; Phantoms and Monsters: Pulse of the Paranormal

Monday, March 05, 2012

Just the Facts?: Mumbai 'Monkey Men' -- Saint's Heart Stolen -- UFO Close Encounter Causes Sunburn


Police crack down on recent 'Monkey Men' rumor

The Mumbai Police have finally cracked the whip on rumours about ‘monkey men’ and the ‘chaddi baniyan gang’ floated in city’s suburbs, by arresting 72 people for allegedly spreading the rumours.

Although the East Region police have made the arrests, mostly of local residents, the West and North Region police stations are yet to register a single case - in spite of a death in Kandivali in a stampede-like-situation sparked of by an alleged sighting of a ‘money man’.

According to Quiser Khalid, additional commissioner of police (East Region), 27 offences have been registered against people for spreading rumours and creating fear and panic.

“We traced the pranksters and arrested them,” said Khalid. “After the arrests, the rumours have died down considerably,” he added.

Sanjay Shintre, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone 7) claimed that these rumours originated during the recently held Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections, and have died down since.

Shintre said during the BMC election, due to heavy bandobast, the police did not allow political party members to sit idle on roads and streets. “In order to be on streets and restrict other party members from entering their locality, party members began spreading such rumours. They told the residents and the police that they were on the streets for patrolling and securing the locality,” Shintre said.

The police received many complaints about people spotting men from the ‘chaddi baniyan’ gang or the ‘monkey man’. “We visited the spots where a person claimed to have spotted the monkey man, many entirely denied the claim. We have arrested such people,” Shintre said.

When contacted about the rumours also allegedly floating in areas from Goregaon to Borivali, Additional Commissioner of Police (North Region) Ramrao Pawar said the police had not got any complaint as yet. - indianexpress

NOTE: Is it just a rumor? Bhootbilli: Has the Monkey Man Returned?...Lon

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Saint's ancient heart stolen from Dublin cathedral

Somewhere in Ireland, a burglar has the heart of a saint.

Officials at Christ Church Cathedral in Dublin said Sunday they're distraught and perplexed over the theft of the church's most precious relic: the preserved heart of St. Laurence O'Toole, patron saint of Dublin.

O'Toole's heart had been displayed in the cathedral since the 13th century. It was stored in a heart-shaped wooden box and secured in a small, square iron cage on the wall of a chapel dedicated to his memory. On Saturday someone cut through two bars, pried the cage loose, and made off with the relic.

"I am devastated that one of the treasured artifacts of the cathedral is stolen," said the Most Rev. Dermot Dunne, the cathedral's dean. "It has no economic value but it is a priceless treasure that links our present foundation with its founding father."

Ireland's national police force, the Garda Siochana, said detectives were studying hours of closed-circuit TV footage to try to identify the approximately 40 people who walked out the cathedral's front doors Saturday morning.

The force said the thief may have hidden overnight in the cathedral and fled with the heart when its doors opened Saturday. Worshippers didn't spot that the relic was missing until Saturday afternoon. Nobody was arrested.

Nuala Kavanagh, the cathedral's director of operations, said whoever stole it appeared to have no interest in financial gain, since several nearby objects made of gold and other precious materials were not touched.

"It's completely bizarre," she said. "They didn't touch anything else. They wanted the heart of St. Laurence O'Toole."

Church services went ahead as normal Sunday. The trickle of tourists visiting the Viking-era cathedral weren't told of the theft. Many approached the O'Toole chapel and spent much time looking, confusedly, between their guide books and the pried-open box.

Ireland's churches have suffered a spate of such robberies of irreplaceable, but also hard to sell, religious artifacts.

Last year three relics believed to be fragments of the cross used to crucify Jesus were stolen from Holy Cross Abbey in County Tipperary. Police safely recovered those relics in January but arrested nobody.

Also in January, a thief stole the ornate container housing the jawbone of St. Brigid in a northside Dublin church. The container, called a reliquary, was bolted down to the altar. However, it had just been cleaned and so the jawbone of St. Brigid, one of Ireland's earliest and most venerated saints, wasn't inside.

O'Toole was Dublin's archbishop from 1162 to 1180 and gained a reputation as a skillful mediator between rival Gaelic and Norman factions then fighting for power in Ireland. He died aged 58 while traveling in Normandy on another peace mission. On his death bed he was said to have declined to make a will, claiming not to have a penny to his name.

Pope Honorius III canonized O'Toole in 1225 on the weight of many claims of miracles at his original grave site.

O'Toole's heart had been the last surviving part of his remains. His bones were re-interred in an English church yard in 1442 but were dug up and disappeared during the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century.

Although O'Toole is mainly revered by Roman Catholics, Christ Church Cathedral has been a center of worship for the Anglican-affiliated Church of Ireland since the Reformation. - wthitv

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Texas couple receive 'sunburn' from hovering UFO

TX, February 28, 2012 - Round, oval like object, 4 exterior white lights with huge white central light. MUFON Case 36236

Driving East on Hwy 80 out of Gladewater toward the town of White oak. Passing across a bridge that divides Gladewater/clarksville city and White Oak right next to Lake Divernia(spell check). My Wife and I noticed a bright white light in the rear view mirror of my vehicle, thought it was an aircraft of some sort. As we crossed the bridge on Divernia, just prior to beginning a hill to come into the city of white oak, the light went from what seemed like miles away to over my vehicle. It resembled a Helicopter spotlight and was directly on my vehicle. Thinking it was some form of law enforcement, we pulled the vehicle over and rolled my window down. It hovered right above the tree line and just over my vehicle..50-100 feet above the vehicle as a guess. I stuck my head out of the window and looked up and was absolutely blinded by the light. My wife was screaming at me to stay in the car and just go. I remember her telling me J***** just go...go go go. I used my thumb to block out the brightest light and noticed 4 white lights, North/south/east/west on the craft. I opened the door to my vehicle and stepped out. Standing as if you were to be looking at an object in the sky during the day, shielding my eyes with the back of my right hand, right hand palm facing the object. It felt somewhat like warm sunlight. No burning sensation, just a warm feeling. Im not sure how long i was standing outside the vehicle...and this is where i begin to feel like i am going crazy. I remember getting out of the vehicle, i remember being in total shock and awe at the site of this craft and then i remember what seems to be a snap back like from a daydream and a huge amount of fear set in. I was telling myself, "get back in the car and go". At this time i looked over the roof of the car and noticed my wife doing the exact same thing i was doing. I yelled at her and she did the exact same motion i did. Almost as if youre concentrating on something and begin to daydream. Someone says your name and you snap back and she literally said "huh". I told her to get in the vehicle with me and we then left the scene. The object returned to the same area we initially saw it and was then gone. I feel like i am a crazy person. I know what i saw...i am of perfect mental health and have no issues with seeing little green men or even believe in aliens. Infact i want to believe this may be something of ours. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt it was no helicopter and last i checked, no plane in east texas is able to hover. It made no noise minus a small electrical discharge sound..the same form of a "hum" that youd hear from a transformer on an electrical pole. Please, please help me understand what this could have been and help me find someone that can make sense of this. I am scared..excited..worried and thrilled at the same time. I cant believe something like this has happened to my wife and myself. We had what seemed to be minor sunburns on our face and the palm of our hands were red. No blisters or scars/marks. Just a light red/sunburn tinge to our face, neck, palms. Mufon is the only avenue i have found to go to. Please, we need your help.

Sincerely,
J

p.s. i have had a gentleman contact me twice about the purchase of my vehicle. Hes seen me twice now at a gas station once and a shopping mall the 2nd. I drive a 2001 Saturn L200....its nothing flashy and nothing special at all. I am unsure as to why this man has talked to me twice yet wont give me any information of his. He only asks for contact information for me so he can call to question if ive considered his offer for the vehicle. Said his name was (name moved to FI box) 03/04/12 flg if this helps at all. - MUFON CMS

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More Bownessie hype....

Click for video

Sightings of a creature not dissimilar to the Loch Ness Monster have caused a stir in the normally quiet waters of the Lake District.

Local swimmer Tom Noblett, world record holder in fresh water swimming, thinks he was within feet of the creature whilst out for a morning swim.

Photographer Linden Adams also claims to have seen the creature and has captured it on camera.

The picture is now being analysed by experts in forensic visual computing.

Inside Out investigates the possible discovery of a new species of lake dweller, dubbed 'Bownessie', which some have likened to the Loch Ness monster.

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Indian man's hand chopped off for not repaying Rs 300 loan

In a horrific incident in Bihar's Arwal district, about 80 km from Patna, a 20-year-old daily wage worker had to pay a heavy price for failing to pay a debt of Rs 300. The daily wage worker, Ram Sagar Chandravanshi, was attacked and one of his hands chopped off after he refused to work for free for a couple of contractors in lieu of Rs 300, (£3.82, $6.06), that he owed a money lender.

Following his refusal, a group of local people attacked him with an axe. His other hand was also damaged in the attack. "They blindfolded me and chopped my hands. I don't know what happened after that," says Chandravanshi.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has said that action will be taken against those responsible. "This incident has come to our knowledge, and the police have created a Task Force. The persons responsible will not be spared."

Chandravanshi is currently undergoing treatment at the Patna Medical College Hospital in Patna. The victim alleged that the police refused to lodge a report initially, with the Superintendent of Police dismissing it as a concocted story. - ibnlive

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The Ghost of Xunantunich

Belize does not immediately come to mind when thinking of hot bed areas for ghostly activity, but in fact it has one of the more intriguing and long-lasting ghost stories I’ve run across in recent years. The ancient Mayan ruin of Xunantunich lies about 80 miles west of Belize City. The phenomena is so strongly associated with the area that the site itself is now named after the ghost, Xunantunich is mayan for “stone woman”.

Sightings of the stone woman begin in 1892 when several people living on the site saw a woman, dressed in white, ascending the stairs of the temple-pyramid at the site, known as “El Castillo”, and disappearing into a stone wall. The most notable feature is that she has glowing red eyes. In subsequent years, several other locals saw the ghost, and most recently a tour group from Canada seems to have spotted the lady, true to the previous accounts, shortly after sun down.

Beyond that, little is known. There are, however, interesting aspects of the haunting if looked at within the confines of ancient Mayan culture. Firstly, the site is very old. Xunantunich flourished between 200 AD and mostly died away around 900 AD, likely because of a devastating earthquake. The site was generally unknown and grown over until the 1890′s, so it seems likely that the stone woman is perhaps the ghost of an ancient Mayan woman ascending the stairs of El Castillo to be sacrificed, or connected in some way to the ritual, to appease the gods of the Maya.

If she is a Mayan from nearly two thousand years ago, it wouldn’t be surprising that she would ascend the temple stairs. Mayans were known for human sacrifice at the tops of their temples. Incidences of very strong emotion are often linked to the creation of a ghost, and I can think of few things that would be more emotional than a human sacrifice. In the end, we’ll never know, but if the paranormal enthusiast reader ever gets to the jungles of Belize, Xunantunich should be on the top of your list as places to visit.

Reprinted with permission from Paranormala