Welcome to the Farsight Files...

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I have always had an interest in the Paranormal and all things strange, as far back as I can remember. However, I have never really looked deeply into the subject, well until now! You see the other great interest of mine was to write, but never found a subject which inspired me. I created the Farsight Files as a means to document my experiences, what I learn and hopefully any cases I investigate. I hope you enjoy reading the blogs and please feel free to leave comments, as they fuel further discussion and subjects for blogs.

Wednesday 24 September 2008

The Farsight Files Forum Opens for business ...

Okay, just a quick entry today! Just thought I would make you all aware that I have set up a forum for discussing all things Farsight and paranormal of course..

It's idea that comes from the fact that I like what ISP have done with their forum and thought it a good media for discussion. Nice one Jim, guess I owe you again on that one.

It's simply accessable from the Farsight Files logo picture on the left, just give it a click and check it out.


Like I said just a short entry, give it a click and leave us a message!

Keep your eye on the blog though I will have to post a propper entry soon.

Tuesday 16 September 2008

How Do Poltergeists Fit In?

German for “noisy ghost” or more specifically poltern “to knock” and geist “spirit”, poltergeists would appear to be exactly that. It is the occurrence where random objects are moved and sounds made by unseen forces. The common belief is that this is to draw attention to itself. Poltergeist cases always seem to involve specific individuals, which is usually a child or adolescent. However, it’s not always a case of unexplainable sounds and moving objects. In some cases individuals have been known to be harmed, presenting scratches and bruising which they can not explain the cause of. Also unexplained pools of liquid appear and small fires may start and then extinguish themselves without warning.

Further to that in some famous cases, levitation has also been experienced. One of the most famous cases, which included all of the fore mentioned, is possibly the Enfield Poltergeist.

During August 1977 to September 1978, with an additional outburst in August 1980, a single mother and her four children were plagued by the actions of such a poltergeist in their council house in North London.



The phenomena began with the moving of furniture before their eyes. Then the family were kept awake by strange noises and knockings. A neighbour, Vic Nottingham entered the house at one point to investigate for the distraught mother, only to hear noises and knocking sounds for himself literally following him from room to room. This was the early stages of what was almost a year long period where the family experienced more knocking on the walls, Lego bricks and marbles being thrown aggressively, and more movement of furniture. Later on it became even more terrifying when a cast iron fireplace was ripped from the wall. Fires would ignite and then extinguish themselves spontaneously, and Janet would be thrown from her bed, and made to levitate around her room.

Police were called and witnessed some events and even wrote a statement to support what they had seen.

Then paranormal researchers Maurice Grosse and Guy Lyon Playfair were brought in and conducted an intense investigation which lasted many months.

In the later months of their investigation, Maurice coaxed the entity into speaking to them. Its voice was that of an old man, but the voice came from Janet! Maurice recorded the voice as evidence. And it was tested to ensure its credibility and it was found unlikely that Janet could keep up the voice for the length of time it was heard under the conditions Maurice tested it.
The voice or entity claimed to be an old man called Bill. Who said he was the previous occupier of the house, and stated that he had died of a brain haemorrhage in the armchair in the living room. This was confirmed to be true. Also the man’s son listened to the recorded voice and was sure it was his father.

Was this a clever elaborate hoax or a true poltergeist encounter?

Looking at the evidence we have, we are compelled to believe it, yet not from the photographs or voice recording, but from the number of eye-witness statements confirming the events in Enfield. However, eye-witness accounts can also be flawed too!



The few photos’ I have seen of the levitation could easily be shots of Janet jumping from her bed too. You see the problem is there is no evidence of her lifting up from her bed and then moving around the room. Today we would expect to see video footage covering the bedroom constantly picking up every little movement. After all we are not truly satisfied until we see it with our own eyes!

As for the voice recording, this could have been faked. However, it is unlikely Janet would have managed to talk like an old man for as long as she did, without it causing her pain or recognisable as being fake. This may have been faked later by the adults, trying to add more to the story.



I am not saying I don’t believe in the Enfield Poltergeist, just that the distinct lack of physical and solid evidence makes it hard for me to buy into it entirely.

That’s why we would try and cover every base with our investigation and ensure we had good hard evidence to present. After all it makes more sense to investigate and debunk some paranormal activity claims, before admitting somewhere is haunted!

However, there is a common belief between many paranormal researchers that poltergeist are not ‘ghosts’ or ‘spirits’, but manifestations of unconscious mental upset, usually in children or teenagers. Repressed psychic energy may suddenly express itself by projecting from the person that is troubled and paranormally move objects or make noises. This in turn frightens the individual who is at the centre of the activity resulting in more fear that again feeds the escaping psychic energy. However, if the fear of the poltergeist activity is overcome the circle is broken and the activity usually fades away.

It is thought that in most cases poltergeist activity is an example of the minds ability to influence matter, something which American parapsychologist JB Rhine called psycho kinesis.

However, occasionally it is believed that an independent spirit entity may harness the energy and give intelligent communication by means of knocking or other noises.

Another spin on the explanation of poltergeist activity is that it is related to localise telluric rays from the earth’s core. The psychics believe that these ‘Earth Fields’ can be detected by dowsing. Underground rock strata, streams and springs distort these rays and result in areas of ‘geographic stress’ that are harmful to humans and some animals. Dowsers also believe that the megalithic standing stones were designed to mark the lines of these earth fields, named ‘Ley Lines’ by dowser Alfred Watkins. They apparently crisscross Britain and converge on Glastonbury in Somerset, Stonehenge in Wiltshire and the pyramid of Cheops in Egypt.

Studies have revealed many poltergeist cases to have occurred in buildings that have been built exactly on the intersection of two major ley lines.

My last thought on poltergeist is that perhaps they are explainable by the means of psycho kinesis. Perhaps the traumatic events, stress or another factor subconsciously creates these phenomena using the power of the mind itself. However, cases like that of the ‘Enfield Poltergeist’ suggest the involvement of an entity. Perhaps the use of the mind in this higher manner attracts ghosts or spirits as a conduit for communication. If this was the case, perhaps individuals plagued by poltergeist may also have medium type abilities?

As ever your comments are welcome.

Monday 15 September 2008

Paranormal Inspiration ?

This isn't a spooky story really, just a little entry from my father. Basically my little quest and project investigating the paranormal has inspired him it would seem to write a little poem about it. Although I am not a massive poetry fan we must remember a lot of historical events from the past are given life through the ages through song, poetry or stories which are then passed from generation to generation. This information can sometimes be used by historians as a source of evidence. Which mean when investigating the paranormal we may encounter this as a source of evidence.


Anyway, I hope you enjoy my dad's spin on things and as ever feel free to comment, if directed to him I will pass it on for you.

Investigations of the Paranormal

This was maybe sparked of by resent trends,
Together with a group of like minded friends,
The investigation to lost souls to which I started,
In seeking out Apparitions of those departed,

Perhaps a remembrance to a past relation,
An illusive Phantom to others imagination,
Ghostly showings to a visual echo of the past,
My hope is to see a spectral aura at last,

We have detection meters and special devices,
An array of equipment to identify sprit vices,
The taps and bangs, maybe a bell that rings,
A Poltergeist action in keep throwing things,
Therefore, I continue with my deliberations,
Reading all about those unexplained notions,
To examining everyday facts about the dead,
Even thought some say there better off not read.



He does enjoy to write, bless him. If you enjoyed this and would like to read more of his work please visit http://www.caxtonquills.co.uk/ and check out what else he has on offer.

Monday 8 September 2008

Ghosts and Spirits – A Little More Insight

I must mention that this blog entry was inspired by my man in the know, Jim from ISP. He has brought my attention to an important fact and in doing so reminded me that even the paranormal is in abundance of technical terms. As what could be described as a ‘newbie’ to the field I have no problem learning as I go, after all that is why I am investigating, ‘to know more’.

As some of you may have read, Jim commented as follows;

‘Hi Ash its Jim. Nice little post there but I thought I would just raise a small issue. Obviously Andrew was referring to "Ghosts". As a paranormal investigator I know two terms within the field that people seem to think are the same. Ghost and Spirit. A ghost is a recording if you like, layed down by stone tape theory as Andrew has described in that passage. The term spirit is used to explain an occurrence which shows intelligence rather than just replaying something. Hope this gives you a little more insight.’

Jim’s comment immediately grabbed me. It encouraged me to want to know more. I have, probably like many people heard individuals refer to ‘ghosts’ and ‘spirits’ as if they were two different things, but dismissed it and assumed they were sort of the same thing. Thinking about it though it makes perfect sense that they are not. Jim’s comment has been the catalyst for a brief knowledge search on the two. After all I cannot investigate the paranormal if I don’t know the technical terms.

First up, let me attempt to explain the ‘Stone Tape Theory’. The term itself is originally believed to be from the 1970’s BBC drama called ‘The Stone Tape’. Then it was used by Parapsychologists to describe the theory that materials found in stone and brick may have certain properties suitable for recording images and/or sound of events which occur in their vicinity. It is believed that the stoned, ground, etc are able to absorb the energy from living beings. Under certain conditions the absorbed energy can be replayed, just like a recording.

As most hauntings can usually be related to an emotionally charged scene, such as a murder, horrific accident or time of distress on the part of the person or persons involved. Somehow that scene becomes imprinted in the localised environment, such as a building.

For the scene to be replayed it has been suggested that it needs to be triggered by the correct catalyst, or person who sends out the right signal. This could be a highly emotional or distressed person. The replayed scene can be visual or audible, but not always interactive. This is often referred to as a residual or imprinted haunting.

That’s the ‘Stone Tape Theory’ in brief, but I think I will be heading back to this as a future blog subject, as it is quite interesting and could pose quite a good discussion point.

As for the difference between ghosts and spirits, this subject is slightly complicated. From a brief search of the web, you return a few conflicting views. However, I think I will side with Jim in distinguishing between the two.

From what I have read briefly and I am by no means an expert. Ghosts are as Jim describes them, ‘a recording’. If you agree with what is written, then they are stuck in replay (sometimes interactive and sometimes not) after failing to pass completely over to the afterlife. This means they are stuck in between the physical world and the afterlife in a kind of nether world. There are additional angles which state that they can be assisted to pass on to the afterlife with the correct assistance. For example, if someone was murdered, but the killer was never found then solving the murder helps the victim to move on. Personally this view is a touch ‘drama’ for me. I tend to think the ‘stone tape theory’ makes more sense and that the catalyst is no longer present which is why the ghost fails to appear.

Then we have spirits, which as Jim states ‘shows intelligence rather than just replaying something’. This is entirely possible, as some of the descriptions I have discovered describe spirits as having passed over to the afterlife, but are able to return to our physical world to assist or watch over us. All very well, but this leaves me the question, why? Which is fine with me, the whole subject of the paranormal poses the question why, hence my continued interest!

Obviously, my descriptions have been brief, but again I will return to these subjects again in more detail. After all, there’s plenty to discuss, plenty to understand in the paranormal world!

As ever your comments or suggestions are welcome.

Thanks to Jim for the Logo !

Just a quick entry to thank you to Jim from ISP for the swift and clever design of the Farsight Files logo and banner above.



As I said at the time, I can already imagine the logo on the back of some jackets.



Obviously my graphics skills are not quite as good as Jim's, but you get the idea !

Funny thing is I imagined a logo similar to this one in my head, but couldn't quite get it into visual format. I don't recall telling Jim or describing it, so its either a case of 'great minds think alike' or Jim can read minds through MSN !!!

Thank you again Jim.

Next up the Farsight Files website ?? Think that one is a slight work in progress though !

Wednesday 3 September 2008

A Brief Update and A New Spin on Ghosts !

Just thought I better post a bit of an update before it seemed like I had forgotten about this Blog!

I am still working hard on the Farsight Files in the background, but unfortunetly its not my only work. I also have a full time job which is taking up much of my time. Shame really as my job has not a lot to do with my investigation into the paranormal. I havn't forgotten though and hope to get something good to share with you soon.


Thought I would use this brief entry as an opertunity if anything to share with you a theory of a Ghost-Hunter that I have been reading about recently. The man in question is Andrew Green who was ghost hunting up until his death for about sixty years, a touch of an achievment I think. He's theory is as follows, in his words;



"Ghosts exist as an object form of phenomena, as a type of electricity situated in a particular locality. This static is, we suggest, in a wave pattern, which can be visualized by a person as the transmission form their mind which matches the original impression. The witness feels cold as a result of an electro-chemical process and immediately afterwards sees the ghost.

This cold sensation could well be the catalyst which switches on the mentally recreated picture so to speak. The picture is merely a mental image of some person or a pet animal, the death or injury of which causes intense shock to the creator of that image. This picture is transmitted unconsciously to the actual site and visulaised in a telepathic fashion and as such exists."

Basically Andrew was saying that ghosts do exist, but not exactly as we may think they do. That is they may not be a spirit stuck here for some reason, but a type of energy transmitted to a location during a traumatic or intense moment. His conclusion being that a ghost may not be dead ! His evidence was that after working hard on a rockery in his garden he unknown to him tranferred that energy in the form of himself. Later after selling the house the new owners and their daughter came to his new house for some reason. The daughter had never met Andrew before, but on meeting him she suddenly fainted. The reason given for this was because she believed him to be a ghost. Why? He was alive ! She told them that this was the same man she had seen around their rockery at home, to which she had referred to as a ghost!

The man who had investigated the paranormal for sixty years, been coined 'the specter inspector' and was even said to be a ghost himself, may have come up with a fresh new spin on ghosts. However, these days we investigate in a similar way and look for energy readings and temperature drops. Could Andrew Green have pathed the way for the Ghost-Hunter's of today?

However, I must admit that the theory that links ghosts to the afterlife seems to give us a more belief based system to investigate. Something I try to avoid, as I wish to find the truth and strong evidence regarding paranormal activity ! That doesn't mean I dismiss religion and beliefs. After all we must embrace all angles to gain a greater understanding of the bigger picture.


If you wish to know more about Andrew Green and some of his cases, may I suggest reading the same book I am 'Ghost-Hunter's Casebook - The Investigations of Andrew Green Revisited'.



Feel free to comment and give me your opinion on the whole ghost thing? Do you side with Andrew Green, ghosts are residual energy dead or alive? Or, do you believe that ghosts can only be related to the dead?