PLEASE NOTE: Everything from THIS LINE DOWN is stuff I copied from elsewhere --- personally, I don't necessarily buy any of it myself, I just think it makes entertaining reading....  Johnny D

From http://www.qtm.net/~geibdan/dolphins.html

The following is an article as yet unpublished. Enjoy it with an open mind.

THE DOLPHINS OF HEAVEN

By: Richard D. Butler

The classification and identification of observed alien beings is one of the greatest challenges facing ufology today. If we accept that indeed there are intelligently guided extraterrestrial craft operating in our atmosphere, then the next logical questi on must be who and what, are they? In a previously published article, (Classifications of Observed UFO Occupants) I discussed two primary species of UFO occupants. These are A) Homo Sapiens, and B) Cetaceans.

The first group is comprised of seven human subgroups, both of terrestrial and non-terrestrial origins. The latter group of cetaceans, known as the "Greys," represent the non-human element and are the topic of this article. The information from which these conclusions have been drawn was obtained from the following sources:


personal investigation of over two dozen abduction cases
in-depth interviews with over fifty alleged abductees
general interviews with over seventy-five alleged abductees
an intensive study of ancient mythological and historical data
study of modern day cetacean research data.

The main objective was to compare the observations of modern day abductees against those recorded in ancient history. If the phenomena were genuine and long-term, then correlations between the two should be found, as indeed they were. The following is a brief summary of those beings who were identified.
The main or lead group of alien beings, is advanced humans of non-terrestrial origin. They are in most respects nearly identical to Earth-born Homo Sapiens. They are from three distinct colony zones, Sirius, Orion, Pleiades. They came to the Earth sometime before 50,000 BC for mining and colonization purposes. Note: an excellent source of related information are the Earth Chronicles, by Zechariah Sitchin. These advanced humans modified an existing, Earth-born, pre-human by merging their genes with it. The resultant hybrid is what we now call modern man -- us. The remaining subgroups of humans observed on-board UFOs are all Earth-born humans who were taken from the Earth, both in ancient and modern times. References to each of these types can be found in our historical literature, described in various ways. In very ancient times they were called Gods. Some of the later names are angels, devas, fairies, elves, demons, incubus and succubus, etc. It is interesting to note that as mankind developed, these beings have continued to be involved in one way or another, in human affairs.

In modern times we no longer refer to these beings in spiritual terms. We call them ETs or aliens, and have become aware of both their physical nature, and their high state of technological advancement. Whether our various social and religious organizations can survive the growing pains of finally leaving our state of intellectual pre-puberty, remains to be seen.

Now let us examine the only non-human UFO contingent, the Greys. Based on eyewitness testimony, the following physical profile can be composed. Height is 5 feet 5 inches; overall shape is humanoid. Skin coloration is dark gray and non-porous. The head is proportionally large and triangular-shaped in the vertical plane. The back skull area is large and rounded. The eyes are large and slanted upwards toward the back. Greys are often mistaken for two human subgroups, known as workers and technicians. These are smaller and as stated, are of human descent.

Based on all the evidence thus far seen, we might hypothesize as follows. The Greys descended from cetaceans. What are cetaceans? On Earth they comprise the species we call whales and dolphins. We have already seen that human species can be found elsewhere. If the same genetic code for humans exists on other worlds, then it is not unreasonable to propose that other genetic codes previously thought to be only Earth-indigenous, exist out there as well. This raises a very interesting question -- Why is the same basic genetic code found on all these different worlds? The answer may well be that an unknown intelligence deliberately seeded the various planets with the same basic genetic blueprints.

The Earth then is merely one in a series of duplicate genetic environments. Who were these seeders and what was their purpose? Interesting questions, indeed. Perhaps in a future article it can be discussed in greater detail. Now let us get back to our central issue, the Greys. What are the reasons for supposing that they are a dolphin-based life form? The answer to this is found in the similarities of both their physical and behavioral aspects.

First let us examine the physical characteristics. The skin of a Grey is very similar to that of dolphins, both in texture and in some cases, coloration. If you have an abductee look at a dark gray porpoise, the response is in the affirmative. On Earth, the dolphins evolved legs and arms to function on land but later returned to the oceans. X-rays clearly show the residual appendages in modern day dolphins. It is possible that the Greys evolved just as Earth dolphins but did not return to the oceans, and continued to develop as a land-based mammal. Next is the skull shape. The Greys have a large rounded rear area in the upper front and back of their skulls. An examination of the dolphin skull shows the same large, rounded front and rear areas. The eyes of Greys are described as large and black with what appears to be a protective shielding covering the eye. Many Earth aquatic animals have developed protective outer-eye shields for underwater use. It is possible that this is a left-over attribute from the Greys' ocean origins. Another factor is the dark coloration of this eye shield. It suggests an eye structure suited for a reduced light environment. In the oceans, this is natural for a creature living underwater where the sunlight does not penetrate. On Earth, the dolphins developed the sonar ability as their primary navigational ability and do not rely on sight while underwater.

Now we will look at the behavioral similarities. Earths' dolphins use sonar to navigate and stun both prey and enemies. The stun affect is of particular interest to us. Dolphins can emit a very powerful and focused ultrasonic burst from the front portion of their skulls. They use this to stun prey and to stun enemies such as sharks and barracuda. I once saw a film of a group of dolphins using this ability on a very large barracuda. The barracuda was swimming towards a group of baby dolphins. Four large adult dolphins turned so that there heads were directly in line with the barracuda and emitted a sustained ultrasonic burst. The effect on the barracuda was astounding. It froze, completely paralyzed in the water. Even the gills had stopped moving. The dolpins stared at it for about thirty seconds, during which time the barracuda remained totally immobilized. As soon as they turned their heads away, the ultrasonic beam was no longer focused on the barracuda and it fled at a very high speed. Obviously this beam was tightly focused and required the dolphins' heads to be pointed directly at the target. The strength of the beam could be changed also. When hunting it could be directed at small fish and amplified to lethal levels, causing instant death. Some believe that this is also used when dolphins kill sharks, by ramming them. Autopsies show the sharks' internal organs have been literally shattered.

The beam can also be controlled to produce a stun effect as in the case of the barracuda. The result was physical paralysis and disorientation. I believe that this is the very same technique used by the Greys in abductions. The similarities are overwhelming. Every abductee says that when they are abducted they are paralyzed and become mentally disoriented. This is usually in the presence of a Grey. The most striking thing they recall is what is called the "Stare." This is when the Grey looks directly at an abductee. The large dark eyes capture the abductee's attention immediately. They then report being unable to move, and a feeling of great mental disorientation. On some rare occasions, abductees report a lessening of these effects when the Grey looked a way from them. This indicates that the intensity of the effect was directly proportional to the direction or focus of the front portion of the Greys' head.

I believe that Greys possess the same sonar abilities as all dolphins and that these abilities are used to stun an abductee during the abduction. The "Stare" as abductees call it, comes from the positioning of the Greys' frontal skull area, the projection area, to achieve maximum beam concentration on the abductee. When the Grey looks away, the beam would naturally become less focused and the effect would diminish, just as it does.

The description of a Greys' head is large, triangular and rounded in front and back. This suggests a large and rounded rear and frontal brain lobe structure. This is identical to the physical structure of cetaceans. It is the main difference between cetacean and human brains. This large rounding is thought to be an adaptation of the cetacean brain to handle the enormous data flow of their echo-location and sound-based communications faculties. It should also be noted that on the rare occasions that abductees hear verbal sounds from Greys, it is described as high-pitched, sometimes chattering or staccato clicks or beeps. These are all similar to the air vocalizations of dolphins.

The Greys are reportedly engaged in human/grey hybrid experiments. This is reportedly to combine the genetic material of both species into a hybrid species. Is this possible? Japan and several other countries are working even now on inter-species hybridizations. If I am correct that the Greys are of dolphin descent, then the possibility of successful hybridization becomes much greater. Some believe that on Earth, man shared a common genetic ancestor with the dolphin. Up to a certain point in development, human and dolphin fetuses are nearly identical. In the not too distant future it will be possible to produce a hybrid human/dolphin species. I contend that the Greys have already beaten us to it.

Finally I would like to point out that dolphins have been associated with the "Gods" a.k.a. the aliens, from earliest recorded times. Certain mythologies hold that some of the Gods came from a world of water. It is now thought by some that these beings genetically altered the existing prehumans on Earth. It is certain that the Greys would have had a hand in this. One of the greatest of ancient worship sites is the temple of Delphi. This was originally the temple of the sea Goddess. The word Delphos means both dolphin and womb. I believe it is time we stopped calling them Greys and used the name our ancestors called them. They knew of the Gods who came from the water world in the heavens long ago. They called them Delphim.

I hope that you have found this enlightening and thought provoking. For those out there who consider humans the only intelligent species on the planet, let me illustrate the power of the cetacean brain. The Bible contains just over a million and a half bits of information. The song sung by humpbacked whales contains over fifteen million bits of information. Each year it changes just slightly and every whale on the planet knows what those changes are. Now ask yourself this. Could you remember the Bible word for word? Could you remember fifteen of them? Think about it. If our Bible contains our basic history, social and religious philosophies, what does something fifteen times larger contain?

It is my deepest hope that this article will allow you to open new perceptions of the events now taking place on this planet. To see both the Greys and yourself, in a new way. I think in time we will come to find that what's down here, is exactly what's out there. That there are humans and dolphins cooperating out there, I am certain. Perhaps we should stop and ponder our roles as the caretakers of this planet. Our own cetacean population has been hunted by man to the very edge of extinction. It is someth ing that we all must take shame in. Recently, efforts have been made by the civilized nations to preserve the great whales and dolphins. Can we live peacefully on this planet with another intelligent species? I truly hope so. I would hate for another more advanced species to treat us as we've treated the whales.

Many hope for contact with these beings. If we cannot get along with an indigenous intelligent species, how can we expect to get along with one of extraterrestrial origins. Peoples are judged by their actions. If we demonstrate our goodwill toward our fellow inhabitants of this world, perhaps those not of this world will be sent a message - that we are civilized after all.

I don't have time at the moment to read all of this carefully, but a few thigns stand out to me at first glance:


I hope that you have found this enlightening and thought provoking. For those out there who consider humans the only intelligent species on the planet, let me illustrate the power of the cetacean brain. The Bible contains just over a million and a half bits of information. The song sung by humpbacked whales contains over fifteen million bits of information. Each year it changes just slightly and every whale on the planet knows what those changes are. Now ask yourself this. Could you remember the Bible word for word? Could you remember fifteen of them? Think about it. If our Bible contains our basic history, social and religious philosophies, what does something fifteen times larger contain?


Well, you assume that the ability to remember soemthing translated directly into an IQ value. It doesn't. Computers can easily transfer several billion bits of information over a beam of light... Yet they are only doing what they are programmed to do. Instinct causes the animal world to do many amazing thigns... But the guiding force behind all of them is just that - instinct. Also, how much of the "information" contained in the whale's calls is actual data? How much of it is error-correction? remember, these sounds have to travel thousands of miles... If it is as important as you suggest it may be, you wouldn't want to lose a single bit of information, would you? Chaos theory dictates that over time, a single error would cause the entire call to change to, well, pure chaos very quickly were there errors. I propose that if there is any meaningful information in the calls of the whales, most of it is padded and safeguarded within a huge amount of repetition and error-correction, so that none of the actual info is lost.
Have you analysed the whale's calls? How much of it follows patterns? Computers are remarkably good at finding patterns. Good enough to pick out an mp3 of Motzart music out of a million mp3s containing only noise. Until you can give me the results of a comptuer analysis, I will remain a slight skeptic (although your point of view is interesting).

I am a big time believer in anything that has to do with the paranormal. Like UFOs, Ghosts, monsters, and other stuff like that.

You really got to experience to believe in the paranormal and I experienced not only me but my sisters and  my brother. beacuase we used to live in a  building and where we lived was in a  basement. (you probably dont know if you never been in a  city ) And where we lived was just what some call it hunted. also beacuase my sisters used to play with a ouija board. Things happend. like closing the doors,  voices in the hall way. I also remember  twice that the blender and the radio turned on on front of me and my moms face. rediculous.  So yeah you really got to experience it to believe.

I don't have time at the moment to read all of this carefully, but a few thigns stand out to me at first glance:

Well, you assume that the ability to remember soemthing translated directly into an IQ value. It doesn't. Computers can easily transfer several billion bits of information over a beam of light... Yet they are only doing what they are programmed to do. Instinct causes the animal world to do many amazing thigns... But the guiding force behind all of them is just that - instinct. Also, how much of the "information" contained in the whale's calls is actual data? How much of it is error-correction? remember, these sounds have to travel thousands of miles... If it is as important as you suggest it may be, you wouldn't want to lose a single bit of information, would you? Chaos theory dictates that over time, a single error would cause the entire call to change to, well, pure chaos very quickly were there errors. I propose that if there is any meaningful information in the calls of the whales, most of it is padded and safeguarded within a huge amount of repetition and error-correction, so that none of the actual info is lost.
Have you analysed the whale's calls? How much of it follows patterns? Computers are remarkably good at finding patterns. Good enough to pick out an mp3 of Motzart music out of a million mp3s containing only noise. Until you can give me the results of a comptuer analysis, I will remain a slight skeptic (although your point of view is interesting).



Oops, my mistake --- I should have put everything in that post of mine in quotes and said that I don't necessarily buy any of it.  I'll do that now.

now i wonder why it is that i don't believe it but can spend hours reading and watching shows about it?

the mulder and scully in me won't ever agree.

I don't think so. I believe in the paranormal, and MidKnightDarkness believes in the paranormal,.. And neither of us have had any paranormal experiences.





as do I. ;)

I don't think so. I believe in the paranormal, and MidKnightDarkness believes in the paranormal,.. And neither of us have had any paranormal experiences.




As much as MidKnightDarkness would like to  :(

...And as much as JohnDenver would like to. Seriously, we need to hunt down those ghosts and force them to haunt us...



Well, now that I have directions to your house.. we can!


>:-}D

Well, now that I have directions to your house.. we can!


>:-}D



BOO!

this really is a difficult topic for me. i believe i've seen a ghost, but i don't believe in all that spiritual mumbo jumbo.

8)OK...PPLE are going to think I am nuts BUT....I am one of those PPLE who are very open and can FEEL spirits..and see them..ever since I was a child..I can go into a house and feel a presence..or a chill...goosebumps etc..I saw and heard MANY ghosts when I was a child..My grandmothers house was haunted..When I was a child also..( my parents have lived in the same house for 40 yrs )...I had MANY encounters with the supernatural...My room had a huge bay window and the curtains let the moonlight shine in..I awoke to the feeling of something pushing down on the end of my bed...Happened many, many times..but this time..in the moonlight I saw a dark figure...A black hooded figure..I knew right away it looked just like the Grim Reaper...( I AM NOT KIDDING )...he stood at the foot of my bed and then slowly came around to the right side...I was soo scared..You know when you want to scream..but you cant..he stood there for awhile then turned away and left...I immediately sat up and turned on the lamp and pinched myself...AND...when I was 19, I was a carpetlayer and was traveling home to TN from Florida...( where I lived at the time)..I was driving a Burgundy Ford F150..it was around 3 in the am...right outside of Chattanooga...I had to slam on the brakes...this thing...was just strolling across the road...My headlights caught the lower half of its body...walking upright..hands just like a man..covered in a dark reddish brown hair...I SWEAR it had to be Bigfoot..I firmly believe it!

I could not answer the poll because it's too limiting.

I am a skeptic at the same time as the paranormal intrigues me. 

Do spirits of the dead lurk among us?  Quite possibly.  I'm not dismissive.  It's just that no offered evidence has convinced me that any specific case is true.  Same goes for extraterrestrial visitations, telekinesis, and so forth.  However, I have seen no proof convincing me paranormal phenomena do not or cannot exist.

"Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence."
-- Donald Rumsfeld (a man who nearly convinced me Satan walked among us!)

One caveat, when it comes to the more fantastic legends of cryptozoology, I side with the debunkers.

Here is the paranormal paradox.  Faith.  You may believe in the paranormal.  However, once you demonstrate the existence of a paranormal phenomenon using scientific methods, than it is no longer paranormal.  It is normal.  It is part of the known world.

I have always believed in ghosts and the paranormal. I believe there are things to which we cannot explain. I took a picture at my uncle's gravesite a few years ago and I got something on the film that I can't explain. I would love to find somewhere I can take it to and have a professional examine it.  Also, my grandmother who lived with us died 2 years ago, and for a few months afterwards I kept hearing the light sounds of bells jingling. I traced it to a wind chime my niece gave her. But we kept the chimes indoors and in a spot where there wasn't no breeze at all. She kept them in her room. I'd like to think it was her, letting us know that she was still around.

I'm kinda torn, thanks to my boyfriend.

Not too long ago, I told Matt that I believe in ghosts. He was like, "You're agnostic, right? You don't have a religion because it hasn't been proven that there really is a God. So why do you believe in ghosts? Their existence hasn't been proven."

So for the sake of not being a hypocrite, I don't exactly know if I believe in paranormal things anymore... : (

I believe that there are ghosts surrounding us.  I also believe in other life form of some kind. As far as Bigfoot....I know my two uncles claimed that they saw a creature of that nature sitting in the woods near their house...so, who knows? ???


I believe in it. Not sure exactly how it works, but I do believe ghosts are around (we probably just can't see them unless they choose to appear).

I'm almost positive one of the apartment complexes I used to live in was haunted. It just had that "eerie" feeling to it sometimes, like it would sound or feel like somebody was in the house. Such as doors or cabinets opening or closing, just general sounds of there being a person there, when there really wasn't. The floors creaked like hell too. Or, you could put something on a perfectly flat counter and it would roll.

I can say this somewhat humorously now, but there were times it was hard to relax with all this stuff that felt like noises or a presence. This was in 1995. I was 13 and a half, old enough to be home by myself after school, so sometimes I'd go around the house with a huge metal baseball bat, creeping around the hallways and suddenly entering a room like a cop, lol. ;)


Long story short, there was never any one huge occurence, but all kinds of little ones put together that made me think that townhouse was haunted. Perhaps someone died in it beforehand - that's not to make jokes or anything. Seriously, I have heard of many many instances of hauntings like that where a person died, especially before their time.

I can say this somewhat humorously now, but there were times it was hard to relax with all this stuff that felt like noises or a presence. This was in 1995. I was 13 and a half, old enough to be home by myself after school, so sometimes I'd go around the house with a huge metal baseball bat, creeping around the hallways and suddenly entering a room like a cop, lol. ;)






as long as you were not scaling walls!! ;) ;D

as long as you were not scaling walls!! ;) ;D


No, I never went that far. ;)

Although, I did once play "Ghostbusters" (the song) really loud. That actually worked for awhile. ;D


The upstairs seemed okay pretty much. I always heard stuff that sounded like it was toward the front. There was even a little makeshift crawl space downstairs that I'm guessing someone who'd lived there before had made, that went from one of the closets to underneath the stairs. We stored some stuff in there for awhile. I wonder if that had anything to do with it?

No, I never went that far. ;)

Although, I did once play "Ghostbusters" (the song) really loud. That actually worked for awhile. ;D


The upstairs seemed okay pretty much. I always heard stuff that sounded like it was toward the front. There was even a little makeshift crawl space downstairs that I'm guessing someone who'd lived there before had made, that went from one of the closets to underneath the stairs. We stored some stuff in there for awhile. I wonder if that had anything to do with it?



hmmm...could be. Maybe something fishy went on in there, when someone else lived there...ya never know.

Haha, I'm one of the view who believes in Bigfoot, eh?  :D  That's fine.  I just like to believe that there's something more out there, that is unknown by humans.  Keeps the hope alive that we don't know ALL there is to know, it'll forever be an evolving/learning thing. 

My whole theory on UFO's is that they're time travelers, hehe.  They're what human beings will eventually evolve too.  They're just taking "vacations" to present day to see their ancestors.  Am I alone on this theory? HEHEHE.  ;D

Haha, I'm one of the view who believes in Bigfoot, eh?   :D  That's fine.  I just like to believe that there's something more out there, that is unknown by humans.  Keeps the hope alive that we don't know ALL there is to know, it'll forever be an evolving/learning thing. 

My whole theory on UFO's is that they're time travelers, hehe.  They're what human beings will eventually evolve too.  They're just taking "vacations" to present day to see their ancestors.  Am I alone on this theory? HEHEHE.  ;D



I wish I could time travel....that would make my life so much happier! :D ;)

As much as I'd like to time travel, I think it's a fantasy outside of Doc and Marty's universe.

If it does exist, I think it would have to work like it did in the Bill and Ted movies: a "fixed" history where you can't really "change" anything, since what you did was always part of history. I also heard a theory once that said if you could time travel, you just wouldn't be able to travel back to before the time machine was invented. That actually makes sense to me.


Honestly, the reason I'm so iffy on believing it exists is that, by logic we'd see tons of time travellers here already. What I mean is, let's say time travel exists in the future - some genius rocket scientist builds one in 3000 and people now have access to it. Wouldn't they come back here and be able to change the course of history?

Then again, if the UFOs are time machines, heck, maybe they change things every time they're here. Maybe this isn't the "original" 2007 (sort of like the different 1985's in BTTF)! ;)

Now there's a thought.  It could be version 3290390390 of 2007.  Hahaha.  Maybe the UFO's just know NOT to mess w/ anything to alter the future, they're just time traveling as a "vacation" to see how things were "back in the day" and stuff.  Just a theory. :)

My boyfriend and I have talked about aliens a lot, and he's really shifted my opinion. See, there might be life on other planets because there's just so much about space that we don't know about. Then again, it's nearly impossible that they have visited Earth because it could take them thousands of lightyears to get here. Why would they want to waste so much time getting here?

Has anyone else ever considered this?

My boyfriend and I have talked about aliens a lot, and he's really shifted my opinion. See, there might be life on other planets because there's just so much about space that we don't know about. Then again, it's nearly impossible that they have visited Earth because it could take them thousands of lightyears to get here. Why would they want to waste so much time getting here?

Has anyone else ever considered this?



Yes, I have thought about this quite often. I mean, there are the planets....just sitting there....they have to have SOME purpose...so why not for other life forms?

My boyfriend and I have talked about aliens a lot, and he's really shifted my opinion. See, there might be life on other planets because there's just so much about space that we don't know about. Then again, it's nearly impossible that they have visited Earth because it could take them thousands of lightyears to get here. Why would they want to waste so much time getting here?

Has anyone else ever considered this?


Yeah, I've figured that there are probably aliens in another galaxy or something...

If the universe is holographic in nature, all information is simultaneously present at every point in spacetime.  If that's true, then there's nothing supernatural or paranormal about the phenomena we call clairvoyance, telepathy, psychometry, or ESP --- they're all simply a matter of learning how to become aware of information that's already present, on a very subtle level, at every point in space and time.  If someone really desires to acquire such abilities, there are many simple methods for doing so.  But if you desire and acquire such abilities, they open you up to lots of opportunities for inflating your ego and playing power games with other people, both of which can make life unpleasantly complicated.


Yes, that is exactly the way I feel. I couldn't have put it better myself.

Of course I believe in ghosts. So many people have experienced the supernatural, they can't all be wrong.


MidnightD has made the point exactly...I have experienced too many supernatural occurrences...and I am well schooled in university science and philosophy.  Which means, though I have learned the meaning of healthy skepticism...there is too much that science and logic cannot explain.

Remember...it is almost universally acknowledged that a human being only utilizes a small percentage of his brain...

Yes...

1. In elementary school, went to a b'day party and we ended up walking through the cemetery.  Some of us walked by the mausoleum, some walked over it.  Those of us who walked by it (including me) saw an opaque white hand reach out from one of the vaults.

2.  When I was a child, I kept my bedroom door open.  A noise woke me up in the middle of the night and I saw the shadow of an old man walking by my room on the brass thing my mom had hanging on the wall opposite my bedroom.  I went out but there wasn't anything there.  (I know I was awake.)

3.  Halloween a few years ago.  The radio in the car wasn't working, so we always kept it turned off.  As we were driving through town, it turned on by itself full volume.

4.  I believe I have at least one guardian angel (my grandmother, a friend of mine, and/or my aunt).  I was in several close calls in the car, but came through without a scratch or dent.  It truly felt as if there was something or someone was in the car (or around the car)protecting me.

Well, I said "No I do not believe in any of it", but that was because there was not a softer option which would have let me still say no, but to add I would be happy to believe in it if I saw evidence of it for myself  :)

Err, not that I want to, if ya get my drift  ;)

Remember...it is almost universally acknowledged that a human being only utilizes a small percentage of his brain...


I have been hearing than for years....  Snopes.com suggests it is a hoax (perhaps a better word is fallacy) :

http://www.snopes.com/science/stats/10percent.asp

After having lived in a home with activity, I no longer just believe in the possibility of the paranormal, I can confirm there is something out there. It wasn't pleasant in our case.

i believe in ghosts...my family and people who've stayed over at our house swear they've seen ghosts. i'm sure i've seen some, too. but what's weird is that no one has had a ghost sighting here for last 5 or 6 years. i guess they just disapearred.

and one time my sister had a physic party here, and the physic told her that there was a ghost in her room that had been looking over her since she was a baby. but she also told my mom that she would be going on a vacation to florida, and that never happend  ::)

When I was younger, I used to see things before my eyes, things I called "fragments". They passed by very closely, and at quite random intervals and intensities. I thought, back then, these might be spirits. Then they stopped happening, and I totally forgot about them until a few weeks ago when I injured my eye and was experiencing flashes out of that eye.

A Google search of the possible effects of these flashes eventually turned up this link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floater

So my childhood "spirits" are explained away.

Of course, I still have no explanation for the Cohoke Lights, so...  :-\\

Ant

I hate those "Floaters". You aren't quite sure if it is real or not, and it starts to drive you nuts. We used to have these weird little shadows that would go by the foyer, just out of the side of your vision.

Living in Chicago now, you hear a lot of ghost stories that I personally believe in. There's the old story of Resurrection Mary, Ghosts of Flight 191, and then general stuff about Al Capone, John Dillinger, and the St. Valentine's Day Massacre.

There is a place that offers the "Weird Chicago" tour that does a Haunted Halloween type thing, but I'm too scared to go by myself, even though you're in a big group of people. :P

http://www.prairieghosts.com/midwest3.html

Living in Chicago now, you hear a lot of ghost stories that I personally believe in. There's the old story of Resurrection Mary, Ghosts of Flight 191, and then general stuff about Al Capone, John Dillinger, and the St. Valentine's Day Massacre.

There is a place that offers the "Weird Chicago" tour that does a Haunted Halloween type thing, but I'm too scared to go by myself, even though you're in a big group of people. :P

http://www.prairieghosts.com/midwest3.html


That's so cool!  I would be scared too, but that's what makes it fun.  Besides, Rice will save you!

My wife and I took off to St Augustine for a night of Ghost tours and sight seeing. Aside from a really fine day, there was no out of the ordinary experiences... until we got home. As we walked in and were saying good bye to my Step Daughter and her boyfriend who were watching the boys, the TV and the surround sound both came on at full volume.

That's so cool!  I would be scared too, but that's what makes it fun.  Besides, Rice will save you!


Oh, he's one of the non-believers. I told him just wait, something is going to happen to make you believe. He still scoffs at that. That's okay, our building is pretty old (1928) and creepy at night....



My wife and I took off to St Augustine for a night of Ghost tours and sight seeing. Aside from a really fine day, there was no out of the ordinary experiences... until we got home. As we walked in and were saying good bye to my Step Daughter and her boyfriend who were watching the boys, the TV and the surround sound both came on at full volume.


Yikes! :o

That was the "just interesting" stuff. The serious stuff was enough to scare ya.

A co-worker of mine told me a story the other day that made me feel creepy. She just recently moved into this house that used to be occupied by a man that she used to work for..years ago.  Anyway, the man has been deceased for 6 years now..infact, this past Saturday was the anniversary of his death (also was his birthday..the poor chap died on his birthday).  So anyway, she told me this story about 4 days before the anniversary of his death...

She said that in the middle of the night her doorbell would ring but there would never be anyone there.  Then....this is really strange, she has yet to even get a phone service hooked up...there is an old phone in the house..but has not had service in years...anyway...her phone kept ringing..and nobody was on the other line!!!!!

I told her that perhaps the spirit of the man was trying to get ahold of her to let her know that he was glad she was there...or something. Anyway, after Saturday came and went...she told me that the phonecalls/doorbells ringing stopped. :o :o :o

It might help to know how he died, to better interpret the ringing bells. Perhaps he answered the door in the middle of the night and was shot?

It might help to know how he died, to better interpret the ringing bells. Perhaps he answered the door in the middle of the night and was shot?


I believe that she said that he died of natural causes...he was pretty elderly when he passed.

Yes.  I've had too much weird stuff happen to me not to.

1) I think it's pretty arrogant to think that Earth is the only inhabited planet in the solar system....so I wonder to the aliens believe in us? when we go into space are they debating the existence of UFOs?

2) not a big believer in bigfoot...

3) I absolutely believe in ghosts.... I saw one at a friends house when I was 14... call it a floater if you will but it was definately a disembodied spirit floating over my sleeping friend. I was wide awake...as an only child I have never been able to sleep in a room with other people so I stayed up all night... that thing floating over my friend looked at me!

I also worked in a haunted toys r us.  I went into the back room.
a. A pallet jack that was stationary in the corner began moving across the floor. I was alone in the back and the ground was flat... the pallet jack went from a being completely still to moving.
b. I was working in the baby aisle, the baby swings were right behind me. I was alone on the aisle every swing started swinging.... some of those swings had to be wound up
c. I walked down an aisle to get to the back of the store and check on the work some people were doing. When I returned to where I was working I came back thru the same aisle....everything on that aisle was on the floor...both sides all the product.  There wasn't enough time for someone to "play a joke"- they couldn't have done it without making any noise... no one on the staff would have done it because it required all of us to get it cleaned up....

Diid I mention we were working ... ..

wait for it




the graveyard shift.....  ;D  aside from this little joke everything I stated above about the store is absolutely true! 

I do think Earth is the only inhabited planet as far as multi-celled organisms go,

But I'm sure there are an infinite about of planets with lifeforms on them in other solar systems.

Ghosts- I have some scary stories for you guys after you get know me. They DO EXIST!

I have been hearing than for years....  Snopes.com suggests it is a hoax (perhaps a better word is fallacy) :

http://www.snopes.com/science/stats/10percent.asp


I should have been more specific:    ???

SciAm.com logo

News - April 19, 2007
The Brain May Use Only 20 Percent of Its Memory-Forming Neurons
Study shows that that pace at which a brain cell activates a key protein may influence its role in memory formation—a finding that could lead to new Alzheimer therapies

By Nikhil Swaminathan
Remember the old myth that people only use 10 percent of their brains? Although a new study confirmed that bromide to be apocryphal, it did find that we may only use 20 percent of the nerve cells in our midbrain to form memories.

Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, and The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto monitored neurons in the lateral amygdalae (two almond-shaped regions on either side of the midbrain associated with learning and memory) of mice to see whether the presence of the CREB (cAMP response element binding) protein plays a key role in signaling brain cells to make memories. CREB, a transcription factor that typically increases the production of other proteins in cells, is believed to be involved in memory formation in organisms from sea slugs to humans. Scientists hope that their findings, reported in the current issue of Science, may help pave the way to new treatments for Alzheimer's Disease.

Researchers injected a vector designed to return CREB production to normal in mice that had been genetically modified to underproduce the protein. After being injected, these mice, who also were memory-impaired, performed as well as normal mice in memory tests. During the trials, researchers played a sound and then shocked the animals; when the sound was played again, normal mice and those with rescued CREB function froze—for a certain period of time—a reaction typical of fear.

When the researchers later dissected the mice's brains, they found that the fluorescent probes they had attached to the CREB vectors showed they had affected only about 20 percent of the neurons in the lateral amygdala. "That surprised us. We thought that we would have to affect a lot more neurons in order to see a big change in memory," says study co-author Sheena Josselyn, a neurophysiologist at The Hospital for Sick Children. "Not all participate in every memory. Maybe we're biasing these neurons to participate in this memory and all you need'' to compel it."

To determine if the CREB-producing cells were involved, the scientists then tried to follow the memory-making process by inserting a probe, which would give off a fluorescent tag if RNA from a gene known as Arc had recently been transcribed in brain cells. Arc levels are normally low in a cell but increase considerably when neuronal activity has taken place. The RNA is transcribed in the nucleus of a cell and then transported through the cell's body to its dendrite, the projection of the neuron that receives information from other cells. "Arc RNA provides a really good molecular marker of when this neuron was active," says Josselyn. She adds that if the team found RNA in the nucleus of neurons immediately after a training event, they knew cells had been active within the last five minutes; if the probe was in the dendrite, they estimated activity had taken place 20 minutes earlier.

The team found CREB-enabled nuclei to be three times more likely to have the Arc signature in them than nuclei in CREB-impaired neurons. The researchers also tested normal mice that were injected with a vector that would selectively decrease CREB function in some of their neurons. After running the fear-training trials again, they noticed that the mice learned normally, suggesting that the neurons unaffected by the CREB-reducing vector were still producing enough CREB to make the memories.

The results: the memory trace, signified by Arc, showed that activity had taken place in 20 percent of neurons. "We think that it's really a competition, that neurons are really battling it out" amongst each other to be involved in the memory-making process, says Josselyn. "It's like grading on a curve … the same number of students are going to get As"—or in this case help make the memory.

It is the same percentage, but not the same neurons, however, that create each memory. Also, researchers are not certain what causes naturally boost CREB function and, therefore, the likelihood of any particular neuron participating in making a memory. But Josselyn speculates that the brain likely "differentiates different memories by having different neurons encode them."

In the future, Josselyn says, this mechanism could be harnessed to produce a new treatment for Alzheimer's disease. "In time, we're going to have some sort of neuron-replacement therapy for Alzheimer's," she says, conceding, "It's a little sci-fi right now." But, if new neurons are inserted into a damaged brain, modulating CREB function could help bias the healing brain to use the functioning neurons and not its injured population.
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