Intensive Reading grades 8-12 – a YA novel that brought classes to life. A reading strategy that truly motivated and built skills.

The book – Sliding Beneath the Surface, Book I of The St. Augustine Trilogy – paranormal & historical.

Motivating some teens to read is a tough job, to say the least.

The kids I’m talking about here are often the ones who fail statewide assessment tests and end up in reading classes. Exasperated parents and teachers everywhere live with this situation on a continuous basis.

Having taught for many years in grades 7 – 12, I experienced the frustration of trying to get certain students to read anything.

These days though, I come at the problem from a writer’s viewpoint—a writer of teen fiction. And I’m sending out this post because I recently participated in a very rewarding experiment that showed how it is definitely possible to interest even the most reluctant teens to read.

In fact, I’m still basking in the warm glow of what happened.

Teacher Kathy Snyder early in her well earned retirement

It all started near the end of the 2012-2013 school year with one very smart and extremely dedicated teacher by the name of Kathy Snyder. At the time, Kathy taught intensive reading to 11th and 12th graders at a high school near where I live in Central Florida.

After reading and reviewing the first book in my young adult series titled, The St. Augustine Trilogy, she contacted me. Kathy felt very confident that the book, Sliding Beneath the Surface, would interest her students and she hoped to use it in all of her classes.

This was her final year in teaching and she wanted to make one more big push to motivate her kids before retiring.Well, she did that and a lot more.

Once we got a class set of books ordered, Kathy and I decided to make her classroom use of my work a full-blown teacher/author project.

I would donate my time and book resources to help her and she would write-up a study guide as well a detailed report about the project’s results.

We were both excited about the possibilities and couldn’t wait to get started.

The Castillo de San Marcos

At this point in my post, I think I need to give you a little background information on my book series. In that way, you can get a better feel for what attracted Kathy to it:

1. It’s called The St. Augustine Trilogy because St. Augustine, Florida is the physical location for the plot.

2. I created the trilogy with at-risk youth in mind because I spent the last 10 years of my career as an educator working full time helping such kids and their families.

So many of those young people had huge “victim” mentalities and blamed others for their problems that I wanted to do what I could as a writer to counteract those thought processes. That’s why the trilogy premise is this: You Create Your Own Reality.

Jeff

Fifteen-year-old Jeff Golden, the main character, is a composite of the   many at-risk kids I worked with over the years. And it is his growth over time in taking responsibility for himself and others that is a primary thread throughout the trilogy.

3. Each character, Jeff, his girlfriend Carla and old Lobo represent the three main cultures that built the city of St. Augustine: Jeff is white, Carla is African American and Hispanic, and Lobo is Native American.

4. I use the paranormal as a hook to pull kids into the plot. My real life experiences with such things as described in my nonfiction book, An Explosion of Being: An American Family’s Journey into the Psychic, are the prime material for developing the more exciting, unusual and spooky events in the book.

Now back to the project itself.

The Bridge of Lions in St. Augustine. Photo courtesy of Greg Dillon, Greg;s Gallery.net

Photo courtesy of Greg Dillon – Photography by Greg

Kathy did a fantastic job of introducing her students to St. Augustine and its history way ahead of time. In doing so, she really paved the way for those kids to feel comfortable as they encountered things that might be unfamiliar.

As part of this process, I sent her a CD packed full of photos—St. Augustine locations, historical reenactments, the cover for each book of the trilogy, my picture, etc. Then using the book trailer (see below) to introduce the project, Kathy launched into a full schedule of students rotating the reading of Sliding Beneath the Surface aloud in class.

The details of what she did will be forthcoming. If you wish to be on a mailing list to receive that information when it is ready in September, just email me by using the contact button on this website.

Here’s the book trailer created by Cheri Crump, a fan.

Day-by-day, Kathy explained to me via email how increasingly interested her students were becoming in the book and how many of them even wanted to read ahead. Students who rarely paid attention, or rarely spoke at all, did the opposite as their readings continued. Other teachers reported how those same kids were talking about their literary adventure outside of the reading classroom.

Needless to say, Kathy was thrilled. Her hard work was really paying off. Then in an email about halfway into the project, she asked if I could come visit her students once they finished the book.

And since her school isn’t very far from where I live, and it would be fascinating to participate in the project firsthand, I agreed to spend the day at her school.

Annual reenactment of the Dade Battle that began the Second Seminole War in Florida-1835

What a great time I had! And Kathy did too.

Those kids—those non readers—were so attentive and knowledgeable about the book I found it hard to believe I was in an intensive reading classroom. When I asked them questions about the plot and characters, they had the answers—things even Kathy didn’t  know they had absorbed.

Lots of kids greeted me as they came into the room at change of class, some even giving me a hug—including a few of the guys! In high school? I was stunned.

And around the room, Kathy had attached 100 pictures to the walls, one from each of  the students. Their assignment was to pick a chapter in the book they liked and a line or two from that chapter.

They were then instructed to write that information on a piece of paper and illustrate the meaning of the chapter/sentences by drawing some kind of picture. And they did beautiful work. I’ve included some of those drawings here because I think they are so important.

When I got home that evening, I had an email from Kathy, thanking me for working with her students. But it was her final comment that really got to me.

This is what she said, “This day was the best one of my entire teaching career.” Those words really hit me because  as an educator and a writer, I too felt that day with Kathy’s kids was the best one of both my careers. How tremendously rewarding.

At the end of the school year, Kathy packaged all of those pictures and sent them to me. What a treasure.

Along with the pictures, Kathy sent me thank you notes from some of the kids. Here are some excerpts from those priceless, and often telling, messages:

• I really enjoyed your book and can’t wait for the others.
• I love your book. Write more.
• I hope you continue to write your stories. I love how many details you include. They made me picture my old house.
• I hope we meet again someday.
• Thank you for being the first author I’ve ever met and the most interesting too.
• Yesterday that you were here the period went by fast.
• I was really pleased how your book turned out.
• Your book was full of suspense that made me want to keep reading.
• I wanna get back in touch. Email me at . . .
• I have to say that the book was very entertaining. It felt like I was really in the story . . . it sent chills down my spine.
• You have a very interesting book and I think that St. Augustine would be a very nice place to live . . . or the Keys. (Don’t you love it?)

And finally, I close out this unusually long posting with a message to the teacher who made all this possible:

Kathy, I want to thank you publicly for giving your students and me so much in so very many ways. Yes, your students seemed to like my book, but it was you who made it all fit together in a truly viable package.

Your obvious love for those kids, your unrelenting drive to get them resources and your professional skills were so apparent during all the time we worked together. It was a pleasure being your colleague even if it was for a short time.

I know you will enjoy your retirement greatly but I sure wish you were still out there doing such great things with young people.

UPDATE! After writing this post, Kathy and I got together and created a teacher guide for using Sliding Beneath the Surface in the classroom. Click here for the new Teacher Resources section of my website that allows you to download a free copy and gives other useful information.

Further Links for Reading and Language Arts Teachers About Using This Book in the Classroom

Reading Teacher Sparks Student Interest  An article from teacher Kathy Snyder about her experience.

Quotes From Sliding Beneath the Surface Book Reviews 

Book reviews for Sliding Beneath the Surface on Amazon.com Includes  reviews from reading and language arts teachers.

A Book Series for the Reading Classroom The multiple themes and threads that make the series of value.

St. Augustine’s Constitution Plaza at Christmas

The St. Augustine Trilogy and America’s Oldest City The setting for the series in St. Augustine, Florida and how that provides a fascinating backdrop for action.

The St. Augustine Trilogy & Historic Events Specifies the actual historic events that happened in America’s oldest city that are woven into the series.

Description for The St. Augustine Trilogy

Teaching History Through Young Adult Novels

Teaching Resilience Through Young Adult Novels

The St. Augustine Cathedral Basilica

Sample Photo Galleries – Historic St. Augustine, Florida

The Castillo de San Marcos (The old Spanish fort)

Historic Cemeteries

The St. Augustine Cathedral Basilica

Spanish Soldiers of the 18th Century

Cannon Firing

St. Augustine Lighthouse & Museum

The Dade Battle Reenactment, Part II (The trigger event that started the Second Seminole War)

Intensive Reading grades 8-12 – a YA novel that brought classes to life. A reading strategy that truly motivated and built skills.

The book – Sliding Beneath the Surface, Book I of The St. Augustine Trilogy – paranormal & historical.

Motivating some teens to read is a tough job, to say the least.

The kids I’m talking about here are often the ones who fail statewide assessment tests and end up in reading classes. Exasperated parents and teachers everywhere live with this situation on a continuous basis.

Having taught for many years in grades 7 – 12, I experienced the frustration of trying to get certain students to read anything.

These days though, I come at the problem from a writer’s viewpoint—a writer of teen fiction. And I’m sending out this post because I recently participated in a very rewarding experiment that showed how it is definitely possible to interest even the most reluctant teens to read.

In fact, I’m still basking in the warm glow of what happened.

Teacher Kathy Snyder early in her well earned retirement

It all started near the end of the 2012-2013 school year with one very smart and extremely dedicated teacher by the name of Kathy Snyder. At the time, Kathy taught intensive reading to 11th and 12th graders at a high school near where I live in Central Florida.

After reading and reviewing the first book in my young adult series titled, The St. Augustine Trilogy, she contacted me. Kathy felt very confident that the book, Sliding Beneath the Surface, would interest her students and she hoped to use it in all of her classes.

This was her final year in teaching and she wanted to make one more big push to motivate her kids before retiring.Well, she did that and a lot more.

Once we got a class set of books ordered, Kathy and I decided to make her classroom use of my work a full-blown teacher/author project.

I would donate my time and book resources to help her and she would write-up a study guide as well a detailed report about the project’s results.

We were both excited about the possibilities and couldn’t wait to get started.

The Castillo de San Marcos

At this point in my post, I think I need to give you a little background information on my book series. In that way, you can get a better feel for what attracted Kathy to it:

1. It’s called The St. Augustine Trilogy because St. Augustine, Florida is the physical location for the plot.

2. I created the trilogy with at-risk youth in mind because I spent the last 10 years of my career as an educator working full time helping such kids and their families.

So many of those young people had huge “victim” mentalities and blamed others for their problems that I wanted to do what I could as a writer to counteract those thought processes. That’s why the trilogy premise is this: You Create Your Own Reality.

Jeff

Fifteen-year-old Jeff Golden, the main character, is a composite of the   many at-risk kids I worked with over the years. And it is his growth over time in taking responsibility for himself and others that is a primary thread throughout the trilogy.

3. Each character, Jeff, his girlfriend Carla and old Lobo represent the three main cultures that built the city of St. Augustine: Jeff is white, Carla is African American and Hispanic, and Lobo is Native American.

4. I use the paranormal as a hook to pull kids into the plot. My real life experiences with such things as described in my nonfiction book, An Explosion of Being: An American Family’s Journey into the Psychic, are the prime material for developing the more exciting, unusual and spooky events in the book.

Now back to the project itself.

The Bridge of Lions in St. Augustine. Photo courtesy of Greg Dillon, Greg;s Gallery.net

Photo courtesy of Greg Dillon – Photography by Greg

Kathy did a fantastic job of introducing her students to St. Augustine and its history way ahead of time. In doing so, she really paved the way for those kids to feel comfortable as they encountered things that might be unfamiliar.

As part of this process, I sent her a CD packed full of photos—St. Augustine locations, historical reenactments, the cover for each book of the trilogy, my picture, etc. Then using the book trailer (see below) to introduce the project, Kathy launched into a full schedule of students rotating the reading of Sliding Beneath the Surface aloud in class.

The details of what she did will be forthcoming. If you wish to be on a mailing list to receive that information when it is ready in September, just email me by using the contact button on this website.

Here’s the book trailer created by Cheri Crump, a fan.

Day-by-day, Kathy explained to me via email how increasingly interested her students were becoming in the book and how many of them even wanted to read ahead. Students who rarely paid attention, or rarely spoke at all, did the opposite as their readings continued. Other teachers reported how those same kids were talking about their literary adventure outside of the reading classroom.

Needless to say, Kathy was thrilled. Her hard work was really paying off. Then in an email about halfway into the project, she asked if I could come visit her students once they finished the book.

And since her school isn’t very far from where I live, and it would be fascinating to participate in the project firsthand, I agreed to spend the day at her school.

Annual reenactment of the Dade Battle that began the Second Seminole War in Florida-1835

What a great time I had! And Kathy did too.

Those kids—those non readers—were so attentive and knowledgeable about the book I found it hard to believe I was in an intensive reading classroom. When I asked them questions about the plot and characters, they had the answers—things even Kathy didn’t  know they had absorbed.

Lots of kids greeted me as they came into the room at change of class, some even giving me a hug—including a few of the guys! In high school? I was stunned.

And around the room, Kathy had attached 100 pictures to the walls, one from each of  the students. Their assignment was to pick a chapter in the book they liked and a line or two from that chapter.

They were then instructed to write that information on a piece of paper and illustrate the meaning of the chapter/sentences by drawing some kind of picture. And they did beautiful work. I’ve included some of those drawings here because I think they are so important.

When I got home that evening, I had an email from Kathy, thanking me for working with her students. But it was her final comment that really got to me.

This is what she said, “This day was the best one of my entire teaching career.” Those words really hit me because  as an educator and a writer, I too felt that day with Kathy’s kids was the best one of both my careers. How tremendously rewarding.

At the end of the school year, Kathy packaged all of those pictures and sent them to me. What a treasure.

Along with the pictures, Kathy sent me thank you notes from some of the kids. Here are some excerpts from those priceless, and often telling, messages:

• I really enjoyed your book and can’t wait for the others.
• I love your book. Write more.
• I hope you continue to write your stories. I love how many details you include. They made me picture my old house.
• I hope we meet again someday.
• Thank you for being the first author I’ve ever met and the most interesting too.
• Yesterday that you were here the period went by fast.
• I was really pleased how your book turned out.
• Your book was full of suspense that made me want to keep reading.
• I wanna get back in touch. Email me at . . .
• I have to say that the book was very entertaining. It felt like I was really in the story . . . it sent chills down my spine.
• You have a very interesting book and I think that St. Augustine would be a very nice place to live . . . or the Keys. (Don’t you love it?)

And finally, I close out this unusually long posting with a message to the teacher who made all this possible:

Kathy, I want to thank you publicly for giving your students and me so much in so very many ways. Yes, your students seemed to like my book, but it was you who made it all fit together in a truly viable package.

Your obvious love for those kids, your unrelenting drive to get them resources and your professional skills were so apparent during all the time we worked together. It was a pleasure being your colleague even if it was for a short time.

I know you will enjoy your retirement greatly but I sure wish you were still out there doing such great things with young people.

UPDATE! After writing this post, Kathy and I got together and created a teacher guide for using Sliding Beneath the Surface in the classroom. Click here for the new Teacher Resources section of my website that allows you to download a free copy and gives other useful information.

Further Links for Reading and Language Arts Teachers About Using This Book in the Classroom

Reading Teacher Sparks Student Interest  An article from teacher Kathy Snyder about her experience.

Quotes From Sliding Beneath the Surface Book Reviews 

Book reviews for Sliding Beneath the Surface on Amazon.com Includes  reviews from reading and language arts teachers.

A Book Series for the Reading Classroom The multiple themes and threads that make the series of value.

St. Augustine’s Constitution Plaza at Christmas

The St. Augustine Trilogy and America’s Oldest City The setting for the series in St. Augustine, Florida and how that provides a fascinating backdrop for action.

The St. Augustine Trilogy & Historic Events Specifies the actual historic events that happened in America’s oldest city that are woven into the series.

Description for The St. Augustine Trilogy

Teaching History Through Young Adult Novels

Teaching Resilience Through Young Adult Novels

The St. Augustine Cathedral Basilica

Sample Photo Galleries – Historic St. Augustine, Florida

The Castillo de San Marcos (The old Spanish fort)

Historic Cemeteries

The St. Augustine Cathedral Basilica

Spanish Soldiers of the 18th Century

Cannon Firing

St. Augustine Lighthouse & Museum

The Dade Battle Reenactment, Part II (The trigger event that started the Second Seminole War)

After death experiences often bring the paranormal world that permeates our existence home to us in very startling ways. There are a lot of stories about such circumstances but one in particular has stayed with me for many years. Why? Because it was so startling and came from someone who witnessed it–a nurse.

I came by this testimonial when my step dad lay dying in a Central Florida hospital. His passing was long and difficult. Family members were stretched to their limits.The medical staff was wonderful, doing their best to help us understand what was going on and make us comfortable.

At one point, the only people in the room besides a nurse and me were my mother and my wife Barbara. We continually talked to my step dad, trying to ease his passage into the next world even though he was unconscious.

“Part of him knows you’re there,” the nurse said as she checked his vital signs yet once again.

“I guess you’ve seen a lot of this, huh?” I asked.

She looked at me, nodded and said, “Oh yeah. Too much of it if you want to know the truth. But then again, one case I had always sticks with me and gives me hope for us poor lost human beings.”

I encouraged her to tell us about it and she did.

“Well,” she said, “it was a night like this for another family. A young father had died and his family sat around his bed for a long time weeping and comforting each other. We let them stay as long as they wished. Every once in a while I would check on them to make sure they were OK.

“During one of those visits to the room is when it happened. Just as I walked in the young man who had died sat straight up in his bed with his eyes wide open. He looked at his wife who was holding his hand and said, “I’ve been to the other side but I’ve come back to tell you it’s OK. All is as it should be. Please don’t worry.” With that, he closed his eyes, collapsed and, well, died again.

“I’m telling you, that man was clinically dead the first time. There was no doubt about it.”

If you are truly interested in paranormal phenomena, you might be interested in read my book, Carl Jung, Hauntings, and Paranormal Coincidences.  You can find it in most online bookstores. Listed below, however, are direct book links to some of the larger retail outlets in the English speaking world:

Amazon.com, Amazon Canada, Amazon UK, Amazon India, Amazon Australia, Barnes and Noble.

This is a guest blog by my dear friend, Betty Howe, pictured here. She writes about a very strange but wondrous experience. I got to know this delightful lady many years ago when we both worked as school administrators here in the Central Florida area. Betty is one of the most intelligent, sober, honest, levelheaded, and no-nonsense people I know. That’s what makes her story all the more alluring. Here it is:

I’ve only shared this story with family members and a few close friends.  Most people would not have believed me anyway and others would have thought I was crazy, drunk or hallucinating.

It happened on a beautiful, spring day in a huge nature preserve east of Orlando. After checking with the park ranger, my traveling companion and I drove as far as we could, parked the car where the road ended, and used a picnic table to grab a quick bite of lunch. There was no one else around—just nature and us.

When we finished our meal, we began our exploration of the surrounding area.  Eventually, though, my friend and I ventured off in different directions. She was soon out of sight and I started following a small stream. All that running water seemed to hold a definite attraction for me so I just gave in to it and enjoyed myself immensely.

Very soon, however, everything changed. I noticed movement of some kind back in the woods on the other side of the stream so I stopped dead in my tracks.  Then out of the trees walked a magnificent white Pegasus making not one bit of sound. Yes, the winged horse of ancient Greek myth.

I can’t explain it to you but I felt no astonishment, fear or even curiosity. No. All I felt was peaceful acceptance of what I was observing. It just . . . seemed natural somehow and I had no need to understand the event unfolding before me.

The Pegasus took no notice of me whatsoever. With its wings folded, the creature simply walked to the water’s edge, lowered its head and drank from the stream. When it had had enough, it shook its head, turned around, and retreated back into the woods as quietly as it had appeared.

I offer you no explanation as to what I saw. I feel no need to do so. The only reason I’m telling this story publicly after all these years is because my friend, Doug Dillon, requested it of me. He seems to feel it might have some value and that’s good enough for me.

After Betty told me this story, I went to the Internet and looked up the creature she had seen. In that search, I discovered that Pegasus is associated with natural phenomena—mainly water.  Click here to see the same article. Betty had no knowledge of this particular aspect of Greek mythology.

###

If you are truly interested in paranormal phenomena, you might be interested in read my book, Carl Jung, Hauntings, and Paranormal Coincidences.  You can find it in most online bookstores. Listed below, however, are direct book links to some of the larger retail outlets in the English-speaking world:

Amazon.com, Amazon Canada, Amazon UK, Amazon India, Amazon Australia, Barnes and Noble, Books-A-Millon.

Strings of odd coincidences create a fascinating paranormal pattern.

Back in 2009, my wife and I went to a concert at The Hard Rock Cafe here in the Orlando area. David Garrett, the great violinist was playing.

The guy is really terrific. He can shift from classical to rock and then into country in a matter of seconds.

In watching him though, my analytical mind started working overtime. Because the man moves that bow so incredibly fast, I wondered what temperatures his bow strings reached with all that friction. Then I started wondering if he replaced those bow strings before each concert to make sure they wouldn’t break.

Not satisfied with those mental meanderings, I continued to wonder if his bow strings broke very often during a concert and if that affected his performance greatly. Finally, I realized I wasn’t enjoying the show because of all that internal questioning.

As a result, I made a very concerted effort to focus just on the music. Didn’t happen. My obsession with the guy’s bowstring’s wouldn’t leave me and, in fact, they strengthened. That really irritated me because I can usually let my thoughts go when I tried but no this time. The compulsion was really getting to me.

In tremendous frustration, I immediately started working diligently to refocus my mind. The thing is, less than two minutes after launching into that effort, Garrett actually broke several bow strings. I couldn’t believe it but there they were just flailing away in the air as they guy continued to play. People all around me pointed and took pictures as Garrett courageously went on playing and ended that set with a flourish.

As soon as the music ended, he studied his broken bow-string, fondled them a bit, looked at the audience, grinned, shrugged, and then went on playing.

With all of my questions somewhat answered, I enjoyed the rest of the show and ignored the bow strings still flopping in the air.

My son, Greg Dillon, graciously allowed me to use the picture he took of a violin for this blog. It pays to have a professional photographer in the family. Thanks Greg. It fit perfectly.

###

If you are truly interested in paranormal phenomena, you might be interested in read my book, Carl Jung, Hauntings, and Paranormal Coincidences.  You can find it in most online bookstores. Listed below, however, are direct book links to some of the larger retail outlets in the English-speaking world:

Amazon.com, Amazon Canada, Amazon UK, Amazon India, Amazon Australia, Barnes and Noble, Books-A-Millon.

Paranormal occurrences that affect physical things?

This story tells about two such events and they come directly from my own history. In fact, they were the sparks that put my wife Barbara and myself on a road to intense paranormal exploration. In fact, I wrote about those experiences in the book I co-authored with Barb titled, An Explosion of Being: An American Family’s Journey into the Psychic. So, instead of rewriting that material, I copied it directly from the book and reproduced it here.

You see, this all happened shortly after my dad died. I was in my early 30s and shattered by the loss of my father. As part of trying to help my mother settle Dad’s affairs, we were at her house when the first event occurred. Since Dad was a retired military officer, the Air Force had sent representatives to assist Mom in acquiring her benefits. We’ll pick up the story as those people arrive at the house.

“During one of those hectic days soon after Dad’s death, a shiny blue Air Force car pulled into the driveway of my parents’ home. Two very somber sergeants, well-practiced in the ways of grief and the details of military benefits, stepped out of the shimmering August heat into the coolness of the air conditioned house.

“Sid Brewer, a family friend and retired Air Force officer, was there to guide us through the detailed procedures. Sid and I sat facing the two sergeants over the dining room table, by then covered with documents. The exchange of necessary information droned on for a while, until my attention was diverted.

“‘Whoever is blowing that damned car horn had better cut it out,’ I thought angrily. The noise continued, until I finally got up and opened the front door. Now the sound blasted through the heat, further stirring my anger. No strange cars were visible, just the Air Force vehicle and Dad’s empty car parked under the oak tree a short distance away. The blowing horn was coming from Dad’s car! Sid and I opened the hood and pulled out the wires, resulting in exquisite silence. “Must have been the heat that set it off,” Sid commented. I agreed, but somehow the event jarred my already unsettled psyche.

“The next morning presented a raft of estate-settling tasks. My plans included using Dad’s Ford to make my rounds of the Social Security and V.A. offices, but I hated to drive without a horn. Just on the chance that the problem had rectified itself, I reattached the wires. No exploding repetition of yesterday’s noise, so with a couple of test honks, off I went to downtown Orlando and my list of appointments.

“The Social Security office was overflowing with people. When my turn finally came, the representative was helpful and efficient. Briefcase in hand, I was soon out the door, walking toward the parking lot. Dad’s car was angle-parked only a short distance from me, and in a few steps, I was directly in front of it. My mind was a jumble of sadness and financial details, when suddenly the car horn went off with another continuing blast that shook every fiber in my body.

“I was stunned. For an instant, I froze in mid-stride, and automatically looked for a driver sitting in the front seat. No, no one was there—just me and this crazy car blowing its brains out. Once the wires were disconnected I continued my errands but with an uneasiness that could not readily be put aside.”

After these two events, Barb, Mom and I wondered if just maybe Dad was trying to communicate with us. In the end, I rejected that possibility until I told my aunt and uncle about the car horn events during a phone conversation. Only then did they tell us they had actually seen dad in their living room on the day of his death.  They didn’t want to tell us because they didn’t think we would have believed them. They lived 1,2oo away.

###

If you are truly interested in paranormal phenomena, you might be interested in read my book, Carl Jung, Hauntings, and Paranormal Coincidences.  You can find it in most online bookstores. Listed below, however, are direct book links to some of the larger retail outlets in the English-speaking world:

Amazon.com, Amazon Canada, Amazon UK, Amazon India, Amazon Australia, Barnes and Noble, Books-A-Millon.

Photographic evidence of a ghostly being aboard ship by my friend Peaches Veach from California Paranormal Private Investigations (CPPI).

Of all the locations I’ve visited and/or investigated, The Queen Mary in Long Beach, California is one of the most interesting. Back in the day, it was a luxury liner that was then converted into a troop transport ship during WWII.  Thousands of people are believed to have perished on or around the ship over the years. World renowned psychic Peter James believed there are close to 600 spirits wandering the ship.

The Queen Mary was bought by the City of Long Beach and turned into a floating hotel in 1967. It serves not only as a hotel, but also has restaurants, exhibits, and convention facilities. There are also a number of tours available to visitors. On one of those tours is where I had a paranormal encounter. Multiple parts of the ship are haunted.

We had taken one tour earlier in the day and it took us into the changing rooms of the first class swimming pool.  Several spirits are said to haunt this area. We had told the guide before the tour started that we were paranormal investigators so that he would understand why we’d have some pieces of equipment with us. There were almost enough of us to have our own private tour.

This little excursion was done in the dark and towards the end of it, we turned off our flashlights. That’s when the tour guide started talking about a possible male spirit being in that area, who he might be and why he might be there. When we talked about it later, a few of us agreed we felt the energy change all around us right at that moment. It’s hard to describe if you’ve never felt energy shift in such a way, but it’s much like how it feels when people have an argument in a room and you’re just standing there observing and feeling the tension.

For whatever reason, the tour guide sounded uncomfortable talking about this spirit. When he finished speaking, all was quiet for a while. Finally, someone asked a question but there was no response. Turning our flashlights back on, we realized the guide had left. We never did see him again.

We all decided to leave the room and I was the last one out. As we started moving, I felt a pressure on my back that was similar to having someone pushing me. I told my friends, “Move! Go! Go! Go! We’re being pushed out!” Another friend who has an intuitive “gift” also felt that the male spirit was upset and wanted us out.

Later in the day, we took another tour that’s really a “smoke and mirrors” event where they use all kinds of special effects. We had been told not to take flash photos since that would disorient everyone. As I snapped a photo without flash, I realized that I would have a blurry result due to camera shake. So I just dismissed what I had done and moved along with the group.

Original blurry photo of 3 people in the dark. Bright light at top is a bulb hanging from the ceiling. The white streak of light in the middle of the picture going across the woman is unidentified. Just above that streak, and below the woman’s head, is the small oval of a face that you can barely see.

A few days later, I was looking at my photos and came across a blurry picture. At first, I thought that I should just delete it. Then I noticed something strange. I showed my coworker, and she and I both gasped when we looked at it closer. To us, it looked like a head showing only one side of the face. This was the picture I had taken in the dark.

A closer, cropped view of the face.

We speculated as to what it might really be, but I knew exactly who could check it out for me. I have a friend by the name of Tony who is a retired mortician. He specializes in facial reconstruction. Tony has some forensic software that analyzes photos, including pixel count, color temp, etc. He can tell if a photo has been altered in any way. I’ve gotten to know Tony over the years, with all of the interesting photos I’ve sent him.

Tony’s enhancement of the previous photo to bring out the opposite side of the face. In this version of the picture, a shoulder below the face is clearly visible on the left.

Tony’s answer to this particular photo? “I don’t believe in ghosts, but you have something there. I just don’t know what it is.” He verified the photo had not been altered (I had taken it, so of course, I already knew that), and he took it a step further enhancing and removing certain color tones. He was able to digitally shift things around in order to show the other side of what we all believe is a face in the photo. To me, it looked like someone wearing an Elizabethan collar from the 16^th Century, which would be extremely weird to find here in the States.

Tony’ second enhancement, no color, cropped and enlarged. Look carefully.

Tony’s official opinion in the end was that what we were seeing was a  woman he believed to be between 40 and 60 years of age with her hair in an updo. This, he thinks, meant that in a different era, she was probably financially well off. The last thing he added was that she was staring right at me!

Tony and I have both studied this picture over the years and continue trying to figure out exactly whose face it is. After comparing it to many other photos, we have yet to find the answer. We’ve gone back to the Queen Mary several times since that original experience to try and find an answer but with no luck. One of my more intuitive friends said that whoever the person is in that picture, she will not appear again.  She got my attention the first time and is glad that I know she’s there. Even so, my quest to discover the identity of our mystery woman continues.

Fascinating, Peaches. Thanks so much.

Click here for the CPPI website.

Click here for the Queen Mary Website.

Click here for a video on the Queen Mary.

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If you would like to read more great stories about paranormal phenomena, you might be interested in checking out my book, Carl Jung, Hauntings, and Paranormal Coincidences.  You can find it in most online bookstores. Listed below, however, are direct book links to some of the larger retail outlets in the English-speaking world:

Amazon.com, Amazon Canada, Amazon UK, Amazon India, Amazon Australia, Barnes and Noble, Books-A-Million.

An investigation into extremely strange happenings in a historic gold mining town as told by my friend, Peaches Veach. Peaches is from California Paranormal Private Investigations (CPPI).

I have literally been to hundreds of places conducting paranormal investigations over the past six years. Only a handful of these locations, in my opinion, have been extremely active. Two of them that have grabbed my attention are Virginia City, and Goldfield—both in Nevada.

These two locations had a lot going on in the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries with regard to the gold and silver rushes. Both towns/camps swelled to tens of thousands of people in a short period of time and then shrank tremendously in just a few years. Goldfield is where Virgil Earp died and it is in this town that something happened to me.

Goldfield currently has a population of about 268 people.  It has the original jailhouse, courthouse, high school, and the Goldfield Hotel. Sort of a partial “ghost town”, this place definitely retains its Old West Charm. The people there are down to earth and like any small town, it has its own brand of political strangeness.

During a weekend in Goldfield, nine friends of mine and I conducted a investigation of two particular locations: the Nixon Building and Goldfield High School. This is probably one of those weekends that will stick with me for a very long time. Not only was it a lot of fun to take a paranormal road trip with my friends, but something very interesting occurred during our search for the paranormal at the Nixon Building

Back during the days of the old west, the Nixon Building was the communications center for the Goldfield Consolidated Mining Company. Judging by the setup inside the place, the ground floor was where miners cashed in their gold and used as a post office as well. There is a basement, which contains the building’s furnace, and it appears there were living quarters and workrooms on the upper floors.

We were able to check this building out during the day on Friday afternoon and then do the actual investigation later on in the evening. I need to tell you ahead of time, however, that in my review of all the photos and recordings from our time there, I didn’t find any actual hard evidence—things I could show you or play back for you. I’ll be checking it all again but that’s the result so far.

I’m saying this because I’m a pretty skeptical person and I take experiences people tell me about with a grain of salt. Most folks tend to exaggerate their claims a bit, so evidence is crucial. That being said, what actually happened to me at the Nixon Buildin in May of 2012 remains quite a mystery.

Our hostess for the night, a local female gunslinger, said she had experienced spirits in the building and I noticed in my night vision camera that her eyes seemed to be more “buggy” at night. The only paranormal reason I could think of was that someone was going to be possessed by the end of the evening. I really shouldn’t have even thought that to myself!

As we started checking things out on the second floor, another investigator said she felt something “zap” her, like in “zapped” by static electricity. It made her jump and stand away from me. She felt it was coming between the two of us. Just like with everything else, we so far have no photo or video evidence of anything touching this person.

Then later on when we were in one of the rooms on the third floor, I “heard” a woman sobbing. To be specific, that sound wasn’t actually audible. No, it was more like I sensed it inside my head.

That sobbing continued for several more minutes and I mentioned it to two other investigators. They said they also sensed/heard the crying. The word “mistress” also came through to me.

On that same floor, there is also a room with a workbench containing a great many tools. I was standing near the bench during a “spirit box session”. A spirit box is a radio modified to scan various frequencies. The idea is that spirits/entities try to communicate with our world through the static produced—white noise. This was clearly demonstrated in the movie by that same name, White Noise. Maybe you saw it.

I honestly can’t remember what happened in that room very well because a few minutes into the session, I started to feel extremely dizzy. I was seeing 3 and 4 of everything, and even when I closed my eyes, the room felt like it was spinning. I literally felt drunk or drugged, similar to the sensation of coming down from anesthesia. It got so bad, I couldn’t stand up straight. I mean, I actually had to grab onto a table so that I wouldn’t fall down.

After about 20 minutes, but what seemed like an eternity, I had to excuse myself and go downstairs. When I got there, I walked outside for a bit to calm down and ground myself.

After I finally settled down, I went back upstairs where everyone had gathered to play period music in order to attract the spirits. I sat on the floor up against a wall and closed my eyes, just listening. After about two minutes, I fell asleep with my recorder sitting on my leg. When I awoke, about 27 minutes had gone by. That told me how completely my experience of feeling drunk or drugged had wiped me out.

As of now, we still don’t know who the sobbing woman might have been, or if I was experiencing an event in her life.

I have never felt anything like that before! I know that we were at a higher elevation than what I’m used to, and I had more coffee than I normally drink, but seeing double and quadruple of everything around me was highly unusual.

A former team member mentioned to me on other occasions about how she felt like something was trying to get into her head. I wonder if this is what happened to me. I’d rather not experience that sensation again but if I do I’d better make sure there’s a couch nearby!

Have you ever experienced something like this? Please send a comment via the Share Your Comment box below this post. We’d love to hear from you!

To find Peaches and CPPI website on the Internet, click here.

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If you would like to read more great stories about paranormal phenomena, you might be interested in checking out my book, Carl Jung, Hauntings, and Paranormal Coincidences.  You can find it in most online bookstores. Listed below, however, are direct book links to some of the larger retail outlets in the English-speaking world:

Amazon.com, Amazon Canada, Amazon UK, Amazon India, Amazon Australia, Barnes and Noble, Books-A-Million.

Dreams and their connection to other realms. That’s what this posting is about and it comes to you from a trusted guest blogger.This person, who will remain anonymous, is very analytical and never accepts things on face value. Here’s his story:

**********

In my dream, I was approached by a woman in some non-distinct place, other than that the light was very dim, almost like a candlelight supper.

I knew she looked familiar, but couldn’t make out her face until she came to a stop right in front of me.

That was when I realized she looked familiar because she was my grandmother, who had succumb to cancer back in the mid 90’s while I was in the navy and out to sea for 6 months, so I never had the chance to see her in her final days, or go to her funeral.

Gram was just simply gone when I got back for some leave time.

Anyway, the gram I was face to face with now was a beautiful young woman and just beaming with love. We embraced in a hug, she then held me out at arm’s length, and told me psychically “just LOOK at how well you’re doing!” With that, she gave me the biggest kiss on the cheek you can imagine, and it was over.

For me it was a no brainer that this was a direct encounter, especially being that during this particular period of time I had been having numerous lucid dreams and out of body experiences. What was the purpose? Dunno. Maybe sometimes these events happens just for the sake of them happening, the images and feelings to be stored in the bank of our subconscious of things that we now “know” are real, and don’t have to believe or take anyone else’s word for any more. Maybe they’re the well timed and needed encouragement we all need from time to time on this tough road of Samsara we trod together. Or, maybe she just wanted to say hello…LOL. Maybe all three, or more.

What I DO know is there are infinite realms of existence beyond our nearly blind 5 physical senses, that we are a part of them, they are a part of us, and by birthright we are free to explore them if we so choose. All of us.

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Thanks so much for sharing that. What a great experience. Dreams seem to be a very special meeting place for us to connect with those who have gone before us.

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If you are truly interested in paranormal phenomena, you might be interested in read my book, Carl Jung, Hauntings, and Paranormal Coincidences.  You can find it in most online bookstores. Listed below, however, are direct book links to some of the larger retail outlets in the English-speaking world:

Amazon.com, Amazon Canada, Amazon UK, Amazon India, Amazon Australia, Barnes and Noble, Books-A-Millon.

Are all coincidences just random events? Are they sometimes happenings with connections that go well beyond those isolated occurrences? My stance as forcefully stated in my young adult novel, Sliding Beneath the Surface, is that the events of our lives are tightly linked to each other in ways we will never understand.

Every once in a while though, those linkages are so strong that they stand out like a road map. Here is an example.

I live in Florida with my wife Barbara and we have more than our share of spiders. The picture of one you see here came from my daughter Nicole Dillon’s photo gallery. Beautiful specimen, if you like such creatures.

Of course, these spiders sometimes decide to join us inside our home and they can be fairly large. They are definitely unwanted guests. Even so, our response is to try and capture them, if possible, and give them another chance, outside.

Over the years we’ve gotten pretty adept at placing a drinking glass over each intruder, slipping a piece of cardboard under the glass, and then carrying glass, cardboard and spider out of the house.

One day we had a particularly large, hairy specimen crawl from behind a picture on the family room wall. Barb declined to capture it and in no uncertain terms delegated the job to me. Dutiful husband that I am, the task was quickly accomplished. Once outside the front door of our house, I decided to release our unwanted guest on top of a large plant Barb keeps there.

I felt pretty good as I dumped the little critter on all that greenery, saving his life and all. Wishing him a long and happy existence, I turned to go back into the house when the plant started shaking. No spider could cause all that commotion.

The shaking stopped and when I bent down to inspect the plant more closely, I saw a very large lizard looking up at me with the spider in his mouth. In just a few gulps, the lizard downed the spider. So much for my intervention in trying to save the life of our hairy house guest, right?

Coincidence? Fate? Destiny? It truly seemed that no matter what I did, my poor little old spider was not long for this world. The exact timing and the location of the critter’s release almost seemed choreographed to end the spider’s life and provide a meal for the lizard.

Beyond clearly pointing out to me the connectivity of all things, that sliver of life also dramatically showed me how little our human plans matter when other patterns of existence lurk just around the corner.

What do you think?

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If you are truly interested in paranormal phenomena, you might be interested in read my book, Carl Jung, Hauntings, and Paranormal Coincidences.  You can find it in most online bookstores. Listed below, however, are direct book links to some of the larger retail outlets in the English-speaking world:

Amazon.com, Amazon Canada, Amazon UK, Amazon India, Amazon Australia, Barnes and Noble, Books-A-Millon.

A scary paranormal event made my aunt and uncle wonder.

I’m willing to bet that if most people talked with members of their families, they would come up with stories of all sorts of paranormal activity. I’m not just talking about immediate families, I’m talking about grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.

In my case, my mom’s relatives were the ones who told such tales. For me, I found those stories so interesting because they came from people who never usually expressed an interest or even belief in such things.

Here’s a picture I took of Mom in St. Augustine with Matanzas Bay in the

background. I took her there before her death in 2007 to show her some of the locations I would be using in Book I of The St. Augustine Trilogy, Sliding Beneath the Surface. She was always fascinated by the paranormal

Her family all came from the New York City, Connecticut region. One summer when I was a teenager, we had a big family gathering and I got a chance to speak with one of her cousins and her husband. Both were involved with real estate and told a story about visiting a particular house they were trying to sell for some clients. It was nighttime and the owners were away.

The place was dark and they approached using flashlights. But just as they got to the front door, noises exploded from inside the house. Frightened and thinking vandals must be inside, they rushed back towards their car. They told me it sounded like a group of people was destroying everything they could find. As quickly as it started though, all those noises stopped.

After waiting a few minutes, they crept back up to house. No more sounds, and in fact, looking through the windows with their flashlights, they couldn’t see any damage. Thinking that rather odd, they decided to go in and look around. Pretty brave if you ask me, but they did it. Once inside, they found no damage whatsoever and nothing out of place. That frightened them even more than the sounds themselves and they had no explanation for what happened. Now we would probably identify such an experience as poltergeists.

So, the next time you have any kind of family gathering or reunion, ask people about their strange experiences. You might be very surprised with who comes up with some very weird but interesting tales.

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If you are turly interested in paranormal phenomena, you might be interested in read my book, Carl Jung, Hauntings, and Paranormal Coincidences.  You can find it in most online bookstores. Listed below, however, are direct book links to some of the larger retail outlets in the English speaking world:

Amazon.com, Amazon Canada, Amazon UK, Amazon India, Amazon Australia, Barnes and Noble, Kobo (Canada)

An investigation into paranormal events involving a family with a child as told by my friend, Peaches Veach. Peaches is the Director and Lead Investigator for California Paranormal Private Investigations (CPPI). 

Being an almost full time paranormal investigator for the past 5 years, I have been able to understand spirits a little more. Mostly they’re like us…they have feelings and when something upsets or startles them, I can sometimes feel that emotion when I’m near them. I’ve felt their anger, hurt, confusion, and joy.

During an investigation at a rather upscale home a few years  ago, another investigator had an “image” in her head of what the spirit looked like. When we went into the owner’s study, we noticed some pictures and the investigator said, “That’s him! That’s the guy I’ve been seeing!” When we spoke to the homeowner, he indicated that was his father, and that he had passed away nearly 30 years ago.

The activity in this home had started up about two and a half years ago and their nearly three year old daughter was seeing something in her bedroom which frightened her. She now would not sleep in her room.

We were told about the activity that happened in the nearly 5000 square foot home. I emphasize that the home was only four years old because many people believe a property needs to be very old or historic for anything ghostly to happen. This home was near native land, but after some research, we were told it was not an ancient Indian burial ground, as nearly all property is jokingly believed to be in California.

Once the investigator who recognized the man from a photo as the deceased grandfather, he was able to actually speak to  him. The spirit relayed information that there was a dark presence outside of the home, and he, the grandfather, was there to protect his new granddaughter.  We’ve found that spirits can appear when something notable happens in a person’s life—such as a crisis or a birth—and this spirit came calling when his granddaughter was born.

We told the spirit that he was actually scaring his granddaughter, because she didn’t know how to verbalize what she was seeing. The emotion I felt afterwards was so intense. My heart sank and I could almost feel the room become so pressurized I couldn’t breathe. Tears ran down my face. I told the grandfather spirit that he could stay, but he needed to keep his distance from the family since the granddaughter didn’t exactly understand why he was there.

The family was extremely grateful that we were able to find the reason for the haunting and talk a little sense into the spirit. Even though we knew why he was there, being able to make the daughter understand was going to be a different task for the family. They were okay with that, as long as they knew who or what was in their house.

This is the reason I’m a paranormal investigator. When I experienced paranormal happenings in my life while growing up, I didn’t have someone to contact in order to help me understand. To have situations like this, to actually feel what the spirit feels is something unique for me. Yeah, and this what keeps me searching for answers as to why spirits stay here and how we can learn to live in harmony with them.

Thanks so much Peaches. Great work and wonderful story.

Click here to see the CPPI website.

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If you would like to read more great stories about paranormal phenomena, you might be interested in checking out my book, Carl Jung, Hauntings, and Paranormal Coincidences.  You can find it in most online bookstores. Listed below, however, are direct book links to some of the larger retail outlets in the English-speaking world:

Amazon.com, Amazon Canada, Amazon UK, Amazon India, Amazon Australia, Barnes and Noble, Books-A-Million.

Have you ever been somewhere just at the right time when something happened? Later on, did you wondered how it was possible for you to be in that exact spot, at that precise instant? Just chance, some say while other point to fate, destiny or God’s will. Take your choice, right?

Well, for me, the longer I live, the more interconnected I feel to All That Is. In my view, those unseen linkages sometimes suddenly become apparent in such startling ways that I simply can’t chalk it up to “coincidence”. The great psychiatrist Carl Jung beleived such events had great validity  and even coined a word for them – sychronicity.

One such occurrence happened when I was visiting my mom at her home in the Melbourne, FL area. This was shortly before her death in 2007.

We were sitting out by the pool in her back yard having a snack and chatting. After having taken this picture, I put my camera down and for whatever reason, my gaze came to rest on the dock across the canal behind mom. You can probably just barely make it out behind the palm tree on the left.

As I looked, a woman came out of the house beyond the dock and walked out onto it.  Just as she got to the end of  the thing near a piling, that portion of the dock collapsed into the water. When the woman also fell into the water, I jumped to my feet, startling my mom. In that instant, I didn’t know if that woman needed help, if I should dive into the canal to assist her, or what.

Seconds later, as mom turned to look where I was staring, the woman crawled out of the water onto that badly tilted portion of the dock not underwater. Dripping wet, she scrambled to her feet and ran into her house. In the blink of an eye it was all over.

“Oh my God,” Mom said as she watched the woman climb out of the water and rush out of sight. As soon as I sat back down, with my heart racing, I told Mom how seconds before I “happened” to be looking in the exact direction of that event–right after having taken a picture of the scene where it would occur. We marveled at such a “coincidence” and I still do today.

My view is that when we experience such things, it’s simply an indicator that shows us the deeper, wiser portions of our selves. It’s a little flag that says, “Hey you! Don’t forget that under all that flesh, you are spiritual being linked to everything in existence.” Beyond that, we humans go wrong in two ways: (1) Ignoring such events and claiming they have no deeper meaning  or (2) Trying to assign an immediate and definitive meaning to what happened.

Only now, after all those years, can I see a possible meaning beyond the wake-up both mom and I received reminding us of our true nature.  Back then, I never, ever thought I would be blogging,  writing an online newsletter, and putting things on Facebook and Twitter. How things change, huh? Well, now this blog post will go on the Internet and in postings to those other social media outlets. Just maybe that dock collapse was meant  to be a wake-up call to others as well. Connectivity is an interesting thing, isn’t it?

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If you are truly interested in paranormal phenomena, you might be interested in read my book, Carl Jung, Hauntings, and Paranormal Coincidences.  You can find it in most online bookstores. Listed below, however, are direct book links to some of the larger retail outlets in the English-speaking world:

Amazon.com, Amazon Canada, Amazon UK, Amazon India, Amazon Australia, Barnes and Noble, Books-A-Millon.

After death experiences often bring the paranormal world that permeates our existence home to us in very startling ways. There are a lot of stories about such circumstances but one in particular has stayed with me for many years. Why? Because it was so startling and came from someone who witnessed it–a nurse.

I came by this testimonial when my step dad lay dying in a Central Florida hospital. His passing was long and difficult. Family members were stretched to their limits.The medical staff was wonderful, doing their best to help us understand what was going on and make us comfortable.

At one point, the only people in the room besides a nurse and me were my mother and my wife Barbara. We continually talked to my step dad, trying to ease his passage into the next world even though he was unconscious.

“Part of him knows you’re there,” the nurse said as she checked his vital signs yet once again.

“I guess you’ve seen a lot of this, huh?” I asked.

She looked at me, nodded and said, “Oh yeah. Too much of it if you want to know the truth. But then again, one case I had always sticks with me and gives me hope for us poor lost human beings.”

I encouraged her to tell us about it and she did.

“Well,” she said, “it was a night like this for another family. A young father had died and his family sat around his bed for a long time weeping and comforting each other. We let them stay as long as they wished. Every once in a while I would check on them to make sure they were OK.

“During one of those visits to the room is when it happened. Just as I walked in the young man who had died sat straight up in his bed with his eyes wide open. He looked at his wife who was holding his hand and said, “I’ve been to the other side but I’ve come back to tell you it’s OK. All is as it should be. Please don’t worry.” With that, he closed his eyes, collapsed and, well, died again.

“I’m telling you, that man was clinically dead the first time. There was no doubt about it.”

If you are truly interested in paranormal phenomena, you might be interested in read my book, Carl Jung, Hauntings, and Paranormal Coincidences.  You can find it in most online bookstores. Listed below, however, are direct book links to some of the larger retail outlets in the English speaking world:

Amazon.com, Amazon Canada, Amazon UK, Amazon India, Amazon Australia, Barnes and Noble.

Photographic evidence of a ghostly being aboard ship by my friend Peaches Veach from California Paranormal Private Investigations (CPPI).

Of all the locations I’ve visited and/or investigated, The Queen Mary in Long Beach, California is one of the most interesting. Back in the day, it was a luxury liner that was then converted into a troop transport ship during WWII.  Thousands of people are believed to have perished on or around the ship over the years. World renowned psychic Peter James believed there are close to 600 spirits wandering the ship.

The Queen Mary was bought by the City of Long Beach and turned into a floating hotel in 1967. It serves not only as a hotel, but also has restaurants, exhibits, and convention facilities. There are also a number of tours available to visitors. On one of those tours is where I had a paranormal encounter. Multiple parts of the ship are haunted.

We had taken one tour earlier in the day and it took us into the changing rooms of the first class swimming pool.  Several spirits are said to haunt this area. We had told the guide before the tour started that we were paranormal investigators so that he would understand why we’d have some pieces of equipment with us. There were almost enough of us to have our own private tour.

This little excursion was done in the dark and towards the end of it, we turned off our flashlights. That’s when the tour guide started talking about a possible male spirit being in that area, who he might be and why he might be there. When we talked about it later, a few of us agreed we felt the energy change all around us right at that moment. It’s hard to describe if you’ve never felt energy shift in such a way, but it’s much like how it feels when people have an argument in a room and you’re just standing there observing and feeling the tension.

For whatever reason, the tour guide sounded uncomfortable talking about this spirit. When he finished speaking, all was quiet for a while. Finally, someone asked a question but there was no response. Turning our flashlights back on, we realized the guide had left. We never did see him again.

We all decided to leave the room and I was the last one out. As we started moving, I felt a pressure on my back that was similar to having someone pushing me. I told my friends, “Move! Go! Go! Go! We’re being pushed out!” Another friend who has an intuitive “gift” also felt that the male spirit was upset and wanted us out.

Later in the day, we took another tour that’s really a “smoke and mirrors” event where they use all kinds of special effects. We had been told not to take flash photos since that would disorient everyone. As I snapped a photo without flash, I realized that I would have a blurry result due to camera shake. So I just dismissed what I had done and moved along with the group.

Original blurry photo of 3 people in the dark. Bright light at top is a bulb hanging from the ceiling. The white streak of light in the middle of the picture going across the woman is unidentified. Just above that streak, and below the woman’s head, is the small oval of a face that you can barely see.

A few days later, I was looking at my photos and came across a blurry picture. At first, I thought that I should just delete it. Then I noticed something strange. I showed my coworker, and she and I both gasped when we looked at it closer. To us, it looked like a head showing only one side of the face. This was the picture I had taken in the dark.

A closer, cropped view of the face.

We speculated as to what it might really be, but I knew exactly who could check it out for me. I have a friend by the name of Tony who is a retired mortician. He specializes in facial reconstruction. Tony has some forensic software that analyzes photos, including pixel count, color temp, etc. He can tell if a photo has been altered in any way. I’ve gotten to know Tony over the years, with all of the interesting photos I’ve sent him.

Tony’s enhancement of the previous photo to bring out the opposite side of the face. In this version of the picture, a shoulder below the face is clearly visible on the left.

Tony’s answer to this particular photo? “I don’t believe in ghosts, but you have something there. I just don’t know what it is.” He verified the photo had not been altered (I had taken it, so of course, I already knew that), and he took it a step further enhancing and removing certain color tones. He was able to digitally shift things around in order to show the other side of what we all believe is a face in the photo. To me, it looked like someone wearing an Elizabethan collar from the 16^th Century, which would be extremely weird to find here in the States.

Tony’ second enhancement, no color, cropped and enlarged. Look carefully.

Tony’s official opinion in the end was that what we were seeing was a  woman he believed to be between 40 and 60 years of age with her hair in an updo. This, he thinks, meant that in a different era, she was probably financially well off. The last thing he added was that she was staring right at me!

Tony and I have both studied this picture over the years and continue trying to figure out exactly whose face it is. After comparing it to many other photos, we have yet to find the answer. We’ve gone back to the Queen Mary several times since that original experience to try and find an answer but with no luck. One of my more intuitive friends said that whoever the person is in that picture, she will not appear again.  She got my attention the first time and is glad that I know she’s there. Even so, my quest to discover the identity of our mystery woman continues.

Fascinating, Peaches. Thanks so much.

Click here for the CPPI website.

Click here for the Queen Mary Website.

Click here for a video on the Queen Mary.

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If you would like to read more great stories about paranormal phenomena, you might be interested in checking out my book, Carl Jung, Hauntings, and Paranormal Coincidences.  You can find it in most online bookstores. Listed below, however, are direct book links to some of the larger retail outlets in the English-speaking world:

Amazon.com, Amazon Canada, Amazon UK, Amazon India, Amazon Australia, Barnes and Noble, Books-A-Million.

Amazon Australia, Barnes and Noble, Books-A-Million.

An investigation into extremely strange happenings in a historic gold mining town as told by my friend, Peaches Veach. Peaches is from California Paranormal Private Investigations (CPPI).

I have literally been to hundreds of places conducting paranormal investigations over the past six years. Only a handful of these locations, in my opinion, have been extremely active. Two of them that have grabbed my attention are Virginia City, and Goldfield—both in Nevada.

These two locations had a lot going on in the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries with regard to the gold and silver rushes. Both towns/camps swelled to tens of thousands of people in a short period of time and then shrank tremendously in just a few years. Goldfield is where Virgil Earp died and it is in this town that something happened to me.

Goldfield currently has a population of about 268 people.  It has the original jailhouse, courthouse, high school, and the Goldfield Hotel. Sort of a partial “ghost town”, this place definitely retains its Old West Charm. The people there are down to earth and like any small town, it has its own brand of political strangeness.

During a weekend in Goldfield, nine friends of mine and I conducted a investigation of two particular locations: the Nixon Building and Goldfield High School. This is probably one of those weekends that will stick with me for a very long time. Not only was it a lot of fun to take a paranormal road trip with my friends, but something very interesting occurred during our search for the paranormal at the Nixon Building

Back during the days of the old west, the Nixon Building was the communications center for the Goldfield Consolidated Mining Company. Judging by the setup inside the place, the ground floor was where miners cashed in their gold and used as a post office as well. There is a basement, which contains the building’s furnace, and it appears there were living quarters and workrooms on the upper floors.

We were able to check this building out during the day on Friday afternoon and then do the actual investigation later on in the evening. I need to tell you ahead of time, however, that in my review of all the photos and recordings from our time there, I didn’t find any actual hard evidence—things I could show you or play back for you. I’ll be checking it all again but that’s the result so far.

I’m saying this because I’m a pretty skeptical person and I take experiences people tell me about with a grain of salt. Most folks tend to exaggerate their claims a bit, so evidence is crucial. That being said, what actually happened to me at the Nixon Buildin in May of 2012 remains quite a mystery.

Our hostess for the night, a local female gunslinger, said she had experienced spirits in the building and I noticed in my night vision camera that her eyes seemed to be more “buggy” at night. The only paranormal reason I could think of was that someone was going to be possessed by the end of the evening. I really shouldn’t have even thought that to myself!

As we started checking things out on the second floor, another investigator said she felt something “zap” her, like in “zapped” by static electricity. It made her jump and stand away from me. She felt it was coming between the two of us. Just like with everything else, we so far have no photo or video evidence of anything touching this person.

Then later on when we were in one of the rooms on the third floor, I “heard” a woman sobbing. To be specific, that sound wasn’t actually audible. No, it was more like I sensed it inside my head.

That sobbing continued for several more minutes and I mentioned it to two other investigators. They said they also sensed/heard the crying. The word “mistress” also came through to me.

On that same floor, there is also a room with a workbench containing a great many tools. I was standing near the bench during a “spirit box session”. A spirit box is a radio modified to scan various frequencies. The idea is that spirits/entities try to communicate with our world through the static produced—white noise. This was clearly demonstrated in the movie by that same name, White Noise. Maybe you saw it.

I honestly can’t remember what happened in that room very well because a few minutes into the session, I started to feel extremely dizzy. I was seeing 3 and 4 of everything, and even when I closed my eyes, the room felt like it was spinning. I literally felt drunk or drugged, similar to the sensation of coming down from anesthesia. It got so bad, I couldn’t stand up straight. I mean, I actually had to grab onto a table so that I wouldn’t fall down.

After about 20 minutes, but what seemed like an eternity, I had to excuse myself and go downstairs. When I got there, I walked outside for a bit to calm down and ground myself.

After I finally settled down, I went back upstairs where everyone had gathered to play period music in order to attract the spirits. I sat on the floor up against a wall and closed my eyes, just listening. After about two minutes, I fell asleep with my recorder sitting on my leg. When I awoke, about 27 minutes had gone by. That told me how completely my experience of feeling drunk or drugged had wiped me out.

As of now, we still don’t know who the sobbing woman might have been, or if I was experiencing an event in her life.

I have never felt anything like that before! I know that we were at a higher elevation than what I’m used to, and I had more coffee than I normally drink, but seeing double and quadruple of everything around me was highly unusual.

A former team member mentioned to me on other occasions about how she felt like something was trying to get into her head. I wonder if this is what happened to me. I’d rather not experience that sensation again but if I do I’d better make sure there’s a couch nearby!

Have you ever experienced something like this? Please send a comment via the Share Your Comment box below this post. We’d love to hear from you!

To find Peaches and CPPI website on the Internet, click here.

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If you would like to read more great stories about paranormal phenomena, you might be interested in checking out my book, Carl Jung, Hauntings, and Paranormal Coincidences.  You can find it in most online bookstores. Listed below, however, are direct book links to some of the larger retail outlets in the English-speaking world:

Amazon.com, Amazon Canada, Amazon UK, Amazon India, Amazon Australia, Barnes and Noble, Books-A-Million.

This is a guest blog by my dear friend, Betty Howe, pictured here. She writes about a very strange but wondrous experience. I got to know this delightful lady many years ago when we both worked as school administrators here in the Central Florida area. Betty is one of the most intelligent, sober, honest, levelheaded, and no-nonsense people I know. That’s what makes her story all the more alluring. Here it is:

I’ve only shared this story with family members and a few close friends.  Most people would not have believed me anyway and others would have thought I was crazy, drunk or hallucinating.

It happened on a beautiful, spring day in a huge nature preserve east of Orlando. After checking with the park ranger, my traveling companion and I drove as far as we could, parked the car where the road ended, and used a picnic table to grab a quick bite of lunch. There was no one else around—just nature and us.

When we finished our meal, we began our exploration of the surrounding area.  Eventually, though, my friend and I ventured off in different directions. She was soon out of sight and I started following a small stream. All that running water seemed to hold a definite attraction for me so I just gave in to it and enjoyed myself immensely.

Very soon, however, everything changed. I noticed movement of some kind back in the woods on the other side of the stream so I stopped dead in my tracks.  Then out of the trees walked a magnificent white Pegasus making not one bit of sound. Yes, the winged horse of ancient Greek myth.

I can’t explain it to you but I felt no astonishment, fear or even curiosity. No. All I felt was peaceful acceptance of what I was observing. It just . . . seemed natural somehow and I had no need to understand the event unfolding before me.

The Pegasus took no notice of me whatsoever. With its wings folded, the creature simply walked to the water’s edge, lowered its head and drank from the stream. When it had had enough, it shook its head, turned around, and retreated back into the woods as quietly as it had appeared.

I offer you no explanation as to what I saw. I feel no need to do so. The only reason I’m telling this story publicly after all these years is because my friend, Doug Dillon, requested it of me. He seems to feel it might have some value and that’s good enough for me.

After Betty told me this story, I went to the Internet and looked up the creature she had seen. In that search, I discovered that Pegasus is associated with natural phenomena—mainly water.  Click here to see the same article. Betty had no knowledge of this particular aspect of Greek mythology.

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If you would like to read more great stories about paranormal phenomena, you might be interested in checking out my book, Carl Jung, Hauntings, and Paranormal Coincidences.  You can find it in most online bookstores. Listed below, however, are direct book links to some of the larger retail outlets in the English-speaking world:

Amazon.com, Amazon Canada, Amazon UK, Amazon India, Amazon Australia, Barnes and Noble, Books-A-Million.

Strings of odd coincidences create a fascinating paranormal pattern.

Back in 2009, my wife and I went to a concert at The Hard Rock Cafe here in the Orlando area. David Garrett, the great violinist was playing.

The guy is really terrific. He can shift from classical to rock and then into country in a matter of seconds.

In watching him though, my analytical mind started working overtime. Because the man moves that bow so incredibly fast, I wondered what temperatures his bow strings reached with all that friction. Then I started wondering if he replaced those bow strings before each concert to make sure they wouldn’t break.

Not satisfied with those mental meanderings, I continued to wonder if his bow strings broke very often during a concert and if that affected his performance greatly. Finally, I realized I wasn’t enjoying the show because of all that internal questioning.

As a result, I made a very concerted effort to focus just on the music. Didn’t happen. My obsession with the guy’s bowstring’s wouldn’t leave me and, in fact, they strengthened. That really irritated me because I can usually let my thoughts go when I tried but no this time. The compulsion was really getting to me.

In tremendous frustration, I immediately started working diligently to refocus my mind. The thing is, less than two minutes after launching into that effort, Garrett actually broke several bow strings. I couldn’t believe it but there they were just flailing away in the air as they guy continued to play. People all around me pointed and took pictures as Garrett courageously went on playing and ended that set with a flourish.

As soon as the music ended, he studied his broken bow-string, fondled them a bit, looked at the audience, grinned, shrugged, and then went on playing.

With all of my questions somewhat answered, I enjoyed the rest of the show and ignored the bow strings still flopping in the air.

My son, Greg Dillon, graciously allowed me to use the picture he took of a violin for this blog. It pays to have a professional photographer in the family. Thanks Greg. It fit perfectly.

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If you would like to read more great stories about paranormal phenomena, you might be interested in checking out my book, Carl Jung, Hauntings, and Paranormal Coincidences.  You can find it in most online bookstores. Listed below, however, are direct book links to some of the larger retail outlets in the English-speaking world:

Amazon.com, Amazon Canada, Amazon UK, Amazon India, Amazon Australia, Barnes and Noble, Books-A-Million.

Paranormal occurrences that affect physical things?

This story tells about two such events and they come directly from my own history. In fact, they were the sparks that put my wife Barbara and myself on a road to intense paranormal exploration. In fact, I wrote about those experiences in the book I co-authored with Barb titled, An Explosion of Being: An American Family’s Journey into the Psychic. So, instead of rewriting that material, I copied it directly from the book and reproduced it here.

You see, this all happened shortly after my dad died. I was in my early 30s and shattered by the loss of my father. As part of trying to help my mother settle Dad’s affairs, we were at her house when the first event occurred. Since Dad was a retired military officer, the Air Force had sent representatives to assist Mom in acquiring her benefits. We’ll pick up the story as those people arrive at the house.

“During one of those hectic days soon after Dad’s death, a shiny blue Air Force car pulled into the driveway of my parents’ home. Two very somber sergeants, well-practiced in the ways of grief and the details of military benefits, stepped out of the shimmering August heat into the coolness of the air conditioned house.

“Sid Brewer, a family friend and retired Air Force officer, was there to guide us through the detailed procedures. Sid and I sat facing the two sergeants over the dining room table, by then covered with documents. The exchange of necessary information droned on for a while, until my attention was diverted.

“‘Whoever is blowing that damned car horn had better cut it out,’ I thought angrily. The noise continued, until I finally got up and opened the front door. Now the sound blasted through the heat, further stirring my anger. No strange cars were visible, just the Air Force vehicle and Dad’s empty car parked under the oak tree a short distance away. The blowing horn was coming from Dad’s car! Sid and I opened the hood and pulled out the wires, resulting in exquisite silence. “Must have been the heat that set it off,” Sid commented. I agreed, but somehow the event jarred my already unsettled psyche.

“The next morning presented a raft of estate-settling tasks. My plans included using Dad’s Ford to make my rounds of the Social Security and V.A. offices, but I hated to drive without a horn. Just on the chance that the problem had rectified itself, I reattached the wires. No exploding repetition of yesterday’s noise, so with a couple of test honks, off I went to downtown Orlando and my list of appointments.

“The Social Security office was overflowing with people. When my turn finally came, the representative was helpful and efficient. Briefcase in hand, I was soon out the door, walking toward the parking lot. Dad’s car was angle-parked only a short distance from me, and in a few steps, I was directly in front of it. My mind was a jumble of sadness and financial details, when suddenly the car horn went off with another continuing blast that shook every fiber in my body.

“I was stunned. For an instant, I froze in mid-stride, and automatically looked for a driver sitting in the front seat. No, no one was there—just me and this crazy car blowing its brains out. Once the wires were disconnected I continued my errands but with an uneasiness that could not readily be put aside.”

After these two events, Barb, Mom and I wondered if just maybe Dad was trying to communicate with us. In the end, I rejected that possibility until I told my aunt and uncle about the car horn events during a phone conversation. Only then did they tell us they had actually seen dad in their living room on the day of his death.  They didn’t want to tell us because they didn’t think we would have believed them. They lived 1,2oo away.

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If you would like to read more great stories about paranormal phenomena, you might be interested in checking out my book, Carl Jung, Hauntings, and Paranormal Coincidences.  You can find it in most online bookstores. Listed below, however, are direct book links to some of the larger retail outlets in the English-speaking world:

Amazon.com, Amazon Canada, Amazon UK, Amazon India, Amazon Australia, Barnes and Noble, Books-A-Million.

An investigation into paranormal events involving a family with a child as told by my friend, Peaches Veach. Peaches is the Director and Lead Investigator for California Paranormal Private Investigations (CPPI). 

Being an almost full time paranormal investigator for the past 5 years, I have been able to understand spirits a little more. Mostly they’re like us…they have feelings and when something upsets or startles them, I can sometimes feel that emotion when I’m near them. I’ve felt their anger, hurt, confusion, and joy.

During an investigation at a rather upscale home a few years  ago, another investigator had an “image” in her head of what the spirit looked like. When we went into the owner’s study, we noticed some pictures and the investigator said, “That’s him! That’s the guy I’ve been seeing!” When we spoke to the homeowner, he indicated that was his father, and that he had passed away nearly 30 years ago.

The activity in this home had started up about two and a half years ago and their nearly three year old daughter was seeing something in her bedroom which frightened her. She now would not sleep in her room.

We were told about the activity that happened in the nearly 5000 square foot home. I emphasize that the home was only four years old because many people believe a property needs to be very old or historic for anything ghostly to happen. This home was near native land, but after some research, we were told it was not an ancient Indian burial ground, as nearly all property is jokingly believed to be in California.

Once the investigator who recognized the man from a photo as the deceased grandfather, he was able to actually speak to  him. The spirit relayed information that there was a dark presence outside of the home, and he, the grandfather, was there to protect his new granddaughter.  We’ve found that spirits can appear when something notable happens in a person’s life—such as a crisis or a birth—and this spirit came calling when his granddaughter was born.

We told the spirit that he was actually scaring his granddaughter, because she didn’t know how to verbalize what she was seeing. The emotion I felt afterwards was so intense. My heart sank and I could almost feel the room become so pressurized I couldn’t breathe. Tears ran down my face. I told the grandfather spirit that he could stay, but he needed to keep his distance from the family since the granddaughter didn’t exactly understand why he was there.

The family was extremely grateful that we were able to find the reason for the haunting and talk a little sense into the spirit. Even though we knew why he was there, being able to make the daughter understand was going to be a different task for the family. They were okay with that, as long as they knew who or what was in their house.

This is the reason I’m a paranormal investigator. When I experienced paranormal happenings in my life while growing up, I didn’t have someone to contact in order to help me understand. To have situations like this, to actually feel what the spirit feels is something unique for me. Yeah, and this what keeps me searching for answers as to why spirits stay here and how we can learn to live in harmony with them.

Thanks so much Peaches. Great work and wonderful story.

Click here to see the CPPI website.

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If you would like to read more great stories about paranormal phenomena, you might be interested in checking out my book, Carl Jung, Hauntings, and Paranormal Coincidences.  You can find it in most online bookstores. Listed below, however, are direct book links to some of the larger retail outlets in the English-speaking world:

Amazon.com, Amazon Canada, Amazon UK, Amazon India, Amazon Australia, Barnes and Noble, Books-A-Million.

Have you ever been somewhere just at the right time when something happened? Later on, did you wondered how it was possible for you to be in that exact spot, at that precise instant? Just chance, some say while other point to fate, destiny or God’s will. Take your choice, right?

Well, for me, the longer I live, the more interconnected I feel to All That Is. In my view, those unseen linkages sometimes suddenly become apparent in such startling ways that I simply can’t chalk it up to “coincidence”.

One such occurrence happened when I was visiting my mom at her home in the Melbourne, FL area. This was shortly before her death in 2007.

We were sitting out by the pool in her back yard having a snack and chatting. After having taken this picture, I put my camera down and for whatever reason, my gaze came to rest on the dock across the canal behind mom. You can probably just barely make it out behind the palm tree on the left.

As I looked, a woman came out of the house beyond the dock and walked out onto it.  Just as she got to the end of  the thing near a piling, that portion of the dock collapsed into the water. When the woman also fell into the water, I jumped to my feet, startling my mom. In that instant, I didn’t know if that woman needed help, if I should dive into the canal to assist her, or what.

Seconds later, as mom turned to look where I was staring, the woman crawled out of the water onto that badly tilted portion of the dock not underwater. Dripping wet, she scrambled to her feet and ran into her house. In the blink of an eye it was all over.

“Oh my God,” Mom said as she watched the woman climb out of the water and rush out of sight. As soon as I sat back down, with my heart racing, I told Mom how seconds before I “happened” to be looking in the exact direction of that event–right after having taken a picture of the scene where it would occur. We marveled at such a “coincidence” and I still do today.

My view is that when we experience such things, it’s simply an indicator that shows us the deeper, wiser portions of our selves. It’s a little flag that says, “Hey you! Don’t forget that under all that flesh, you are spiritual being linked to everything in existence.” Beyond that, we humans go wrong in two ways: (1) Ignoring such events and claiming they have no deeper meaning  or (2) Trying to assign an immediate and definitive meaning to what happened.

Only now, after all those years, can I see a possible meaning beyond the wake-up both mom and I received reminding us of our true nature.  Back then, I never, ever thought I would be blogging,  writing an online newsletter, and putting things on Facebook and Twitter. How things change, huh? Well, now this blog post will go on the Internet and in postings to those other social media outlets. Just maybe that dock collapse was meant  to be a wake-up call to others as well. Connectivity is an interesting thing, isn’t it?

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If you would like to read more great stories about paranormal phenomena, you might be interested in checking out my book, Carl Jung, Hauntings, and Paranormal Coincidences.  You can find it in most online bookstores. Listed below, however, are direct book links to some of the larger retail outlets in the English-speaking world:

Amazon.com, Amazon Canada, Amazon UK, Amazon India, Amazon Australia, Barnes and Noble, Books-A-Million.

Dreams and their connection to other realms. That’s what this posting is about and it comes to you from a trusted guest blogger.This person, who will remain anonymous, is very analytical and never accepts things on face value. Here’s his story:

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In my dream, I was approached by a woman in some non-distinct place, other than that the light was very dim, almost like a candlelight supper.

I knew she looked familiar, but couldn’t make out her face until she came to a stop right in front of me.

That was when I realized she looked familiar because she was my grandmother, who had succumb to cancer back in the mid 90’s while I was in the navy and out to sea for 6 months, so I never had the chance to see her in her final days, or go to her funeral.

Gram was just simply gone when I got back for some leave time.

Anyway, the gram I was face to face with now was a beautiful young woman and just beaming with love. We embraced in a hug, she then held me out at arm’s length, and told me psychically “just LOOK at how well you’re doing!” With that, she gave me the biggest kiss on the cheek you can imagine, and it was over.

For me it was a no brainer that this was a direct encounter, especially being that during this particular period of time I had been having numerous lucid dreams and out of body experiences. What was the purpose? Dunno. Maybe sometimes these events happens just for the sake of them happening, the images and feelings to be stored in the bank of our subconscious of things that we now “know” are real, and don’t have to believe or take anyone else’s word for any more. Maybe they’re the well timed and needed encouragement we all need from time to time on this tough road of Samsara we trod together. Or, maybe she just wanted to say hello…LOL. Maybe all three, or more.

What I DO know is there are infinite realms of existence beyond our nearly blind 5 physical senses, that we are a part of them, they are a part of us, and by birthright we are free to explore them if we so choose. All of us.

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Thanks so much for sharing that. What a great experience. Dreams seem to be a very special meeting place for us to connect with those who have gone before us.

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If you would like to read more great stories about paranormal phenomena, you might be interested in checking out my book, Carl Jung, Hauntings, and Paranormal Coincidences.  You can find it in most online bookstores. Listed below, however, are direct book links to some of the larger retail outlets in the English-speaking world:

Amazon.com, Amazon Canada, Amazon UK, Amazon India, Amazon Australia, Barnes and Noble, Books-A-Million.

Are all coincidences just random events? Are they sometimes happenings with connections that go well beyond those isolated occurrences? My stance as forcefully stated in my young adult novel, Sliding Beneath the Surface, is that the events of our lives are tightly linked to each other in ways we will never understand.

Every once in a while though, those linkages are so strong that they stand out like a road map. Here is an example.

I live in Florida with my wife Barbara and we have more than our share of spiders. The picture of one you see here came from my daughter Nicole Dillon’s photo gallery. Beautiful specimen, if you like such creatures.

Of course, these spiders sometimes decide to join us inside our home and they can be fairly large. They are definitely unwanted guests. Even so, our response is to try and capture them, if possible, and give them another chance, outside.

Over the years we’ve gotten pretty adept at placing a drinking glass over each intruder, slipping a piece of cardboard under the glass, and then carrying glass, cardboard and spider out of the house.

One day we had a particularly large, hairy specimen crawl from behind a picture on the family room wall. Barb declined to capture it and in no uncertain terms delegated the job to me. Dutiful husband that I am, the task was quickly accomplished. Once outside the front door of our house, I decided to release our unwanted guest on top of a large plant Barb keeps there.

I felt pretty good as I dumped the little critter on all that greenery, saving his life and all. Wishing him a long and happy existence, I turned to go back into the house when the plant started shaking. No spider could cause all that commotion.

The shaking stopped and when I bent down to inspect the plant more closely, I saw a very large lizard looking up at me with the spider in his mouth. In just a few gulps, the lizard downed the spider. So much for my intervention in trying to save the life of our hairy house guest, right?

Coincidence? Fate? Destiny? It truly seemed that no matter what I did, my poor little old spider was not long for this world. The exact timing and the location of the critter’s release almost seemed choreographed to end the spider’s life and provide a meal for the lizard.

Beyond clearly pointing out to me the connectivity of all things, that sliver of life also dramatically showed me how little our human plans matter when other patterns of existence lurk just around the corner.

What do you think?

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If you would like to read more great stories about paranormal phenomena, you might be interested in checking out my book, Carl Jung, Hauntings, and Paranormal Coincidences.  You can find it in most online bookstores. Listed below, however, are direct book links to some of the larger retail outlets in the English-speaking world:

Amazon.com, Amazon Canada, Amazon UK, Amazon India, Amazon Australia, Barnes and Noble, Books-A-Million.

Photographic evidence of a ghostly being aboard ship by my friend Peaches Veach from California Paranormal Private Investigations (CPPI).

Of all the locations I’ve visited and/or investigated, The Queen Mary in Long Beach, California is one of the most interesting. Back in the day, it was a luxury liner that was then converted into a troop transport ship during WWII.  Thousands of people are believed to have perished on or around the ship over the years. World renowned psychic Peter James believed there are close to 600 spirits wandering the ship.

The Queen Mary was bought by the City of Long Beach and turned into a floating hotel in 1967. It serves not only as a hotel, but also has restaurants, exhibits, and convention facilities. There are also a number of tours available to visitors. On one of those tours is where I had a paranormal encounter. Multiple parts of the ship are haunted.

We had taken one tour earlier in the day and it took us into the changing rooms of the first class swimming pool.  Several spirits are said to haunt this area. We had told the guide before the tour started that we were paranormal investigators so that he would understand why we’d have some pieces of equipment with us. There were almost enough of us to have our own private tour.

This little excursion was done in the dark and towards the end of it, we turned off our flashlights. That’s when the tour guide started talking about a possible male spirit being in that area, who he might be and why he might be there. When we talked about it later, a few of us agreed we felt the energy change all around us right at that moment. It’s hard to describe if you’ve never felt energy shift in such a way, but it’s much like how it feels when people have an argument in a room and you’re just standing there observing and feeling the tension.

For whatever reason, the tour guide sounded uncomfortable talking about this spirit. When he finished speaking, all was quiet for a while. Finally, someone asked a question but there was no response. Turning our flashlights back on, we realized the guide had left. We never did see him again.

We all decided to leave the room and I was the last one out. As we started moving, I felt a pressure on my back that was similar to having someone pushing me. I told my friends, “Move! Go! Go! Go! We’re being pushed out!” Another friend who has an intuitive “gift” also felt that the male spirit was upset and wanted us out.

Later in the day, we took another tour that’s really a “smoke and mirrors” event where they use all kinds of special effects. We had been told not to take flash photos since that would disorient everyone. As I snapped a photo without flash, I realized that I would have a blurry result due to camera shake. So I just dismissed what I had done and moved along with the group.

Original blurry photo of 3 people in the dark. Bright light at top is a bulb hanging from the ceiling. The white streak of light in the middle of the picture going across the woman is unidentified. Just above that streak, and below the woman’s head, is the small oval of a face that you can barely see.

A few days later, I was looking at my photos and came across a blurry picture. At first, I thought that I should just delete it. Then I noticed something strange. I showed my coworker, and she and I both gasped when we looked at it closer. To us, it looked like a head showing only one side of the face. This was the picture I had taken in the dark.

A closer, cropped view of the face.

We speculated as to what it might really be, but I knew exactly who could check it out for me. I have a friend by the name of Tony who is a retired mortician. He specializes in facial reconstruction. Tony has some forensic software that analyzes photos, including pixel count, color temp, etc. He can tell if a photo has been altered in any way. I’ve gotten to know Tony over the years, with all of the interesting photos I’ve sent him.

Tony’s enhancement of the previous photo to bring out the opposite side of the face. In this version of the picture, a shoulder below the face is clearly visible on the left.

Tony’s answer to this particular photo? “I don’t believe in ghosts, but you have something there. I just don’t know what it is.” He verified the photo had not been altered (I had taken it, so of course, I already knew that), and he took it a step further enhancing and removing certain color tones. He was able to digitally shift things around in order to show the other side of what we all believe is a face in the photo. To me, it looked like someone wearing an Elizabethan collar from the 16^th Century, which would be extremely weird to find here in the States.

Tony’ second enhancement, no color, cropped and enlarged. Look carefully.

Tony’s official opinion in the end was that what we were seeing was a  woman he believed to be between 40 and 60 years of age with her hair in an updo. This, he thinks, meant that in a different era, she was probably financially well off. The last thing he added was that she was staring right at me!

Tony and I have both studied this picture over the years and continue trying to figure out exactly whose face it is. After comparing it to many other photos, we have yet to find the answer. We’ve gone back to the Queen Mary several times since that original experience to try and find an answer but with no luck. One of my more intuitive friends said that whoever the person is in that picture, she will not appear again.  She got my attention the first time and is glad that I know she’s there. Even so, my quest to discover the identity of our mystery woman continues.

Fascinating, Peaches. Thanks so much.

Click here for the CPPI website.

Click here for the Queen Mary Website.

Click here for a video on the Queen Mary.

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If you would like to read more great stories about paranormal phenomena, you might be interested in checking out my book, Carl Jung, Hauntings, and Paranormal Coincidences.  You can find it in most online bookstores. Listed below, however, are direct book links to some of the larger retail outlets in the English-speaking world:

Amazon.com, Amazon Canada, Amazon UK, Amazon India, Amazon Australia, Barnes and Noble, Books-A-Million.

An investigation into extremely strange happenings in a historic gold mining town as told by my friend, Peaches Veach. Peaches is from California Paranormal Private Investigations (CPPI).

I have literally been to hundreds of places conducting paranormal investigations over the past six years. Only a handful of these locations, in my opinion, have been extremely active. Two of them that have grabbed my attention are Virginia City, and Goldfield—both in Nevada.

These two locations had a lot going on in the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries with regard to the gold and silver rushes. Both towns/camps swelled to tens of thousands of people in a short period of time and then shrank tremendously in just a few years. Goldfield is where Virgil Earp died and it is in this town that something happened to me.

Goldfield currently has a population of about 268 people.  It has the original jailhouse, courthouse, high school, and the Goldfield Hotel. Sort of a partial “ghost town”, this place definitely retains its Old West Charm. The people there are down to earth and like any small town, it has its own brand of political strangeness.

During a weekend in Goldfield, nine friends of mine and I conducted a investigation of two particular locations: the Nixon Building and Goldfield High School. This is probably one of those weekends that will stick with me for a very long time. Not only was it a lot of fun to take a paranormal road trip with my friends, but something very interesting occurred during our search for the paranormal at the Nixon Building

Back during the days of the old west, the Nixon Building was the communications center for the Goldfield Consolidated Mining Company. Judging by the setup inside the place, the ground floor was where miners cashed in their gold and used as a post office as well. There is a basement, which contains the building’s furnace, and it appears there were living quarters and workrooms on the upper floors.

We were able to check this building out during the day on Friday afternoon and then do the actual investigation later on in the evening. I need to tell you ahead of time, however, that in my review of all the photos and recordings from our time there, I didn’t find any actual hard evidence—things I could show you or play back for you. I’ll be checking it all again but that’s the result so far.

I’m saying this because I’m a pretty skeptical person and I take experiences people tell me about with a grain of salt. Most folks tend to exaggerate their claims a bit, so evidence is crucial. That being said, what actually happened to me at the Nixon Buildin in May of 2012 remains quite a mystery.

Our hostess for the night, a local female gunslinger, said she had experienced spirits in the building and I noticed in my night vision camera that her eyes seemed to be more “buggy” at night. The only paranormal reason I could think of was that someone was going to be possessed by the end of the evening. I really shouldn’t have even thought that to myself!

As we started checking things out on the second floor, another investigator said she felt something “zap” her, like in “zapped” by static electricity. It made her jump and stand away from me. She felt it was coming between the two of us. Just like with everything else, we so far have no photo or video evidence of anything touching this person.

Then later on when we were in one of the rooms on the third floor, I “heard” a woman sobbing. To be specific, that sound wasn’t actually audible. No, it was more like I sensed it inside my head.

That sobbing continued for several more minutes and I mentioned it to two other investigators. They said they also sensed/heard the crying. The word “mistress” also came through to me.

On that same floor, there is also a room with a workbench containing a great many tools. I was standing near the bench during a “spirit box session”. A spirit box is a radio modified to scan various frequencies. The idea is that spirits/entities try to communicate with our world through the static produced—white noise. This was clearly demonstrated in the movie by that same name, White Noise. Maybe you saw it.

I honestly can’t remember what happened in that room very well because a few minutes into the session, I started to feel extremely dizzy. I was seeing 3 and 4 of everything, and even when I closed my eyes, the room felt like it was spinning. I literally felt drunk or drugged, similar to the sensation of coming down from anesthesia. It got so bad, I couldn’t stand up straight. I mean, I actually had to grab onto a table so that I wouldn’t fall down.

After about 20 minutes, but what seemed like an eternity, I had to excuse myself and go downstairs. When I got there, I walked outside for a bit to calm down and ground myself.

After I finally settled down, I went back upstairs where everyone had gathered to play period music in order to attract the spirits. I sat on the floor up against a wall and closed my eyes, just listening. After about two minutes, I fell asleep with my recorder sitting on my leg. When I awoke, about 27 minutes had gone by. That told me how completely my experience of feeling drunk or drugged had wiped me out.

As of now, we still don’t know who the sobbing woman might have been, or if I was experiencing an event in her life.

I have never felt anything like that before! I know that we were at a higher elevation than what I’m used to, and I had more coffee than I normally drink, but seeing double and quadruple of everything around me was highly unusual.

A former team member mentioned to me on other occasions about how she felt like something was trying to get into her head. I wonder if this is what happened to me. I’d rather not experience that sensation again but if I do I’d better make sure there’s a couch nearby!

Have you ever experienced something like this? Please send a comment via the Share Your Comment box below this post. We’d love to hear from you!

To find Peaches and CPPI website on the Internet, click here.

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If you would like to read more great stories about paranormal phenomena, you might be interested in checking out my book, Carl Jung, Hauntings, and Paranormal Coincidences.  You can find it in most online bookstores. Listed below, however, are direct book links to some of the larger retail outlets in the English-speaking world:

Amazon.com, Amazon Canada, Amazon UK, Amazon India, Amazon Australia, Barnes and Noble, Books-A-Million.