Project Ozma

Project Ozma. If that sounds like something out of this world...its because it IS! And it has its roots right here in West Virginia.

Project Ozma was the very first attempt ever at using radio telescopes to search for signs of extraterrestrial life, and was the brainchild of Frank Drake, a radio astronomer.  Using an 85 foot radio telescope, located at West Virginia's own National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Green Bank, the project lasted from April 8, 1960 to July of 1960. For six hours a day, resulting in over 200 hours of data, the telescope was aimed at  two stars: Tau Ceti and Epsilon Eridani.

The hope was that these stars, similar in size, age and temperature to our own sun, would be most likely to have inhabitable planets in their orbits. Unfortunately, no alien radio signals were ever picked up. There was a brief false positive resulting from a confidential military operation, but no actual proof that anyone out there (at least from Tau Ceti and Epsilon Eridani) were sending out any signals. Still the project wasn't a total failure. It was an important milestone in the creation of SETI---the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence. Today, that work is still being carried out at the observatory in Green Bank, WV, and it is accepted that we here in the Mountain State would be the first recipients of any extraterrestrial messages that may come in in the future. Keep your eyes on the skies, and here in West Virginia, the scientists at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory will keep their ears open!

Oh, and the name for Project Ozma? The inspiration for that was from the Wizard of Oz books by L. Frank Baum. Ozma is the Princess of Oz, "a land far away, peopled by strange and exotic beings." In later books in the series, she was able to keep in touch with the 'real' world with a special phone. Sounds like a perfect name for such a project, to me!

Sources and Further Reading
SETI Institute: Project Ozma
Mitton, Jacqueline. Informania: Aliens, published by Candlewick Press
Green Bank Observatory: Tours open to the public

This July on Facebook!

Hello, my spooky friends! Can you believe its already July 3rd? Where has June gone? Summer is passing us by pretty quickly, but things are still heating up on my Facebook page. Did you know that you can follow Theresa's Haunted History of the Tri-State on Facebook?

Not only will you receive updates when new blogs are posted, but you'll also find daily discussion question, news articles, local events, book reviews, photographs, fun facts, and much more! Throughout July and August, I'll also be bringing back a few regular features:

1. Sunday Night Trivia: Each Sunday night at 9 p.m. EST, test your knowledge about people and places in the paranormal world. Questions won't be too hard, but hopefully, they'll make ya think a little! Follow-up information will be posted where applicable.

2. Monday Night Debate: The paranormal world is full of controversial subjects. I'll be posting a somewhat controversial topic each Monday evening. There are no right or wrong answers; let your opinion be known, share information, and help educate others. As an added bonus, this round of Monday Night Debate questions will be followed the next day with a blog outlining MY thoughts on that particular subject.

3. Throwback Thursday: I've scoured photo archives to find some really neat historical images of favorite haunted locations. Let me know which ones are your favorites!

4. Friday Night Funnies: We all need a little humor in our lives! Each Friday I'll be posting a cute lil' joke or cartoon relating to ghosts or other paranormal topics. Feel free to share and brighten up someone else's evening as well!

Also be on the lookout for more theme days! A couple of days during the month, I'll dedicate a whole day of posting to a particular topic. Please let me know if there are any topics in particular you'd like to me cover---I'm open to just about anything.

So there ya have it. Please have a safe and happy Independence Day weekend, and I look forward to seeing you over on Theresa's Haunted History of the Facebook! Happy haunting!

The Ghosts of Yunker Farm

Schools around the country may be out for summer vacation, but that doesn't mean the learning has to take a break! Both educational AND fun, children's museums offer a great opportunity for a quick family outing...and bonus points for the grown ups when those same museums are said to be haunted!

That's the case with North Dakota's Yunker Farm Children's Museum. The museum itself is located in an old farmhouse, built in 1876 by Newton Whitman. Whitman and his wife raised eight children and even built a schoolhouse on the property before selling to John and Elizabeth Yunker in 1905.

The Yunkers were also very...fruitful. They raised ten children on the property, which stayed in the Yunker family until 1968. After the property was donated to the Fargo Park District, the old farmhouse eventually would become a children's museum. After four years of renovations, the Yunker Farm Children's Museum officially opened in November of 1989.

A couple of different ghosts are said to wander the Yunker Farm property. The head ghost seems to be a woman, more often felt than seen. According to Rich Newman in the book, The Ghost Hunter's Field Guide, the staff have named this ghost, 'Vanessa,' but others feel that she is actually Mrs. Elizabeth Yunker. It is believed that Mrs. Yunker's love for children draws her to the second story exhibits, which are designed for the younger visitors. Staff members have reported sensing a friendly female presence in this area after closing. They believe that Mrs. Yunker is happy to see her former home being used as a nurturing place for children.

Whomever the resident ghost may be, he/she/it is blamed for lights flickering on and off, an elevator that moves from floor to floor with no human hands working the buttons, and windows being found opened or closed with no one around to have touched them.

There are also tales of another entity at the home, a much sadder tale than Mrs. Yunker coming back to monitor the activities in her old home. It is believed that a well on the property was the sight of a drowning death of a young girl. Unauthorized ghost hunters on the property have claimed to see the young girl, wearing all white, standing beside the well. It is reported that visitors to the well area may also experience feelings of shortness of breath or chest pains, which are believed to be the little girl's spirit showing them how she died. 

If you're in the area and you have young kids, definitely go check out this location and see if you can feel the friendly spirit of Mrs. Yunker. Stand by the well and imagine what some believe happened to a young girl in that very spot. But...you might want to refrain from asking about investigating the property. Apparently, staff prefer the ghost stories to be kept to minimum as to prevent children from becoming frightened of the museum. 

Sources:

Newman, Rich. The Ghost Hunter's Field Guide (2011)

Yunker Farm Children's Museum at HauntedHouses.com

Yunker Farm Children's Museum Website

ShadowClaw777 at Your Ghost Stories

Book Review for Haunted Rock and Roll

Title: Haunted Rock and Roll---Ghostly Tales of Musical Legends
Author: Matthew L. Swayne
Published: 2014 by Llewellyn Publications
Amazon Purchase Information

If you're looking for a really fun, fast-paced, spooky summer read, pick up a copy of Haunted Rock and Roll, by Matthew L. Swayne. It's a wonderful collection of all the legends, curses, and hauntings that permeate the rock and roll industry. The book begins where it all started---the strange tale of the Grandfather of Rock and Roll, Robert Johnson, and his mysterious trip to the crossroads. Other tales of interest include the 27 Club (of which you do NOT want to be a member), the Buddy Holly Curse, and Ricky Nelson's haunted house.

The book is divided into four sections: 1. Rock Star Ghosts, 2. Haunted Studios and Concert Venues, 3. Premonitions, Signs and Omens of Rock and Roll, and 4. Rock and Roll's Most Famous Curses and Mysteries. Each section is filled with chapters providing the best examples of each category.

As I said, this is a fun read, and I definitely recommend it for light reading into the subject of ghosts and rock and roll. For the most part, it was well-written and informative without being boring. However, there were some issues with the formatting that bugged me. It seemed like some of the information overlapped pretty hard---sometimes information would be repeated in various places in the book. Sometimes, a story would be broken up over different sections, with references back and forth between the chapters. I personally prefer books of this nature to be a little more clear-cut and wrap up nicely within a chapter. Still, it was a nice way to kill some time and learn about a few things I wasn't familiar with. Of course, most people interested in ghost lore will have heard of many of the spooky things discussed in the book, such as the 27 Club, Led Zeppelin's occult dealings, etc., but there are a few more obscure references (like the Fohn/Foehn Winds) that make the book worthwhile. Give it a read for yourself and let me know what YOU think!

*Want More Book Reviews?*

The Wednesday Meme: Photoshopping Evidence

I usually do a Monday Meme, but I thought this was too good an image to wait, lol. And, it asks a very valid question in the paranormal community: "Why do some people fake evidence?"

There's no real right or wrong answer. People are weird and they do weird things, sometimes for no explanation at all. However, I've personally found that there are a few more prominent reasons why people tend to fake paranormal evidence.

1. Some do it for attention and prestige. They want people to ooh and aah over their great captures, and luckily for them, there are PLENTY of gullible folks out there in social media land that blindly accept any and all potential paranormal evidence as the Holy Grail. Just check in at any Facebook paranormal group and you'll see hundreds of "Great capture!" and "I see it, too!" comments on well-known ghost app photos. Other people may have an even more invested reason to fake evidence---those that run haunted tours or public investigations may believe that more people will be willing to spend their hard-earned cash at a location that is more likely to result in the capture of paranormal evidence. I won't name any names, but many of us can probably name at least one example where this has happened in recent years...

2. Sadly, some do it to mock us in the paranormal field. People like to feed off that gullibility that I mentioned in reason number one, and then get their kicks by proving everyone wrong. So, they manufacture 'evidence,' pass it off as real, and after an appropriate amount of oohing and aahing, drop the hammer and let everyone know they faked it. Unfortunately, these types of people often succeed in blemishing the paranormal community's reputation. I've seen countless articles about photos and videos being examined by paranormal 'experts,' only to be proven fraudulent later on. While we know that there really is no such thing as a paranormal 'expert,' it gives the impression that all of us in this field lack the scientific aptitude to come to logical conclusions.

Thankfully, there aren't too many people out there actively faking evidence. More often, you'll see people submitting fraudulent 'evidence,' mainly ghost app photos, simply out of ignorance. They may have found the image online and are looking for opinions, or they have been the victim of an innocent prank by a family member or friend. And, the majority of bad 'evidence' being submitted is still just ol' fashioned misidentification of natural phenomenon!

Oh, and a quick pet peeve:  'Photoshop' is a brand name. Not every image that is digitally altered is 'Photoshopped, ' especially those that are the result of smart phone apps. Therefore, I prefer to just use the term 'digitally altered' (despite the name of this post) IF in fact it was digitally altered. Well before digital photography was a thing, there were ways, such as the burn and dodge technique, of altering film images. 

Psychic Escapologist

Ready for a little weirdness? According to the book, Stupid History: Tales of Stupidity, Strangeness and Mythconceptions Throughout the Ages, by Leland Gregory (and a few other sources):

On April 13, 1977 a woman named Yvonne Whittlesham decided to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II's Silver Jubilee in a somewhat unorthodox way. Billing herself as a 'psychic escapologist,' her plan was to don an iron helmet, which rendered her completely sightless, get in a car, and drive blindly down the road for one mile at 60 mph. Her only source of navigation was to be the telepathic communications of the crowds gathered to watch the spectacle.

Queen's Jubilee Celebration

As you can imagine, this quickly proved to be a bad idea. After the psychic communications allegedly ceased as Wittlesham hit 50 mph, she decided to keep going. However, she felt the urge to sharply turn the car. In doing so, she veered directly into the corner of a barn, knocking herself unconscious. She survived the crash, but I'm guessing her reputation as a 'psychic escapologist' took a hit.

I am all for demonstrations of psychic ability as a means of research and education, but please...don't try this at home. Stick with the Zener cards and random number generators and leave the stunt driving to, well, stunt drivers.

Fact or Fake: Alice Cooper and the Ouija Board

Alice Cooper, formerly known as Vincent Furnier

I love Alice Cooper. I love his music. I love his shock rock/glam rock image. And...I love his love of the paranormal. I've mentioned Alice on my Facebook page a few times due to his social media activity. He often posts stuff you'd typically find in any paranormal themed Facebook group---pictures of creepy looking homes, freaky facts, and paranormal news stories.

It's no surprise that someone so interested in the strange and spooky side of life would be so heavily influenced by it, so much so that he'd actually change his name and become almost another person because of it!

There are different variations of the legend, but the basic story states that Vincent Furnier received a message via Ouija Board that he was the reincarnated soul of Alice Cooper, a young woman accused of being a witch in the 17th century. He quickly adopted that name for himself and his band, and the rest is history. Or is it?

This tale has been passed around for years in some form or another. In one version, young Vincent casually came up with the name at a party, while he and others were brainstorming what to call their band. He likened 'Alice Cooper' to 'Lizzie Borden,' a juxtaposition of sweet and deadly, and when several days later a Ouija board came up with the same name, he knew it was fate. (Source,) We'll save the discussion of the ideomotor principle for another blog.

In another variant, Alice wasn't looking for a name reminiscent of a little girl...but of an old woman, and 'Alice Cooper' seemed like a perfect example (Source). In  yet ANOTHER variant, Alice explains that he personally didn't have anything to do with the Ouija board aspect of the story...it was a guy named Dick Phillips and his mother who learned that Vince was Alice incarnate through their own use of the board (Source).

It seems like with every telling and even with every interview, the story changes slightly. At this point, I don't even think Alice really remembers how and why he became to be known as Alice. It definitely adds to the mystery and the mystique and in this case, I'm personally okay with it! Some things in life are just better left unknown...