Sue St.Clair and Matthew Didier's Paranormal Blog

#1: Ghosts will hurt and/or kill you.

No, they won't. In fact, the vast majority of injuries sustained that can be "blamed" on ghosts are from people escaping them. Things like running from they think might be a ghost and in the process, banging their heads or tripping.

To date, in two-hundred years of written/investigated reports, there is only ONE death "possibly" blamed on a ghost... and that was The Bell Witch case in Adams, Tennessee, that happened in 1820... and even it is STILL hotly debated.

The only properly recorded case of someone being injured and being medically examined after an encounter with a ghost (again, in the last two-hundred years,) is The Entity Case in California in the 1970's. This is also debated.

Sadly, there are a plethora of deaths, disfigurements, and injuries that are related to ghosts and hauntings... some being from would-be thrill-seeking ghost hunters taking dangerous (and unnecessary) risks, and far too many from "exorcisms" and otherwise attempts to "clear" ghosts.

I could also include the damage done to people's finances and well being by charlatans and frauds claiming to be able to assist with a ghostly situation for fees... and that is scary. If someone offers to help you with a haunting for money, that's when it's best to turn and run.

These are facts... and they are documented. Realistically, your chances of being permanently hurt by a ghost are far, far worse than winning over one-million dollars in a lottery.

#2: Ghosts only come out at night.

Again, not true. About 40% (38.7%) of the collected reports to PSICAN's main page and through Torontoghosts/Ontarioghosts happen in daylight hours. This still seems odd, as that means over 60% of the reports happened in the evening, so how can we say that night time is not necessarily "best" for ghosts to be experienced?

Simple, really.

When looking at reports from "public access" (and private business) sites, hospitals do make up the lion's share of reports... but private homes and spaces are still the most common place to hear stories from. Now, even in most homes, an odd shadow, strange noise, or even weird light will go almost completely unnoticed at three in the afternoon... but when people are awake at three in the morning, when there is very little background noises outdoors, most people asleep, and very few "living bodies" wandering around to cast shadows and stir any of the senses of a witness, every sound seems almost amplified and therefore, odd or "displaced" things are that much more noticeable. Also, keeping this in mind, how many people are even at their homes between 9am and 6pm?

Realistically, however, there are very few "haunted locations" that don't also have things happening in broad daylight... they may be "easier to notice" in the wee hours, but if something is there and people are looking for it, they will find, without a doubt, that whether the suns out or not makes no difference.

#3: Ghosts are transparent.

Actually, most of them don't seem to be at all.

Isaac Asimov once said, "The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds the new discoveries, is not 'Eureka!' but 'That's funny...'" The same can be said about seeing a ghost, in many ways.

Now, I should caution, that we are talking about "apparitions" here... not poltergeists. The former represents seeing a person or thing that, realistically, should not be there and would be considered "ghostly". The latter represents things that aren't seen at all (invisible) but are felt, heard, or seem to move things without any sort of visible means.

The majority of sightings of apparitions are indeed, as solid as you and I... assuming you're solid... and in many reports, we hear and read things like, "I saw a woman standing near the window... I didn't think too much about it, and when I realised she shouldn't be there, I looked back and she'd vanished."

It's the "I realised that ___ shouldn't be there" that's the clue... Usually it's because they're dressed oddly... sometimes it's because they do something weird or strange... like appear to be open the window (unsuccessfully) using a crank, when it's a normal sliding thermal window...

...but again, it's usually not a horrifying or terrifying experience, but one of gentle surprise that turns into a situation of concerned wonderment.

One of the MOST important questions for an investigator or researcher to ask someone who's seen an apparition (after establishing that it's not likely a "mistaken" identity of someone else who's very much alive and was in the vicinity,) is "Did the apparition break the light? Did it cast a shadow?"

Overwhelmingly, the answers to at least one of these questions is "Yes." As such, it is tantalizing for us, as mass (needed to break the light and/or cast shadows,) means there SHOULD be some form of measurable energy involved... but we're still looking for it.

Either way, indeed, after a quick round-up of apparition sightings from our own reports since 1997, 97.89% of the reports say that the sighting was of something seemingly "solid"... not translucent or "see-through".

Those are mostly just the Hollywood ghosts.

#4: Ghosts that cause damage or any sort of trouble are demons.

This is more something of faith than of fact... and there's little point in arguing someone's belief structure... but...

Assuming that "ghosts" are somehow related to or involved with the residual "something" from a person or being that has passed on, as many do, or even that there's a chance RSPK (recurrent spontaneous psychokinesis) is at work, then it would also be safe to say that "whomever" this was or is, is now indeed a demon.

Again, using that logic, if a three year old throws a fit and tosses everything in front of them all over the place, are they demonic? If there's a car accident, and in the process, pieces of car are flung about violently, was this caused by demonic forces? I know I've gotten very upset at things I've been working on and have flung them to my desk in exasperation... am I demonic?

There are SOME that would say yes...

Would you?

#5: A psychic, sensitive, or shaman can get rid of a ghost for you.

Though some claim this ability, we have to report that we have not had heard (in our twelve years of study - at the time of writing this,) a case where this has been completely true.

There have been some reports of someone being able to weaken the intensity of some phenomena... and there have been reports of people being able to cause a pause (even long term) in the amounts of phenomena... but it always seems to return to one degree or another.

Most people that do try to "rid" themselves of things end up realistically simply learning ways to live with it and work around what's happening.

Also, remember what I said above about being "hurt by a ghost"? About "damage done to people's finances"? Rule one is always DON'T OPEN YOUR WALLET. There's PLENTY of ways of dealing with these things that are COST FREE and those paths should always be your first and last resort if you're looking towards this "solution". Information on these ideas, suggestions, and even contacts is available at http://www.psican.org/alpha/clearinghelp01.htm

Don't let ANYONE fool you... because, indeed, this field is fraught with those who are less then genuine, sad to say.

#6: Ghost hunters have ghost detectors that find the ghosts.

No. In fact, no one does.

People assume that EMF meters and "Tri-Field" meters (common hand-held electronic instruments used by ghost investigators) somehow "detect" ghosts... they don't. They note variations in the ambient electro-magnetic fields in and around the vicinity where you take your reading. To date, there's been zero correlation between drops and spikes in electro magnetic fields and supposedly haunted locations or events... save the work of Dr. Michael Persinger of Laurentian University who's findings were that high ambient EM after a time will cause hallucinations that are based from a reaction in the temporal lobe of the human brain. The comedic element of this is that those "ghost hunters" who go "gaga" over high EM readings with their meters might only be proving they're more susceptible in that location to a hallucination.

The truth is no one knows what ghosts are "made of"... and without that information, it is impossible to "detect" a ghost.

#7: Photographs that show weird balls of light prove that there's ghosts around.

This was an extremely popular thought in the late 1990's and the early part of this century... but sadly, it's been all but completely debunked.

With the "weird balls of light" (or 'orbs') it's a 99% given chance that what you're looking at is airborne particles caught near the lens by the flash of a camera. In recent years, flashes and lenses have been constructed closer together (both to shrink the size of the units and to point the flash downwards to avoid issues like "red eye" in the images,) and this has led to more and more things being seen in photos as "glowing balls of light". Torontoghosts was one of (if not the first) ghost-related websites to tell people this in great detail (you can see it at http://tinyurl.com/torghostorbarticle ) the article includes diagrams et al if you're want more information.

We have even offered people ideas to "debunk" our "debunkning"... sadly, there's been no one who has yet to do so... and as such, our feelings on the matter stand and stand with evidence.

For how to "debunk" our "debunking", see http://tinyurl.com/stereocamera on Stereo Cameras and http://tinyurl.com/obscuredorb on the "obscured" orb.

#8: Science says that ghosts do not exist.

This is not true. Right now, there is no empirical evidence to show that ghosts do or do not exist... but there is witness testimony and evidence which is still being argued over and speculated about.

True science has not passed judgement as there's nothing to indicate ghosts exist or do not exist... and science needs evidence... not simple faith, belief, or proclamations.

#9: Science says that ghosts exist.

This is not true. Right now, there is no empirical evidence to show that ghosts do or do not exist... but there is witness testimony and evidence which is still being argued over and speculated about.

True science has not passed judgement as there's nothing to indicate ghosts exist or do not exist... and science needs evidence... not simple faith, belief, or proclamations.

(This was really just to show that this sort of thing works both ways and to ensure that people understand that science is and always should be neutral and "agnostic" to things without empirical evidence in any direction.)

#10: Abandoned and spooky looking places are usually haunted.

First thing people should understand is that no place is truly "abandoned". Someone owns pretty much everything. In Ontario, for example, the large forests you can find especially in our North that SEEM abandoned are owned by "The Crown". This means, in essence, that it is owned by the government.

Almost every house, regardless of it's condition, is owned by someone... and being "abandoned" does not mean (at all) that it's haunted OR has some sort of dark history behind it's current condition. The most common causes of "abandoned" homes is because of ownership disputes, structural integrity issues, and sometimes, simple abandonment in favour of another structure on the same property or owned by the same people.

At the time of writing this, there's an entire block of "abandoned" homes on the North side of Bloor Street West in Toronto, just North of High Park... which really aren't abandoned. They were purchased by a developer to be torn down for a new condominium complex... but, because some of these homes are almost a century old and are "boarded up", there's probably people that assume that they are somehow truly abandoned and/or "cursed" in some form. (In fact, someone DID write to us to tell us about them claiming that the owners had "really let them run down" and had been "evicted" because of this... which is not true as there's only one (corporate) owner... and they're simply waiting for plan approval.)

Anyway, usually as (especially older) sites become more decrepit, the rumours begin... but in all honesty, if "Old Man Jenkins" really did murder his entire family in the old abandoned farm house eighty years ago, then it still would have made the papers and/or court documents... and information would be available online via a Google search on the address of said farm house.

More often than not, "dark histories" and even "ghost stories" from places that only LOOK haunted are nothing more than wishful thinking... really, just a way for thrill seekers to justify wandering through the sites. Sadly, more often than not, these people go in to these places without permission and without safety precautions being taken... and indeed, there have been several deaths and injuries in North America over the last fifteen years that trace back to "ghost hunting" and "abandoned place" being synonymous in many people's lexicon.

The truth is any place can have reports of ghostly activity... and really, if it's ghosts you're interested in, these are the places you should go to look into things. Places with existing reports you can find either online from multiple sources or in books.

I've said it before, I'll say it again... You may think it takes a certain "intestinal fortitude" to venture into the cold, dark, scary old house... but it takes a SERIOUS pair of stones to walk into a historic site or museum and actually tell the people working there you're interested in the ghost stories you've heard about their site (if any) and actually get the details and look into actual events.

Now that you're armed with the facts behind these "tall tales", you can really get into ghost investigation and research... and be armed with truth instead of popular myths.

Last winter we had our kitchen completely redone, and this winter we will be working on the bathroom putting in new ceramic tiles as our current ones are really old, and kinda grungy. Our home is over 80 years old, and whenever we embark on this type of home renovation the thought does occur to me that maybe we might stir something up. There does seem to be some correlation between home renovations, construction, and sudden hauntings.

I wish And of course I would let you know....

Currently our tv is parked on top of an old trunk that I would like to start using for storing our treasures again. I would at the very least like to be able to open the trunk without so much hassle (removing the tv) This has had me out, and shopping around ..... well more like looking at tv stands. Granted we would like to eventually get a flat screen that could be mounted on a wall, which would leave the idea of a new stand moot...

We have received reports from Simcoe county as well as Sudbury Ontario of what is being described as a glowing red object on September 12th 2009. If you have seen something similar please contact us. You can do so privately if you would prefer. Contact information is on our website psican.org

We would appreciate hearing from anyone else that thinks they might have seen an object like this last weekend.

Thank you in advance.

Just a quick off topic note to let you know about this site that offers information on online life insurance applications, resources, info, and more. You can use the site to learn more about the different types of insurance, and to obtain free insurance quotes for yourself. All you need to do is put in your postal code, it is that easy. Check it out if you are looking for insurance info, and want to access it from the comfort of your home or office computer.

Each Friday we will have a look at the stories and experiences that have been related to us over the years that are amongst our personal favourites. These will include Crypto, Ghosts, Hauntings, UFO's, and other strange events that may be considered Fortean, from in around the Toronto, Canada area .... and since they are from our own personal files will likely not be found elsewhere on the web .... enjoy!

We received the following in summer 2009:

Black Smoke Apparition

"As a young adult, I worked for an environmental activist organization in Hamilton, Ont. It was fairly common practice to go out and have a few drinks after work to wind down. In those days, I was in the practice of walking everywhere including the long walk from downtown to my home up on the West Mountain.Unlike many other unremarkable nights, I found myself growing increasingly apprehensive as I approached the escarpment. For reasons I could not understand at the time, I felt drawn to certain objects along my journey that offered a sense of relief from this mounting anxiety: a flower petal here, a shiny rock or a lone tree there. In this way I progressed along my path towards the stairs that would lead me home. I believe these were the stairs at the top of James street? Going out of my way would have added an hour or so to my journey and being an impoverished young idealist, taxis were out of the question.As I approached the bottom of the imposing flight of steps to the top of the escarpment, I saw something that filled me with both wonder and dread. I should state that I am not a religious person in any way shape or form but the sight of this "entity" made me fear for my very soul.It was a large cloud of black smoke, perhaps twenty to thirty feet in diameter which seemed to move purposefully and in no way related to the light summer evening breezes. I was aware of what I would describe as a malevolent sentience and I broke out into a cold sweat, frozen in place watching this cloud move. I could feel a sort of electricity in the air, similar to being under the northern lights but much more intense. I could not be sure that "it" was aware of me or not but I believed that if it were, I would not be here to relate this story to you. This entity was some distance off, perhaps fifty metres or more and would stop, change direction and speed in ways that smoke or mists cannot.Once it had passed the bottom of the stairs to the point where I felt I could make a run for it, I broke into a fevered sprint. I raced up the almost fifteen-hundred steps which are as near to vertical as a staircase can be before being called a ladder and continued on for another three or four blocks until I no longer felt the presence of this malevolent thing.Certainly, the adrenaline caused by fear and trepidation played a significant role in my seemingly super-human endurance but even this is not enough to convince me of how I was able to manage such a run. I was a heavy smoker and drinker, despite my predilection for walking, I did no sort of exercising whatsoever and world class marathon runners challenge themselves by training on these stairs up the Niagara escarpment. I was barely winded. To this day I believe that I had help of some sort, the same sort of help that directed me towards those objects that gave me the strength to carry on towards this entity."

Our thanks go out to the witness for sharing this experience with us.

Do you have a real life ghost story, an encounter with a UFO, or other paranormal experience/s you'd like to share? If so, we'd love to hear from you! Post your own experiences in our comments section or send us an email. Please post only true life experiences ... we love good fiction, but there are other fantastic blogs out there to post fictional accounts to.

Just an off topic quickie to say that using all natural fat burners strategies I have lost close to twenty pounds in the last two months. Nothing gimmicky, just diet adjustment, under 2,000 calories per day, walking thirty minutes each day, and three days of intense exercise per week. Not bad eh! Plus the change in diet, almost no meat has made me personally feel much, much healthier than I have in years.

Great write-up and letter from Nancy Talbot of BLT Research who expresses serious concerns with a National Geographic project.

Read Article Here

I can state from personal experience with National Geographic that I sadly, and reluctantly turned down (I say that because I was very excited to be asked by what I perceive as a serious and prestigious publication in the first place) for a project on alien abductees in 2004 that this does not surprise me in the least.

Good on Nancy!

Natural remedies, and folk medicine is often ignored these days for skin complaints such as acne treatment in favour of more modern solutions. I wonder if these 21 century treatment options are actually more effective than the ancient ones?

One thing I have recently started using on my own skin both internally, and externally is cold pressed extra virgin olive oil. The ancient romans actually used it for skin care, and within one month I have noted a positive difference.

Very early in 2009, Sue and I heard from a very well known historic site... this isn't unusual, save that the site in question is one that when I first contacted them in the late 1990's, was adamant that there were no ghost stories from their establishment. Not only that, but when comparing notes with author John Robert Colombo, he had the same reaction when he approached for "ghostly" information. The site looks like it deserves a ghost, but the consensus (backed up by staff in the latter part of last century was,) "Sorry, no ghosts here!"

Now, we had received stories here and there from visitors... we even had some staff write to us with reports... but none of the reports matched previous things we'd heard. Not only that, but the staff that wrote us were adamant that their anonymity be maintained for fear of possible ramifications from the site's management.

Added to this, several trusted "psychics" and "sensitives" we know confirmed that after tours, they too did not "feel" anything from the site.

This did not stop the e-mail in early 2009... where an authority working with the building contacted us to correct our history on it, (they questioned where we got the information... which, oddly enough, was from a well known published book written by someone attached to the area historically,) and to tell us they were shocked that we didn't have more stories from their site online.

We told them what we did have some report, (maintaining agreed confidentiality with those staffers,) and to be quite honest, we seriously had nothing to base a re-roll out of the story on our webpages.

They assured us this was incorrect and offered to put us in contact with people who worked for the site so we could get the straight "poop", so to speak.

Well, it was a bad time... Sue was too ill (and would be for a few months at that time,) and my "day job" precluded any visit... so we offered to come in and speak to these people in June.

Well, I sent an e-mail in early April to touch base and even pre-schedule something... and had no reply.

It was not long after that when a staff member of our site told me that, indeed, they had gone to a "ghost hunter" who is very eager, as a rule, to do what it takes to make things more entertaining for folks... basically, not at all like us in our efforts and, in fact, someone we've run into logger heads with because of certain inconsistencies in their efforts and their dealings.

Basically, it sure seemed the "sizzle" was more important than the "steak" to this historic place... and at any cost.

We would have been honest... we would not have promoted a site with sketchy information... and we made that clear.

Of course, to paraphrase a saying, when a door closes, a cat-flap slides open... and they found what they "needed".

This month, with a recent outpouring of media attention we received from an unfortunate event where a person was killed on an (erroneously reported,) "ghost hunt", I received an e-mail from a well known conference centre and inn based in Ontario.

The first e-mail was a general "C'mon in for a visit! Let me share the stories of this place!" message, to which I responded, with some hesitation, that this would be fine, provided the visit was just for a meeting and an investigation possibility.

I was assured it was... but was confused as the question of, "Would this cost us any money?" wasn't addressed really... so I asked again a little more bluntly.

This time, the "reason" for the request was made clear... They wanted "us" to organize weekends for ghost enthusiasts complete with "entertainment" and "seances" and the like... of course, "we" would not be charged... but surely, in our "database", we knew people who'd LOVE to do this sort of thing.

The inn is historic.

It's very nice, from what I've heard.

...but for the last dozen-plus years, I've never had a single report from the site. Not one guest, not one staff member of the inn... no one.

On top of that, I've read dozens of books about local ghosts... and the total amount of stories I read about this inn is... zero.

Could there be a "ghost" at this inn?

I suppose...

There could be one at the historic site too.

...it's just, when push comes to shove, how does a serious researcher and investigator who's credibility is reasonably good on all sides of the paranormal sector and with museums, historic sites, and even academia even consider these places when... well... they seem to be very content to "sell" their places using any means possible based on their "ghosts".

At that point, how does one assume that the reports are genuine and sincere? How does one remove the possibility of a little "skewing" to make things more interesting in the name of the almighty dollar?

One conference centre I did do an investigation at demanded total confidentiality and anonymity... and I've never published a word of what was reported there or the place's name or location... and if they contacted me now, I'd be tempted if not genuinely willing to help...

...but these other places?

Now, WHY would they do this? Why suddenly decide to be "haunted"?

Seems simple enough... Money.

Tour money, pay-for-investigation money, cheesy thrill "spend the night in the haunted place" money... the list is almost endless.

...but are those that take advantage of these tours and weekends getting a "legit" bang for their buck?

I'm not so sure...

One positive thing I suppose is that we are their first contact... because they know a nod from us usually means a little extra credibility... heck, one "ghost TV show" trying to get a TV deal with a network here in Canada was told to solicit a letter from us of approval in order to get their chance... and considering our very public stance on media, this means we must be taken seriously somewhere... and by someone of "media" importance...

...but again, when "we" (Torontoghosts, Ontarioghosts, PSICAN, ParaResearchers... and MOST of the people we know and work with...) pass on something, they always find someone willing to do what we feel funny doing... and indeed, it could be seen as fleecing the overly credulous.

If you, my gentle reader, want to visit a "haunted place" for any reason and want to avoid possible scams... because the two above only represent six such "things" that we're aware of from the last twelve months... (there's been many more in the past...) then here's the tip...

READ and RESEARCH!

Find out if the place has stories and reports from more than three sources... and those sources should have at least three different sources for their reports as well! (It's not unusual for "ghost websites" to be aggregators and therefore, one person publishes a story and three others (or more) pick up on it without another party giving fresh information.)

That's the key.

Because in these tougher times, the "sale" of things that can't be seen, proven, or otherwise handled will be rampant... and there's no refund for things like this as a rule.

There COULD be some entertainment value in these places and events... but make sure, if you're really looking for the "Real Deal", do some homework... Google is a good tool if nothing else.

If the restaurant down the way becomes suddenly (and without notice,) the HAUNTED restaurant down the way... chances are, they're just trying to cash in on a ghost who indeed, may not be there... and only exist in the fevered mind of a person desperate for a new marketing ploy.

It was with much sadness that I learned of the death of Patrick Swayze of pancreatic cancer yesterday. Not only was he a beacon of hope for my Mother who died from the same illness last month, but he was also a fine actor, and dancer in my opinion.

In fact he starred in one of my fave paranormal themed movies, Ghost along with Demi Moore. Ghost is one of the few movies I have seen several times, while still playing in the theatre!

RIP Patrick Swayze.

Hehehehe I'm not too sure if this would make for a very good life insurance lead, but the Weekly World News, my fave magazine for a good belly laugh has an ad for alien abduction insurance policies. No I'm not kidding.

Here is a snippet:

"In the past, people who were kidnapped by aliens came back to face trauma, disbelief and lost wages. But now, these victims have a way of protecting themselves and gaining peace of mind, for a small price."

I'm certain these would make for a fun gag gift for those people on your shopping list who are into all things alienish.

Why do I read the WWW on occasion you may be wondering???? Sometimes when these topics we cover get to heavy the Weekly World News is a fun way to lighten up your mood with their outrageous claims, and crazy stories. Just take everything you read there in the spirit for which it is intended.

Not really an unidentified, but I thought it looked quite spectacular, and wanted to share it with you. I first came across this clip via Whitley Streiber who is a friend on Facebook. He posted it to his feed.

While I think this is an awesome display of a natural event I want to state that I personally do not believe staring into the sun for any length of time is a good idea.

Enjoy!

I am reminded this morning of something Stephen King said in regards to "true horror." I cannot recall the exact quote, but it goes something along the lines of true horror is not a spooky old mansion, with gothic furniture, on a dark, and stormy night. True horror actually is born of the absurd such a suburban child's bedroom, all pink, and fluffy with wee preschool furniture at 3 am followed by children's laughter.

Think about it!

The following event occurred in Burlington Ontario September (15th?) 1970

"In 1970, when I was 10 years old, I lived in the new Centennial Heights suburb of Burlington. My two friends and I were lying on the side mound of the Andrews' yard, off Centennial Drive, facing north looking at the stars above, hoping to catch a glimpse of a supernova; we had just learned of 'starbirths' that day in school.

Suddenly, one friend said "Holy cow, look at that!'I looked and saw nothing overhead, but when I lowered my sight, saw a fiery looking globe, the size of a cube-van slowly descending over a neighbours house across the street.

After 10 seconds or so, I got up and walked over to the curb in front of the house, never taking my eyes off the object. It descended from a height of about 35 meters to about 15 meters above the house, seemingly slightly compacting it's size and clearly lighting the rooftop shingles as it got closer. About 7 meters from the rooftop it suddenly 'vanished'.

It was a clear, but dark moonless night, and the three of us scanned the sky's for evidence of the object. About 2-3 minutes later, we suddenly observed another similar object slowly descending upon the small forest, directly westward across Guelph Line, where Centennial Drive begins.

We started to run down the street towards it, and about halfway there it suddenly vanished, just above the treetops.We continued to scan the skies for another 20 minutes or so, but did not see anything unusual before we were called in for the night.

We never saw anything like it again in the nights afterward, and like kids do, moved on to other subjects and activities. I suspect that when the first object 'vanished', it turned it's light source off, rather than disappeared, and moved away while my eyes as well as my friends' eyes recovered from the bright light given off by the object,(like looking away from a campfire, you can't see the perimeter for a short while). I have since seen comets, meteors and satellites, and these objects were nothing like them. Too big for balloons, and the slight wind did not effect the descent patterns, which were straight down.The internet's ufo galleries has since (yesterday) shown me similar photos of what I saw that night. I have always believed in ufos since this incident occurred."

Our thanks go out to the witness for sharing this report with us. If you have seen something similar please contact us. You may contact us privately at admin@psican.org Confidentiality is assured.

For Immediate Release: September 10th, 2009 - 9:00am EDT Around 3am on Thursday, September 10th, 2009, a young woman fell to her death from the roof at One Spadina Crescent in Toronto. This tragic death has been reported as being somehow tied in with either a "ghost tour" or a "ghost hunt".

Needless to say, we at The Torontoghosts website have been contacted several times by various media outlets as to everything from our knowledge on the site to our own "connection" to this sad event.

Torontoghosts, Ontarioghosts, ParaResearchers, and PSICAN were not directly (or indirectly to the best of our knowledge) involved in any fashion with the tragic situation so we can't offer anyone any insight into what happened or how it played out. Also, "tours" and/or "public investigations" is not something we currently offer so again, we cannot shed any light on what happened or why things happened the way they did.

Also, there's no published reports on our site(s) about One Spadina Crescent as we honestly have never received a ghost report from the site ourselves.

In fact, the only thing that could be possibly "paranormal"(?) in nature is a rumoured curse with the building... that university departments and other elements housed there have seemingly "bad luck" in the building... but again, this is rumour only. has nothing to do with ghosts, the building's roof, and is more often than not relayed to us by staff and faculty with tongue firmly in cheek.

Our groups do not and never have condoned "late night" investigations without absolute permission from the current owners, caretakers, and/or tenants of the site being looked into. This said, statistically there's no "better time" to investigate things as records and reports have shown us that there are as many people experiencing "ghostly" things in daylight hours as at night.

Since our inception in 1997, we have been strong advocates against trespassing in the "name" of ghost investigation. We staunchly believe that safety, security, and consideration of legalities are primary considerations when looking into reports of the "paranormal" and the legends therein.

Sadly. since time and memoriam, there's been people who, for a thrill or a "good scare" take it upon themselves to do foolish things... and although we do try to use facts and try to let people know there are safe ways to do things and look into ghostly legends, we (and many of our colleagues) are a small voice... and as long as the "Scooby Doo" (or even the original "Ichabod Crane") image of going to the "scary place at night to find spooky things" exists, we feel fairly helpless to prevent events like the early hours of September 10th at One Spadina Crescent... save our own efforts here.

We cannot stress enough, if you really are interested in ghosts and hauntings, there are safe and secure ways of doing things... while still getting yourself immersed in "the unknown"... which yes, can be both thrilling and exciting without breaking any laws or putting yourself into serious harms way.

The entire PSICAN family send our thoughts and prayers to the woman's friends and family...

Matthew Didier and Sue Darroch

Lakeshore West - Private Apartment

http://www.torontoghosts.org/index.php?/20090908628/The-Former-City-of-Etobicoke/Lakeshore-West-Private-Apartment.html

Haunted Haliburton Bed & Breakfast

http://www.torontoghosts.org/index.php?/20090908629/Central-Ontario/Haliburton-Bed-And-Breakfast.html

The Lighthouse Pub - Updated

http://www.torontoghosts.org/index.php?/20080817266/South-Central-Ontario/Fort-Erie-The-Lighthouse-Pub-on-Black-Creek/Update-September-2009.html

Casa Loma - Updated

http://www.torontoghosts.org/index.php?/20080814119/The-Former-City-Of-Toronto-Public-Buildings/Casa-Loma.html

And on the Paranormal Studies & Investigations main website:

St John Private Home

http://psican.org/alpha/index.php?/New-Brunswick-Ghost-Reports/Saint-John-Private-Home.html

Cat Haunts Condo in Vancouver

http://psican.org/alpha/index.php?/British-Columbia-Ghost-Reports/Cat-Haunts-Vancouver-Condo.html

Cold Lake Private Home

http://psican.org/alpha/index.php?/Alberta-Ghost-Reports/Cold-Lake-Ghosts.html

Prince George Private Home

http://psican.org/alpha/index.php?/British-Columbia-Ghost-Reports/Prince-George-Private-Home.html

We have received several more reports this summer that are currently being sifted through as well as summer investigations reports from TGHRS, OGHRS, and PSICAN researchers. More coming soonly!

Enjoy!

I love receiving reports like this one from St John New Brunswick. Read on:

"We have a wonderful female spirit that lives with us and watches over us when we are hurt or sick...On many occasions we have all felt her tucking our blankets in around us, felt her touch our chest when we have a cold, see her standing at the end of the bed smiling at us when we are hurt...we have even smelt a faint scent of roses when we have a disagreement...We can even feel her standing close by if you are sad...She is wonderful and we have all come to care for her a great deal. She seems to be in her late 30's maybe early 40's when we see her and she wears a long dress with a high collar and what looks like an apron. Sometimes she has a small white hat on...Her hair is dark and is always in a neat bun .It isn't that we want her gone..I would just like you to know that some spirits don't haunt...they help and comfort. Saint John is a very old city that has gone through a great number of events...we are guessing that see may have been a nurse at the old General Hospital that we live very close to.....thank you"

Our thanks to our reader for sharing this experience with us. We too have the same opinion on most reports of ghosts in that people shouldn't see them as "evil" or "bad" without absolute evidence.

The Bell Witch is a famous American tale of ghostly activity, where the ghost was actually blamed for the death of the Bell family patriarch. If you are unfamiliar with this story do a Google search, and plenty of info will come up.

Needless to say this is an extremely rare case of where ghosts are actually blamed for a death.

It is a shame that Mr John Bell could not contact Tennessee injury lawyers to see what he could do about this pesky spirit before his ultimate demise.

I wonder what one could get from legal action with a ghost?!

Ancaster/Hamilton Ontario September 1st - 2nd 2009

"My boyfriend and I were sitting in the living room at his house in Ancaster watching TV. He has large glass doors in his living room that lead to the backyard that has many trees in it. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a very bright light at a distance behind his trees and was a little spooked and asked him what the heck that could be. It was to the north of the house. We saw it move straight up and went out to the backyard to investigate. There we saw two more lights that were similar, all to the north. We also saw that they were flashing red white and green colours. It was so strange I ran inside and grabbed my camera and we went to the local park to see them better. By the time we got to the park at about 11:22 (I called my mom at 11:24 so I'm pretty sure of the time) the lights had separated and now one was to the west, one was more NNE and one was out of sight. We were pretty much freaking out that these just HAD to be UFOs in the not from this planet sense. We stayed at the park until the west light dropped out of sight behind the trees. The movement was VERY subtle. I took a few pictures and videos of the lights. We then decided to be adventurous and drove to Westmount School in Hamilton and stood out on the hill. We were there for about 30-40 minutes and as our eyes adjusted we DEFINITELY saw 5 of these lights at all different places in the sky. We believe there were 9 but can only be certain about 5 of them. All the while they were still flashing red white and green, and through the camera we saw blues and yellows as well. I took a couple more videos/pictures here. When we got back to Ancaster, the brightest light was still very visible, it was now about 12:10 or so. I drove home and brought my mom outside to see the lights, and from the park by my house on the east mountain in Hamilton we could see three of them. We got some binoculars out to look closer and sure enough they were STILL flashing green white and red and were more or less stationary the entire time, except when they drifted ever so slightly. I lost sight of the lights because I had to get some sleep! I'll be checking tomorrow night to see if they come back!"

Our thanks go out to the witness for sharing this report with us. If you have seen something similar in the area please contact us at admin@psican.org You may contact us privately, and confidentiality is assured. We are actively investigating this report, and if you can add to or provide further information we would appreciate hearing from you.

Are you planning any Halloween getaways? How about taking in a ghost tour or two? Gatlinburg vacations offers some great deals for those of you planning on visiting this wonderfully spooky area of Tennessee. The Great Smoky Mountains are not only stunning, but they are the subject of much folklore, and mystery as well. I would love to explore this area one day.

Happy Long Labour Day Weekend!

Recently on our message board we were asked why some alien abductees, and experiencers seem to be shunning hypnotic regression. I thought I would share my thoughts on this with our blog readers as well.

I think it could be that a lot of abduction researchers now counsel experiencers to proceed with extreme caution when considering hypnotic regression as a means to remember possible events.

There are a few reasons for this such as the information could be completely unreliable, or in part fantasy, the memories may be traumatic, and without proper long term counseling afterwards or at the least a strong support network the experiencer may suffer or regret being hypnotised afterwards, also I have heard of memories being forced that are not what the experiencer may have believed they actually were and this in turns opens another can of worms that the experiencer nor researcher are potentially equipped to deal with.

I believe our minds have a way of protecting us, and if a memory is buried sometimes it is best to leave it that way. We will remember if/when we are ready (just my own opinion).

And finally hypnosis does not work for everyone, some people are poor candidates for it, and it can be quite expensive.

There is a lot to consider when making the decision to try hypnotic regression.

I have met a few people who have undergone hypnosis in order to try to remember past abduction experiences and it seems to be split between those who absolutely regret it, and those who are happy they had it done.

When we were going through our kitchen renovations last winter one of the new features added in was a large double sink, and Kohler faucets. When we start on the bathroom this Fall we will definitely be going with Kohler again, as their products are very functional, but attractive as well. Check out the link to get more info on what I'm talking about.

Oh, and if you do start up any home renovations projects, and you think it might have stirred up a ghostie or two we'd love to hear about it

While I'm not one of those people who ran out to purchase plasma tvs when they first came on the market I do enjoy checking out the latest gadgets etc, and seeing how they can possibly relate to our hobby.

To date I have found that pen, paper, and common sense are far more superior, and reliable to any electronic device when investigating the paranormal including the much touted EMF detector of which I'm still attempting to find any decent study that shows an absolute correlation between spikes in EMF, and hauntings.

Paranormal Studies and Investigations Canada is pleased to announce the addition of two new member sites. Sault Ste. Marie Paranormal Research Group, and Superior Paranormal Haunting Research Society. We look forward to working with both of these groups in the near future.

For a complete listing of PSICAN member sites please visit the PSICAN website.