superstitions? The pastor may be correct in stating there are many ways to view reality, to the left is how South Park view it, but those views don't alter it. Demons aren't real, possession isn't real. On the other hand mental illnesses and physical ailments which may cause stereotypical "possession like behaviour" are.
Read more at http://www.inquisitr.com/3103138/idaho-exorcism-rates-soar-as-population-booms/#g1URX7w3z6vlaPow.99
Of course, it's clear what's happened here: the news channel has gone out looking for a spooky story for Friday 13th and stumbled across Mason and his claims. Paranormal fluff aside there are serious implications here.
As always it's firmly my stance that publicizing nonsense like exorcism hurts the vulnerable, especially children and those with mental illness. This problem is, frankly, more worrying and pressing in Idaho, a state in which backward religious attitudes are killing children. An article published in the Guardian also on Friday 13th, shows the harm caused by protecting and propagating dark age superstition.
Alongside some stark and quite upsetting tales of abuse and neglect told by survivors of throwback religious cults, the article tells us Idaho is one of only six states in the US that offer a faith-based shield for felony crimes such as manslaughter.
The legislature states:
[N]o child whose parent or guardian chooses for such child treatment by prayers through spiritual means alone in lieu of medical treatment, shall be deemed for that reason alone to be neglected or lack parental care necessary for his health and well being. . . . Idaho Code, Section 16-1602(28)(a)
In making its order under subsection (a) of this section, the court shall take into consideration any treatment being given the child by prayer through spiritual means alone, if the child or his parent, guardian or legal custodian are adherents of a bona fide religious denomination that relies exclusively on this form of treatment in lieu of medical treatment. Idaho Code, Section 16-1627(3) in Authorization of emergency medical treatment
Peaceful Valley cemetery is Idaho burial ground of the religious sect The Followers of Christ, which is full of the graves of young children and infants, many of whom died as a result of their parent's backward superstitious avoidance of medical intervention. Those parents are protected by this law.
Critics of the faith-shield legislation, first adopted in the 1960's during the Nixon administration, fear that it may at some point also extend to deaths caused as a result of exorcism, although there is no president for this at the current time. It's easy to see how this could be extrapolated. Suddenly exorcism doesn't seem like harmless fluff, does it Rick?
There was more possession related bullshit featured in the good ol' Daily Fail today (18/05/16) which reports on a supposed "mass possession" in a school in Peru.
The following video accompanies the report, it is quite disturbing:
The paper reports:
"Disturbing footage has emerged of up to 80 students convulsing, screaming and fainting at Elsa Perea Flores School in northern Peru's Tarapoto. Experts are struggling to explain the hysteria that broke out at the school, which was reportedly built on a Mafia graveyard.... Franklin Steiner, a parapsychologist who investigates paranormal and psychic phenomena - said: 'It is known that years ago there were many victims of terrorism here. When this school was built, some say bones and dead bodies were found.'
Locals believe this is a case of demonic interference, saying some children must have played games that invoke demons such as using a Ouija board. A Ouija board is marked with letters and numbers and some use it in the belief that they will be abe to communicate with souls of the dead.
As of yet, there has been no rational or official explanation for the phenomenon."
I'll offer a rational explanation, and it doesn't involve demons, tall dark figures or Mafia graveyards. How about mass hysteria? The phenomenon is explainable and fairly well understood, it's described here as"also known as mass psychogenic illness (MPI), is characterised by more than one person spontaneously developing hysterical physical and emotional symptoms, manifested out of false or exaggerated beliefs within their group." in relation to a similar outbreak in a Malaysian school, SMK Pengkalan Chepa 2.
Simon Wessley, a psychiatrist at Kings College describes the onset of the phenomena:
"Fainting, collapsing, funny neurological symptoms, but also more culturally bound conducts like possession, with djinns and spirits... schools are a natural habitat for mass outbreaks of conversion disorder, as they’re a fairly closed environment, populated by close-knit cliques. It usually begins with one person collapsing or exhibiting unusual physical symptoms, from there rumours spread and anxiety mushroom clouds itself through the hallways."
Mass hysteria is more common and pronounced in communities within strong superstitious and supernatural beliefs, Robert Bartholomew, a sociologist who has also researched mass hysteria in Malaysiadescribes the phenomena further:
"Mass hysteria or collective delusions are defined as the spontaneous and rapid spread of false or exaggerated beliefs within a population.... Outbreaks usually occur in small, tight-knit groups in enclosed surrounding such as schools, orphanages and factories."
Easy to see all those criteria met here, plus the concept of exaggerated or false beliefs which puts the Mails quotes from "locals"into some contrast, clearly the belief in demons and spirits is rife here and the speculation about Mafia burial grounds and the like is only going to fuel this ongoing outbreak.
Hey wait.... what did one of the girls say was stalking them?
"It was a tall man all dressed in black..."
Shit! That may be the first time any form of reality has featured in The Daily Mail.
The Daily Mirror tells us today (01/05/16) of a ghost video which is reportedly "baffling" the internet. Allegedly filmed in the corridors of the School Hospital Universitario, Honduras, the video shows a supposed phantom rather comically poking it's head out of a doorway, before striding part way across the hallway.
Take a look:
The video leaves us with a few unanswered questions:
The first thing that struck me about the clip is that no one is actually coming forward to claim responsibility for it. As a result, there's no backstory at all. The Mirror cites the FB page La Otra Dimensión as an original source but on inspection of the thread, no single individual or group are claiming responsibility. Why could this be?
Without the original filmmaker's input, all we have is speculation as to where this was actually filmed. The location cited in the article, has been suggested by posters of the aforementioned FB page. One question I'd really like to ask the filmmaker is why they were filming that particular corridor in the first place. Also, I'd question where the time stamp has gone? Is there a reason it's missing or is this intended to just further obscure the origins of the video.
In my opinion, what we are looking at here is fakery using video editing.
Looking closely at the image above and the zoomed version below, you should be able to just see that our "ghost" appears to have a slight halo surrounding it. Watch the video again on full screen and pay particular attention to the zoomed slow motion part at the end.
Slightly clearer here:
I think the aura represents an area that is more pixelated than it's surroundings. This is most prominent as the ghost pops it's head out of the doorway, the image actually blinking at this point. This could indicate that the video quality that our spectre is shot on is slightly poorer than that of the quality of its surroundings. I'd guess this section of the video is a composite of two separately shot pieces of footage. The empty corridor was shot at one point, then an image of someone popping their head out of the doorway later, possibly in poorer lighting conditions thus the poorer quality, this later footage was then overlayed on the original take.
In the following video, Mike St Clair of Viper Paranormal explain just how easy this is to achieve with common video editing suites and software:
I think that pretty much debunks that one.
The later half of the Mirror piece and a particular image they reproduce shows exactly how lazy the Mirror Journalists are and puts the above video into some perspective. Here's the image created by blatant faker, Andrew Milburn.
The Mirror quotes Andrew about the image, first published in the paper in June 2015:
"Andrew told Mirror Online at the time: "I sent her a picture as I walked to my office. Unbeknown at the time it appears that I captured a ghost figure in the corridors....I have since put this picture on Facebook, it has received thousands of likes and comments and has been shared as far as America.... It has also been shared on to paranormal investigator groups, many of which believe the picture is real."..."
I don't doubt it has, but those "investigator groups" make a mockery of the very word "investigation" as it would've only took them a moment or two to discover this is an outright fake. Here it is on an app selection screen right next to another image that was used by another faker in a Mirror story way back in 2014, which I debunked with the help of a few others here,
And side by side.
As much as I can't abide fakery, at least whoever made the video in question isn't actually claiming it's real, others are doing that for them. Andrew, on the other hand, can't help but crow about what he's created, and how many people it's fooled. Unlike the creator of the video he's actively lying to people and profiting from it too.... and it likely took far less work to produce. It certainly took less time to debunk.
I don't think we should necessarily look favourably on those that produced that video, but one can't accuse them of laziness or arrogance... and I suspect that they actually took pride in what they'd produced.
Give me these people over the glory hounds and profiteers that cynically use apps to extract money from a lazy complacent press any day, insulting the intellegence of us all in the process.
If there is one thing the Daily Mail loves more than inaccurate science reporting, cancer cures/causes and thinly veiled bigotry it's giant rats. Between April 2015 and today, the paper has ran with at least five prominent stories about plagues of over-sized rodents. The latest regarding a rat found in a playground in East London, being of particular interest to me as it's now been picked up by most major news outlets and is burning up a storm on social media with very few people picking up the obvious flaw in the tale (snigger).
The rodent dubbed "the hackney rat"(pictured below) was found by gas engineer Tony Smith who photographed his electrician pal James holding the carcass in a litter picker. They were, from what I can tell from most versions of the story, the only two who saw it. Tony has also neatly copyrighted the photo. No wonder James is smiling.
See if you can immediately spot my issue with this supposedly monstrous beast.
Let's have the excellent Dermot Morgan as Father Ted Crilly explain the crux of the issue:
Most reports are claiming that it was four feet long, but the only verification of this comes from Tony and his mate James... as they stand to profit from this attention they are not likely to downplay the size are they?
The Mirror concedes that perspective maybe an issue, as do some of the other reports:
"In the picture, the rodent is being at arm's length and close to the camera, making it hard to gauge how big it really is."
But they really don't go far enough. James is holding the rat in a litter picker the lengths of which range from 75 cm to 100cm which is also around 3ft. Factoring in his arm length, James is stood, potentially, up to five feet away from the camera! Due to the angle of James' arm to the picker the distance is likely less than this, but you get the point. Arm's length doesn't cut it.
Also, Tony claims it weighed 25 lbs, which is around 11 kg. I very much doubt that the litter picker could have held that kind of weight. Also held out like that, James should be finding it difficult to keep upright. The largest rats in the world weigh between 1 -1,5kg. Are we seriously to believe this specimen is up to ten times the size of the largest known individuals of the largest species of rat? It's almost twice the weight of the largest prehistoric rat species even!
Here's how Hackney council brilliantly responded to concerns about the "hackney rat" on twitter:
I for one wish the tabloid press and social media would forget this kind of nonsense and focus on more pressing issues, such as the spate of two-headed dinosaur sightings on our beaches.
The British tabloid press are at it again. Virtually every tabloid paper in the UK has reported on this piece of footage from Honduras breakfast TV show First Edition over the last 24 hours.
Take a look.
So is this "chilling" or paranormal in any sense?
No. Not in my opinion. What we are seeing here is the natural outcome of a glass resting on a glass table with a speck of moisture , or even moist air trapped underneath it. The coefficient of static friction being very small between two glass surfaces even without the presence of water or moist air.
Arnold Anderson, retired professor of frictional forces explains the effect:
"When a wet glass is placed on a smooth surface, a ring of water first makes a seal around the bottom edge of the glass. Then, as the glass continues toward the countertop, air that is under the glass bottom is compressed. Under ideal conditions, this small volume of pressurized air is able to support the weight of the glass. The water around the bottom edge of the glass functions as a seal to prevent the air from escaping. For a short time, the glass is floating on the surface water, and moves with almost no friction. A different, but related behavior is possible with a container that has a very smooth, flat bottom. Here, the water can not escape quickly, and temporarily supports the glass on a squeeze film of water alone. This is much like an ice skate, which melts the ice under the blade, so the skater glides freely on a thin film of water. The first case is like a hovercraft, where a large fan pressurizes the air under the craft so it can move freely over water or even smooth land. Technically, the glass uses what is called a 'squeeze film' bearing to temporarily support the glass. Hovercraft are supported by 'externally pressurized' bearings. Ice skates employ 'self-lubricating' bearings. These are all ways to reduce friction, using lubrication."
So what sets the glass moving? Could be one of two things, or a combination of the two, heat from the studio lights causing the fluid to expand, or the presenter disturbing the air around the glass and setting it in motion. Notice that the glass begins to move as the Presenter moves his hand past it, the initial movement is very slow and the glass speeds up as it moves towards the middle of the table. It finally stops when the moisture is exhausted. It would take very little force to get the glass moving as the static coefficient, the resistance against sliding, is so small.
Examination of the surface doesn't immediately reveal the presence of liquid. But all that is needed here is moist air, or condensation on the outside of the glass.
More tabloid stupidity then. As mentioned in a previous post, I'm not linking to any of the stories, click-bait shouldn't be encouraged.
