Here's an interesting item sent to me by Geoduck, just in time for Halloween. Apparently a rumor has been going around suggesting that the image of witches flying on broomsticks, with the brush behind them, is wrong. Back in the old days witches always flew holding the brush in front of them. It was only in modern times, as we came to understand aerodynamics, that we flipped the broom around. This rumor can be traced back to Kevin Carlyon, a self-proclaimed Witch King. But this website, Pagan Prattle, has studied the issue by looking at images of witches dating back as far as the 15th century, and has determined that Carlyon doesn't know what he's talking about. The proper way to ride a broom IS with the bristles behind you.

Kentaro Mori managed to unearth the source for that ghost photo that scared so many people in India (see below). Click images for larger versions.

  

A newspaper in the Indian city of Tiruchirappalli published a picture of a boy with an eerie ghost hovering behind him. They claimed the boy had encountered the ghost while on a school picnic, and went into a coma. Now the ghost was stalking other boys. As a result, families throughout the region started keeping their kids home, out of school. The photo, of course, was a photoshopped fake. More details here.

Here's one to add to the list of 'eerie patterns that people see in random objects' (already on the list would be the 666 forming on the Alamo, and the Virgin Mary appearing on a hospital in Boston). A woman who lives in Hertford County, North Carolina claims that an image of an Indian chief has appeared in her wooden door over the past three months (she's had the door for seven years). The appearance of the face is attracting the usual gaggle of curious visitors. I've been looking at the picture of her door that accompanies the story, and I just can't make out the face.

A reader named Chelsea has shared a fascinating site. It's ThingInTheSolarLight.com. The story here is that a couple just bought a solar-powered light for their yard. They set it up, and then they noticed a strange shape appearing to move inside the light. They captured this strange movement on video, and dubbed the moving spectre the 'Wasist.' I think that should be pronounced Vas-Ist. It's german for 'What is it?' The whole thing is quite loony, of course, but oddly entertaining.

Is the number 666 slowly becoming visible on the front of the Alamo? And did it first appear there after Ozzy Osbourne urinated on the building while dressed as a woman back in 1982? And when the number becomes fully visible will "something terrible happen"? Yes on all counts if you believe the urban legend that's floating around. Brenda Layland gave me a skeptical heads-up about this one, and for the past fifteen minutes I've been staring at these pictures of the Alamo trying to figure out where the sixes are. I've located one of them, but the other two are still escaping me. No, wait a minute. I think I've found them all now.

How to fake a ghost photo.

If you missed the Ghost In A Jar thing on eBay, Reason Online provides a summary of it. Unfortunately the original ghost in a jar page has been pulled from eBay, though it's been archived here. But now the Ghost in a Jar has its own weblog on LiveJournal. And of course hundreds of ghost-in-a-jar imitations are now flourishing on eBay. And there's even an entire website devoted to ghost-in-a-jar stuff.

Here's the website of Miskatonic University, well known to fans of H.P. Lovecraft. If you don't know who Lovecraft is, you won't get the joke.

Many of you have probably received this e-mail before and know what the trick is. But for those who haven't it's worth looking at. Someone just forwarded it to me and reminded me about it. The text of the e-mail with the link is pasted below. Your browser needs to be enabled with shockwave to see the trick effect. Plus, it may take a little while to see it (give it half a minute):

Thought you might enjoy this photo. This is really bizarre. Apparentlythe owners of this house had been seeing images and hearing voices for quite a while.They did some research and found that a lady once lived in the house wholost her husband during the civil war. Legend says that she used to sit at thetable and look across the fields in anticipation of her loved one returning home. Henever came. So, they say she still waits. They caught this photo of what theyclaim to be her. This one was wild and a little spooky once you find the ghostin the picture. It took me a few seconds to find it, but when you do, it juststands out. Like one of those optical illusions.To save you some time, concentrate around the table. Best not to focustoo much on one spot. Look around the table and toward the window.Click on the link below for the picture. Best to enlarge. For an addedtouch turn up the volume, it's faint, but the low murmur you hear was whatgot the photographer's attention first.Click here or paste it into your url:http://home.attbi.com/~n9ivo/whatswrong.swf

Article in SFGate.com about crop circles briefly mention's Joe Nickell's list of the Top 10 paranormal hoaxes.

"Stickboy" sent me an e-mail letting me know about his "official web site of supernatural activity." Check it out.