Posts made in 2011
That lion
Tweets spread quickly today after nationalrainenq, the twitter account of ‘National Rail’, tweeted ’Passengers are currently unable to alight from trains at Shepley due to reports by police of a lion in the area.’
Inspector Carlton Young, of West Yorkshire Police, said: “We’ve had unconfirmed reports of a lion or a lion cub in the area. We’ve had officers looking around. At the moment we’ve had nothing confirmed and we’ve not located anyone who is claiming to have lost an animal.”
Officers believe the woman – who claimed to have seen a lion on Penistone Road, Shepley – was a genuine caller. Around 12 officers were dispatched to look for a lion along with a police helicopter.
Insp Young added that the search would be resumed on Monday if there were any more reports.
It’s not unusual for people to think they’ve seen something that looks like a big cat. It happens quite often and I have blogged before about my research into a case of such a thing happening in Wiltshire recently.
Often the reports of big cats are misidentifications of other animals as big cats, such as large dogs or actual domestic cats (which was the case with the big cat spotted in the village I grew up in. A photo taken of a cat in a field that was reported to be a panther was actually a domestic cat), or sometimes the cats can be actual big cats that may have escaped or been illegally released from a private collection.
The interesting thing that happens once these cases hit the newspapers though is a sort of echo effect that sees people interpret something they see as a big cat when they normally wouldn’t have done. The recent case of ‘The beast of Trowbridge‘ was a great example of this.
I myself fell victim to the echo effect created by the reporting of The Beast of Trowbridge after seeing a black animal running along the canal near my home, I remember being so shocked I couldn’t move as I thought ‘oh my god! I’ve seen the cat!‘. A few seconds passed and the ‘cat’ came back into my view and I realised it was actually a black whippet off of its lead. I haven’t ever been as scared as I was in those few moments. Had I not stuck around to see it again and recognise it as a whippet I would probably still believe I had seen a panther yards from my home.
I am not denying that there are big cats in the wilds of England, in fact it’s very likely that there are, however there is also no denying that the way that cat sightings are reported in the media has a lot to do with the amount of cat sightings that are reported. Not only that, but I can remember a ten year old Hayley Stevens being terrified of going outside after it was reported in the local paper that a panther had been captured on camera in the village she grew up in…
p.s. don’t panic. IF a big cat is out there, they’re usually quite elusive creatures that wont bother you unless you bother them or make them feel threatened. Big cats also have large territories, so several sightings could actually be just one cat rather than loads.
My newest ghost gadget!
Today a Ghost Laser Grid pen arrived in the post and I have to admit it’s a pretty awesome little laser pen and quite fun to play with, however, as I’ve blogged before, this is really useless as a paranormal research gadget. Rather than turning the lights off and putting a ghost laser grid pen on in the room so that you might see some ghosts, just keep the lights on. It makes much more sense.
To see the video results click here.
Criticisms of Project Barnum
Today the ‘Strange Quarks’ podcast released an episode in which Project Barnum was discussed and criticised. I wanted to address the points raised in the podcast.
1 – Simon Singh doesn’t lead Project Barnum as claimed in the podcast by Martin Robbins. I do.
Simon helped to form the idea of the petition, but everything else has been me with the help of people like Tannice Pendegrass, Keir Lidde, Simon Clare and a few others. That is all over the Project Barnum website and isn’t hard to find…
2 – Deobrah Hyde split Project Barnum (PB) into two ‘halves’. One half being where PB aims to spread information and inform people on how one might be tricked and how con artists use certain tricks to appear psychic which helps people make their own choices. The other half being where we “try and influence theatre overheads to a degree where they would not put on shows” which she thinks is aiming at “the distribution of a certain world view.”
The petition was a small part of what PB is about and not ‘half’ of what we do. The petition was asking theatres to reconsider hosting shows that are, by their very nature, misleading and upsetting to many. It wasn’t trying to censor people, it was simply asking “is this appropriate?”
The petition led to us being able to understand the extent to which theatres use ‘entertainment only’ disclaimers which, after a little research on our part, we have been able to advise people don’t mean very much at all (e.g. just because a psychic claims to be for entertainment purposes only doesn’t mean you can’t ask for your money back if you think you’ve been misled by them – learn more here.)
No psychic shows were cancelled, and we didn’t think they would be, we were really using that petition to demonstrate how strongly people felt about the subject, and also to discover the extent to which theatres hide behind useless, misleading ‘entertainment purposes’ disclaimers.
3 – Martin Robbins says he has a problem with the way in which the term “fraud” has been banded around. I don’t know if this was in regard to PB, or whether it was a general observation – but I will just point out that PB has always clearly stated on the website and elsewhere that we’re not interested in accusing people of fraud or cheating -we’re interested in helping people work out for themselves if they’re being misled or not.
PB has never used the term ‘fraud’ in relation to anyone. We list some examples on the site of mediums and psychics who have been documented as cheating in certain examples (with evidence to back those examples up), or accused of cheating in case of Sally Morgan.
It is concerning that basic information about Project Barnum, that is easily accessible, was not researched before the episode was aired.
Sally Morgans phone number
Do you want to know Sally Morgans phone number?
Why?
What purpose could that serve unless you’re after one of her readings? Some of those who do not believe she is psychics have been posting her email address and her phone number on twitter without also posting an intention (i.e. phone her up and ask her xyz). It’s sinister and bullying behaviour and it serves absolutely no purpose.
Why would somebody that you criticise listen to you if you resort to intimidating, harassing behaviour such as encouraging people to phone her up en masse? Why would anybody listen to anything that people are saying about Sally Morgan when those who purport to be saying it (i.e. ‘the skeptics) seem to be loosing any dignity and self control and doing this sort of thing?
It’s pathetic and shameful, and anyone who tries to defend such an action in the comments to this blog shouldn’t bother.
One twitter account even went as far as to detail the birth date of the lawyer who has been involved in a heated discussion with Simon Singh recently. I don’t understand what purpose that serves other than to intimidate or harass. Maybe someone can clue me in.
I didn’t fully agree with the challenge issued to Sally Morgan on Halloween by Simon Singh, the Merseyside Skeptics, the JREF with the help of Professor Chris French – but after speaking to Chris about the actual test, and Simon in person about the intentions and ideas behind the challenge I can see that there is something that can be achieved with it, now that it is an annual event.
This publishing of private details is nothing to do with the challenge, it’s just an example of those who can’t even try to achieve something worthwhile muddying the word ‘skepticism’ and making things so much more difficult for those who do have good intentions.
Now Sally Morgan and her lawyer have a legitimate excuse not to get involved with any sort of testing. “People have been handing out our personal details online and we will not engage with these people”.
She wasn’t going to engage with skeptics anyway, having issued a challenge herself recently that skeptics should try to disprove her abilities, which was an unreasonable excuse. Now she doesn’t need to resort to unreasonable excuses – she has a reasonable one.
Those of you who posted the phone numbers and emails, or even retweeted them… you fail.
My adventure with the ghost of Tantallon Castle
So I conquered a castle. As you do. It felt like I did, or at least that a lot of energy was put into getting to the castle which I see as equal to conquering it – even though I wasn’t invading as such.
It was a 3 mile walk, okay? It took 1 hour and 15 minutes to get there and it was “enjoyable” (or so I’m told. I didn’t find that part enjoyable, but rather, painful due to a sore leg and heavy handbag.) I had been told by Ashley Pryce that there was a bus to the castle that we could jump on from the train station in North Berwick, but there wasn’t. Hmmph.
I was with Ash, Keir Liddle from Edinburgh Skeptics, and Adam Cuerdan whom I have often spoken to online, and although it was painful to walk the whole 3 miles along pavements, roads and grassy banks, it was pretty stunning to look out over the coast the whole way (except that bit where Keir took us on a detour around some tennis courts for some reason…). I also nearly wet myself at one point when Ash decided to leap into oncoming traffic to save his bottle of coca cola. That’s another story though.
Thank you, Adam!
We soon arrived at the castle and all was forgiven as we sat down for a cake break (you all have those, right?). Adam had provided the most delicious cakes and we used them to replenish our energy and moods before descending on the castle to see if we could recreate the famous Tantallon Castle Ghost photo.
For those who don’t know, the Tantallon ghost photo was taken by a visitor to the castle who caught something in one of the upper exposed doorways that he hadn’t remembered seeing at the time. Unsure of what it was he asked for other opinions and this soon snowballed into a ghost story.
Tantallon castle is stunning, with stunning views of the sea and surrounding coast. As we arrived at the castle there were strong winds and a hint of rain and a sky that was growing moodier by the second – it was the perfect weather for visiting a castle to investigate a ghost.
The picture certainly captured the imagination of many and Professor Richard Wiseman has written a great piece here about his exploration into the ghost. Richard was able to recreate the photo by kneeling next to the safety rail/grating up there, but many say that this wasn’t a perfect recreation as he was kneeling when the original ‘thing’ wasn’t.
One hypothesis is that it’s a person who was walking past the doorway at the time the photo was taken, and another is that it’s exposed brickwork causing an illusion as the sunlight shines onto it from another light source – perhaps from behind or to the side.
Having explored the area in which the ‘ghost’ was photographed I can see the possibility that it could be the light hitting the stone work. There are two doorways that lead into that little landing area, and the staircase carries on up to the next level, and half way up these stairs is a window.
I couldn’t work out which stones could cause the illusion though, but I know that’s the problem with such illusions – it’s hard to work out what is causing them sometimes.
Anyway, we decided to explore the other hypothesis too and Adam climbed up to the level the ‘ghost’ was photographed on, as the rest of us stayed on the ground floor. As Adam was wearing a dark coat and hat he soon faded into the shadows and it was easy to see how someone could be mistaken for something odd had you not known they were there. The picture below shows Adam, it is blurred as it is a still from the video further down – and although not in the exact position the ‘ghost’ was in, in the original photo, I think there is a likeness.
Ash Pryce filmed the recreation and you can watch it below. I am recording audio on my Iphone throughout, in case you wondered why I’m holding on to it so much – I’m not showing it off, honest!
When Professor Wiseman conducted his recreation he knelt on the floor and people claimed that it wasn’t a true recreation of the ‘apparition’ which suggested it being a person was maybe not as likely. However, with the recreation we conducted while at the castle I think that it is likely that it was a person walking past that area. Had Wiseman stood further back on the landing it would have created the same effect.
I am not convinced that the original photo contains anything paranormal – and it appears that those from the castle and nearby are of a similar opinion – interestingly, talking to those who have studied the photo previously to my visit there, the person who took the original photo didn’t think it was a ghost either.
The pareidolia hypothesis is still valid, in my opinion, and cannot be ruled out unless the landing area is observed in various weather conditions throughout the day to see the sort of light being cast against those stones. However, after seeing Adam up on the landing I do think it is more likely that a tourist was passing through the landing area and out through the door to the left of the window, that leads to an outside area of the castle.
If you get to visit Tantallon castle then you should do so. It’s certainly a beautiful place with stunning views. I miss it already.
Thank you to the Edinburgh Skeptics for making the visit possible.
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