; Phantoms and Monsters: Pulse of the Paranormal

Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Daily 2 Cents: House Sold...Previous Owner's Corpse Included -- Ladybird Beetles Plague Town -- Transylvania's Haunted Forest


House Sold...Previous Owner's Corpse Included

A man who thought he was getting a great deal on a foreclosed home he bought at an auction discovered an unexpected "bonus" inside.

According to the News-Press of Fort Myers William Wilson of Cape Coral, Florida bought a home for $96,000. When he went to evaluate his purchase, he found a corpse on the master bedroom floor.

Neighbors told the newspaper two sisters had lived in the home but no one had seen them for a while.

Police in Cape Coral have blocked off the property and launched a death investigation. - News-Press

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Scottish Wildcat Extinct?

The Scottish wildcat may already be consigned to folklore as genetic tests reveal the native feline may already be extinct.

Experts have identified ­hybridisation through interbreeding with domestic and feral animals as the biggest threat to the survival of the UK’s only indigenous cat species.

Now conservationists have admitted that analysis of samples collected over 30 years of research on the critically endangered cat reveal none were 100 per cent genetically pure.

The shock revelation came yesterday as government agency Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) published a new report setting out proposals for the Scottish Wildcat Conservation Action Plan.

Once found across the UK, the wildcat exists only north of the Central Belt in Scotland.

The report does not reveal how many wildcats are left in Scotland, but previous estimates have been as low as 35.

SNH has admitted that tests carried out by the WildGenes laboratory at the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland showed “all the wild-living cat samples collected in the last 30 years appear to have some domestic cat genetic markers”.

The agency also warned that using the term “pure” wildcat “may not be helpful in conservation terms”.

Despite the fact no genuine wildcats have been identified, SNH stressed there should be a “pragmatic” approach. Read more at Scotsman

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Ladybird Beetles Plague Town

Local residents have been forced to seal up their homes to keep out tens of thousands of the red insects.

The small town of Lipova in western Romania has been subject to a peculiar invasion that is proving to be something of a nuisance.

Countless thousands of ladybirds have descended upon the town, forcing locals to seal their windows and doors in a futile attempt to stop the insects from getting in to their homes.

So great are their numbers in fact that in some areas residents have taken to sweeping them up with a broom.

"No matter what you do they keep coming," said Arina Deca who lives in the town. "I had my window open for a few minutes and when I closed it they were like a living carpet."

Experts believe that the ladybirds have been attracted to the town due to a sudden increase in the number of greenfly aphids, their primary food source.

"We've had very warm weather, about 20 to 22 degrees which must have something to do with it," said Mayor Mircea Jichici. "We've tried pesticides but we don't have enough to make an impact." - Yahoo

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Transylvania's Haunted Forest

When most people think of Transylvania, the first thought that comes to mind is Dracula. But, setting Vlad Tepes (the person considered the model for Dracula) aside, the area’s majestic yet notorious landscapes are home to perhaps the world’s most haunted forest.

The forest in question is the Hoia Baciu forest located outside the city of Cluj Napoca in the historical region of Transylvania, Romania.

The area first gained notoriety outside the region when in 1968 biologist Alexandru Sift who, while on a scientific expedition to the forest, snapped a photo of a disc shaped UFO. The photo fueled ufologist interest across the world.

However, the forest is known for much more than just UFO related phenomenon. It is known as the “Bermuda Triangle of Transylvania” among the ghost hunting community and among paranormal investigators, such as Dr. Adrian Patrut, president of the Romanian Society of Parapsychology.

“Some experts believe that we are dealing with a genuine Romanian ‘Bermuda Triangle.’ The area certainly can be certified as such, especially with the exceptional video and photos, along with testimonies of researchers who studied it for decades,” said Dr. Adrian Patrut in the show “Science and Knowledge (TVR Cluj), according to www.hoiabaciuforest.com.

Visitors to the area tell of intense feelings of anxiety. Moreover, some who have ventured off into the mysterious woods have emerged with unexplained rashes, scratches, burns, and other effects like migraines, nausea, vomiting, and even missing time.

To make matters more menacing, some of the forest trees are twisted and distorted misshapen like those depicted in old fairy tales. This landscape adds to the anxiety experienced by visitors as they enter.

In one particular area of the forest is a clearing were no trees grow. Some paranormal investigators believe this area to be especially high in activity.

Many locals believe the site is haunted and that if they enter, they will not return. In fact, according to legends of the area, the forest is named after a local shepherd who, along with his 200 sheep, disappeared.

Other legends include that spirits of murdered villagers have been trapped in the forest and are unable to move on. Visitors to the forest often hear disembodied voices and sometimes witness disembodied heads floating amid the trees.

Dr. Patrut has been studying the site since the 1970s, but unfortunately, no conclusions about the forest’s strange atmosphere have come to light.

Today even the legends remain buried in the shroud of campfire stories. However, the lasting impression of this forest seems to the consistency of the occurrences and the large amount of photographic evidence. - The Epoch Times

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