Haunted Places and Paranormal Activity

[Netami]

Gelfling has the crystal.

[Brunhidden]

Actually that is the traditional meaning of 'wraith'- before you die you see a copy of yourself, in some rare cases seeing this wraith was the cause of death due to running screaming miles before you collapse at home. The Tolkien version is much cooler though.

as far as willo the wisps are concerned- most of the story has been said. yes, they're a natural phosphorescence found in marshy areas and are not in fact spirits of fey or anything like that. However the other posters have neglected to state WHAT causes them, its not just decomposing marsh plants otherwise they would be everywhere. Willo the wisps typically start when a large creature falls victim to a quagmire, sinkhole, or quicksand... usually quagmires, they're the most common in swamps. Large creature? well what on earth that lives in a marsh would be stupid enough to fall victim to its own home? on rare occasions a deer or bear may do it, but anything else is too light to be pulled under the swamp- usually the culprit is a person.

this is doubly deadly- the light is suspended directly over a quagmire large enough to swallow a person, and has likely gotten larger due to the struggling of the dying. A person lost in the night in days past thought the willo the wisp looked exactly like the lantern of another traveler who was probably a lot less lost, but today it looks (to someone suitably distraught, easy in a swamp full of slithery hooting things that you can hear stalking you) a lot like the lit window of a house that probably contains a phone you can use to get someone to pick you up. Should someone follow the light an optical illusion happens, even though you get closer the willo the wisp does not seem to be getting very near, it still looks like a far off light until you are standing almost on top of it... which is exactly the kill zone of the quagmire.

By luring people and animals attracted by the light the willo the wisp grows stronger, its light can be seen further and does not waver as much so looks much more like a lit window. For every body the swamp claims it becomes more deadly.

Especially by where i grew up, due to the large number of city dwellers who think they can buy a gun at Kmart and go hunting on a weekend. I find it insulting so many of them think large stretches of marsh aren't owned by anyone, and ignore any warning signs. Seriously, you think i would shinny across five miles of marsh to hang "No trespassing" and "No hunting without owners permission" signs for my health? ever wonder theres a reason so many of them were hung seven feet off the 'ground'? Half these doomed weekend warriors don't even wear proper footwear or bother tucking their pants into their shoes, i am very surprised so many of them come back alive even if they loose some boots to the quagmires.

The particularly dumb, called 'shiners', are under the impression it is easier to hunt deer at night, so trudge into the woods between 11 and 4 to stomp around hoping to find the little thickets where deer curl up into almost invisible balls (usually UNDER a thick coating of branches and grass) completely ignoring a thing called 'logic'. The 'shiners' get their name because, due to not wanting to make any noise while stomping on every twig, they keep track of where each of their friends are by holding dim flashlights... and sometimes they come back short a friend, i guess the hapless individual was a bit confused at which light was his buddy.

I should consider going back to my parents and painting skulls on the 'no trespassing' signs.

This way. Don't follow the lights ... Or Hobbits go down to join the dead ones, and light little candles of their own...

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

... alternatively go out there and set up lights to lead them off the path...


Darwin and all that. :-]

[Josh Massa]

I didn't expect this post to go so well. Seems more people then I know like or have encountered paranormal activities.

[Alondro]

I am a paranormal activity.   

[Josh Massa]

I am a paranormal activity.   

Hahaha, that you are Alondro, that you are. 

[lucas marcone]

due to the willo-the-wisps that show up some nights... i almost got lured by one myself several times when i was young and lost in the night.

What exactly are these Willo-The-Wisps you speak of? And how do they lure you? What happens if you get "lured" by them?


LUCAS!!!!

As I have not found one spefically in Chambersburg PA, I have found this site you might want to check out about the massivly amounts of haunted places in PA.

http://theshadowlands.net/places/pennsylvania.htm

thanks, i have an uncle in pittsburg and i may be able to check those out if i get around to visiting him. the rest will have to wait till my cousin's work schedule frees up and gas money can be aquired.

[Alondro]

I don't know why I clicked on this thread, this stuff scares the shit out of me.

I really wish i didn't beleive in this stuff, just because it scares me this much... But it still piques my curiosity, and thus continues to remind me how scared I am of shit like this.

*devious grin*  Prepare to not sleep for the next month.   

Mothman: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mothman
Chupacabra video!  ZOMG!!  http://alienvideo.net/video-chupacabra.php
Jersey Devil (His name's actually Bob) : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jersey_Devil
Dover Demon, freaky lil thing, ain't it? : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dover_Demon
Another Demon in Chile? : http://www.rense.com/general53/chile.htm
Loveland Lizard: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loveland_Lizard

Have fun. 

[slayer8765]

Well if your going to post strange creatures I shall too.

First a weird looking yellow fish. http://youtube.com/watch?v=oiDbED3WQjU&mode=related&search=

Second, strange beasts from around the world.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=ZrvPuxb5MB0&mode=related&search=

Finally, more weird looking creatures. http://youtube.com/watch?v=x7UF9TPkm-A&mode=related&search=

Now if only we could find aliens.

[Kryptic]

Aw, come on. As someone planning to go into zoology - much of that has a real explanation behind it. The other half is made up crap (like the "fish" - if you notice, it doesn't have scales or anything, the tail doesn't match anything of any fish species - it's a fictional thing, IMO)

If you want something that's real, and weird? Try real zoology.

Polydactyl Cats - a fairly common occurance. The most toes I've heard of was 26 toes one one cat, if I recall right.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/south_west/6741167.stm

Animals with Two Heads are Common - Check out the turtles!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/south_west/6741167.stm

Amphibians in polluted habitats readily become deformed. Sometimes males will grow female parts, multiple legs, and all sorts of mutations.
http://www.science.psu.edu/alert/Kiesecker7-2002.htm

A real ugly dog or real ugly cat? Yeah, they're real. Meet Sam - the world's ugliest dog. Well, he was. He has died since his crowning and now official "ugly dog" competitions are held to see who has the world's ugliest dog.
http://samugliestdog.com/

As for the cats? There's a whole BREED. Meet Sphynx Cats. (The alternative dog is the Chinese Crested - but I think they can be cute)
http://www.cfainc.org/breeds/profiles/sphynx.html

A weird land-worm-snake? A GIANT worm? You're more likely thinking of a caecilian, a amphibian that lives underground and "de-evolved" legs.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caecilian

And personally, some of the other ones?
The Chupacabra - it looks like someone set a wallaby loose in Chile. It looks just like a kangaroo in some pictures.
Any "Mermaid" is a hoax - the closest thing you'll find to a mermaid is the Sirenia order - Dugongs and Manatees.


Ah - Cryptozoology. How you mock me.

EDIT: Ah, I wanted to add the hairless rabbit. I think it's so ugly it's cute.
http://www.petrabbitworld.com/New%20imgs/Roo%20on%20toes.jpg

[Alondro]

Actually, the Chupacabra pics are suggested to be a subspecies of the Mexican Hairless Cat, from what I've heard.

[Josh Massa]

I've heard that chubacabras are just some type of deformed wallabe, that hops around like a kangaroo. Might be some sort of demented mexican cat though. But I'll tell you one thing for sure, they certainly don't only live in Mexico/California. They have some right here in CT.

[Kryptic]

All I know is that this looks like a wallaby that spent too much time in formaldehyde.

Apparently other chupas include a coyote with sarcoptic mange. That's nice.

Another explanation I have is the Maned Wolf. It fits with at least some of the descriptions, and it's range is close enough to "Chupa" range that it could actually just be some wolves out of their regular habitat.

But, by far, the cutest Chupa is the one from Negima!?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72IS9llB9jA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPT5Vyz6e5w
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-C7PgStAeU

[Miaka]

see, most of the photos of random odd creatures don't phase me much...
I think a lot of them are cute, actually. >>
like sphynx cats. I kind of want one. <3

And most of them are just creative taxidermy, photos blurry enough to be just about anything if you're gullible enough, or just 'shopped.

but while we're on the subject anyways...
http://www.josefbauer.com/wolpertinger1.jpg
http://www.germanfortravellers.com/quickfix/bavarian/wolpertinger.jpg <- I've got a little stuffed animal of this one. i's pretty adorable.

[Josh Massa]

These are some pretty interesting creatures and asumptions about them.

[AngelSephy]

When it comes to the strange creatures, they aren't made up. I honestly believe things like the chupacabra, big foot, ropen and lochness are just creatures we haven't scientifically identified yet. There are still alot of species of animals and creatures that we haven't proven or discovered yet.

[Josh Massa]

Oh for certain. Do you know how many more hundreds of thousands of years it would take us? I mean people have been around for ages and we are still constantly discovering new species. 

[Alondro]

Problem is for large species like a Nessie or a Bigfoot, you need enough members of the species to maintain genetic viability.

That means at least a hundred individuals or so in a relatively confined area just to keep the species going for several centuries.  With all the people looking for them, why hasn't any solid evidence been found?  And frequently?  If these things live, they must die.  There hasn't even so much as a bone been found in a cave somewhere.

We're not talking about animals hidden in the jungles of Borneo, we're talking about mysterious large beasties living in areas where modern civilization is right around the corner.  Especially in the case of Nessie.  People staring with cameras almost every day and often every night.  And there's nothing.  Only ripples that have been identified as resulting from a unique cross-wind phenomenon.

The Jersey Devil... is real.  His name's Bob and he lives in a shack in Chatsworth.   

And in the case of the chupacabra, it's looking very much like it's no more than misidentification of already-known animals by frightened locals, then tied in with the big-eyed alien theories (the sort of grey-hybrid-mutant-looking chupacabra that emerged in recent years).

You have to analyze what is plausible.  A giant squid deep in the ocean was very plausible, given how little we know about life in the depths.  And lo and behold, when people really started looking, they found them!

Sasquatch doesn't have a range as huge as the ocean to hide in.  No one has found anything credible after decades of searching and hidden cameras. 

[Unreliabel Dragon]

I dont think those things should die. Sure modern civilization is right around the corner but we dont know how long these creatures have been around. Maybe we, meaning humans, moved in to their territory. Also, these creatures might be able to help us somehow.

[slayer8765]

Help us like the dolphins tried to in the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy?

[Kryptic]

Sure, some "myths" are really true. But a giant squid is far from the size of a supposed "Kraken".

Coelacanths are a good example. They were supposed dead for millenia. Low and behold, natives in Africa were fishing 'em up everyday. They existed, much to the dismay of icthyologists.

So, I suppose it's probable, but it's very, very, unlikely, IMO. Most species have at least one relative that looks somewhat like it.

Besides - we already know what the Loch Ness monster is. Yeesh.   

[Josh Massa]

I'm not exactly sure if I believe in the Jersey Devil. It looks way to moronic. How many damn animals would that thing of had to be cross-bred with?