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| A: ABARIS THRU ARTHUR, KING OF THE BRITONS |
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A magician and hermeticist, Abaris is said to have been the teacher of Pythagoras. He was born in Scythia, an ancient culture located on the shores of the Black Sea. He was a priest of Apollo, and claimed that the god had given him a magical arrow that allowed him to fly through the air or render himself invisible. (Pythagoras later stole the arrow.) Abaris had numerous supernatural attributes, including the ability to foretell the future, cure illness, disperse storms and sustain his own life without the need for food or water.
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(1362-1460) Born in the German town of Mayence, Abraham hailed from a long line of magicians and alchemist. When he reached adulthood, Abraham began to travel extensively throughout Europe, the Middle East and Africa. While in Egypt, he met and studied with a great magician named Abra-Melin. There is still debate over whether Abra-Melin was a real person or an invention of Abraham's. He resided in Egypt for many years, studying dutifully at Abra-Melin’s knee. Finally, he returned to his homeland where he married and began to raise a family. He found work as a conjuror and alchemist, performing before such notable figures as King Henry VI of England, Pope John XXIII and Emperor Sigismund of Germany. At age ninety-six, he recorded all of his magical knowledge in a large tome entitled The Book of Sacred Magic of Abra-Melin, as delivered by Abraham the Jew unto his son Lamech. The book contained a multitude of spells for walking under water, raising the dead, creating storms and prophesizing the future. The writings of Abraham the Jew later influence the work of 20th century occultist Aleister Crowley. |
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The Egyptian magician and teacher of Abraham the Jew. Some references claim that Abra-melin and Abraham the Jew were one in the same. Regardless, Abra-Melin was reportedly a master of the Jewish mystical tradition known as the Kabbalah, an art taught to him by angels. With his considerable powers, Abra-Melin was able to conjure and subjugate demons and raise storms. |
AGRIPPA (HENRY CORNELIUS AGRIPPA VON NETTESHEIM): |
(1486-1535) A German mystic and intellectual, Agrippa was born in Cologne and rose to prestige throughout his native land and Europe. He began a court member to Maximilian I, king of Germany, and created a legacy for him that contained various (often unsubstantiated) claims of battlefield heroics, intimate liaisons and diplomatic intrigue. His interest in numerology and the Kaballah gave rise to a great reputation for magical powers, a claim that brought him into direct conflict with the Holy Inquisition and result in several imprisonments. He died in Germany at age 49, having lost all his riches and prestige.
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ALESSANDRO, COUNT DI CAGLIOSTRO (GIUSEPPE BALSAMO): |
(1743-1795) A thief, scoundrel and confidence man, the life of Cagliostro began as an unhappy one. His father died and his mother abandoned him at a very young age. He bounced from monastery to monastery for a number of years, before finally running away and joining a roving band of thieves and murderers. It was while in their company that Cagliostro first became involved in the occult. At the time, the interest in alchemy was very high. Cagliostro became acquainted with a goldsmith named Marano, whom he subsequently convinced that he knew the secret of transmuting base metals into gold. The young man stole a large quantity of gold from Marano and used the profits to finance a world tour. He spent the next few years traveling through Egypt, Greece, Persia, India and Ethiopia, studying with adepts in each region. Although he seemed to acquire no paranormal powers as a result, his new knowledge of the occult provided him with unexplored avenues in crime. When he returned to Italy in 1768, his first venture was to open a casino designed specifically to cheat wealthy foreigners. He moved around Europe extensively, often staying just a few steps ahead of the law and his lost list of enemies. While in England, he was introduced to Saint Germain and initiated into Freemasonry. He eventually wound up in the court of King Louis XVI, where he remained until his involvement in the scandalous "Affair of the Diamond Necklace," an elaborate confidence scheme that implicated Marie Antoinette in the theft of a priceless piece of jewelry. Cagliostro spent the remainder of his life in and out of prison. He was finally convicted by the Inquisition of heresy, magic, conjury and Freemasonry and sentenced to life in prison. He died on August 26, 1795, while incarcerated in the San Leo prison in Italy |
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The alleged author of the most famous of grimoires, the Necronomicon, according to science fiction writer and eccentric H.P. Lovecraft. Very little is known about Alhazred… even if he was an actual person or just a literary fiction from Lovecraft’s rich mind. A few details about his life are offered in the Necronomicon itself. It describes him as a highly educated, widely traveled man who was fascinated with the Black Arts. This earned him the dubious moniker of "the mad Arab." At some point during his life, he was initiated into a variety of mystery cults, and eventually began to study demonology. He apparently lived from ten years in Belet el Jin, also known as the City of Devils and City of the Damned. There he worshiped dark gods like Cthullu and Yoxodo. Apparently these evil supernatural beings eventually turned on Alhazered… as you would expect them to do. He was said to be torn alive by the invisible claws in the middle of Sannah. |
ALKINDI (YA'KUB IBN SABBAH AL KINDI): |
(c. 789-873) Considered one of the greatest Arab scholars of all time, Alkindi was a philosopher, politician, mathematician, physician, astronomer, astrologer and author of over two hundred books. Unlike other scientists of his century, he argued against many of the basics of alchemy, particularly the ability to change base metals into gold. Alkindi also developed a theory that all physical objects radiated an unseen energy, some types of which could be perceived by sensitives.
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| ANGLIN, JOHN AND CLARENCE: |
Two of three men who successfully escaped from the Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary on June 11, 1962, never to be seen again. For more information, see Frank Morris. |
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 (July 21, 1983 - April 2007?)
One of the original Outcast Earth team members, Anvil was born and raised in New Hampshire but moved to Los Angeles,
California shortly after his 18th birthday.
His decision to move cross-country at such
a young age was motivated partly by his
need to escape the everyday trials of
family life, and partly from young ambition.
Anvil admitted that he is "a nut" for
reality television shows like Monster Garage "If it has an engine, I’m in love with it and want to marry it," he smiled. His first goal was to customize cars and trucks and eventually own his own business. In the end, however, Anvil had to settle working as an automobile detailer in L.A. His failing fortunes caused him to develop a recurring problem with alcohol. Ironically, it was during a Alcoholics Anonymous meeting that he had his first contact with the Outcast Earth Project. "I was attending group and the lady who was facilitating the sessions happened to mention how a friend was giving up everything to explore the world and find her spiritual center. Her friend turned out to be Rune... and the rest is history!" Anvil participated with the OCE team for exactly two years. Then on February 26, 2007, he mysteriously disappeared from his hotel room while the rest of the team was investigating his hometown of Los Angeles. Although it appeared that Anvil packed all his bags and left willingly, the team filed a missing person's report. He was never heard from again, but in November 2008 a series of prophetic dreams reported by Ash led the team to southeastern Colorado where Anvil's skeletal remains were discovered in an abandoned gas station. Police investigators – and the OCE team – are still unable to explain why Anvil would have traveled to such a strange and remote destination and ultimately how he died. An autopsy report indicated that the most likely cause of death was extreme dehydration, yet Anvil's body was found with food and drink provisions. Since murder was ruled out, the authorities eventually came to believe that Anvil had some kind of psychological collapse that caused him to bring about his own death. Some team members, Cipher being first and foremost, pointed to Anvil's death as further proof of the so-called "Outcast Earth curse." Anvil was buried outside of his birthplace in eastern New Hampshire.
Anvil participated in the following investigations: Tahiti: Isle of Volcanoes and Lagoons | Atomic Atolls: The Marshall Islands Chain | Wake Island : Lost But Not Forgotten | Amelia's Shadow: The Search for Earhart and Noonan on Nikumaroro Island | Chuuk Lagoon: Fractured Paradise | Black Sands of Iwo Jima | Saipan Spirits
Related information: Woodland Beasts & Haunted Halls | Tahiki | Spirits by the Sea |
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(A.D. 3-98). As with so many other mystical figures from antiquity, it is difficult to assess how much of Apollonius’s story is true, and how much is legend. He is said to have been a contemporary of Jesus Christ and is frequently compared to him. Apollonius is said to have been born in Tyana (modern Turkey) and later traveled all over the world in search of magical knowledge. Like many other magicians, he was credited with being able to raise the dead, render himself invisible and perform acts of bilocation. He became widely revered as a minor god throughout Asia Minor, and many temples were built to him. Most information on Apollonius comes to us through the writer Philostratus, and is generally thought to be fictional. |
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One of the most influential Christian philosophers, Aquinas wrote extensively on the subjects of theology, metaphysics and mysticism. He expounded on the philosophies of Aristotle, and his writings became extremely important to Catholicism. His best known work is the Summa theologiae, his attempt to distinguish between theology and reason.
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(384-322 B.C.E.) Considered the greatest of Plato's students, Aristotle diverged greatly from the teachings of his mentor to a more scientific approach to understanding the universe. He was a gifted mathematician who studied and wrote extensively about the natural world. He later became closely associated with the royal court in Macedon and by some accounts was thought to be the tutor of Alexander II ("The Great"). Many of Aristotle’s writings were the foundation for early Christian thinkers. |
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(c. A.D. 1119) An alchemist often confused with Apollonius of Tyana due to similar backgrounds and interests. Artephius claimed to have found the secret of long life – one of the goals of alchemy – and extended his own lifespan to an amazing 1.025 years. This was apparently accomplished with some demonic aid. He wrote a variety of books, including the De Vita Propaganda (The Art of Prolonging Life), The Key to Supreme Wisdom, plus various tomes on the natural world, prophesy and the universe. The authenticity of his work has been called into question. |
ARTHUR, KING OF THE BRITONS: |
 The source of one of the Middle Ages most enduring legends – and a really funny Monty Python movie – the historical reality of Arthur is still debated. Many historians believe that he is a purely fictional character, invented as a means to bind together various theological and mythological traditions. Others argue that there may have been a "model" for Arthur in the form of a Roman soldier named Artorius, who was stationed in Britain under Roman occupation. There are probably a hundred other theories about Arthur that may be equally valid. Regardless, Arthur remains one of the most prominent legendary figures in Western culture. Although Arthur engaged in numerous miraculous feats and amazing adventures, he is probably best known for his quest for the Holy Grail.
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| B: BAILEY, CHARLES THRU BRUNI D'ENTRECASTEAUX, ANTOINE-RAYMOND-JOSEPH |
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 (c, 1870-1947) This Australian born medium gained international attention for this apportation abilities. Bailey appears to have had no notable paranormal experiences prior to his introduction to spiritualism in 1889. His biographers noted that for the first part of his adult life, Bailey worked menial, unskilled jobs and was probably illiterate. An American-born millionaire named T.W. Stanford, a brother of the Stanford who founded the California university, championed him. Stanford spent years documenting Bailey’s abilities, although he made no real attempt to investigate them. As Bailey’s reputation grew, however, the parapsychologists took an interest. A particular curiosity could be found in the variety, number and exotic nature of his apports. In 1903, Stanford recorded the following items materializing during seances: live birds, bird nests complete with unbroken eggs, a live turtle, exotic plants, tapestry, ivory, precious stones and a human skull. When Bailey claimed to have apported Babylonian clay tablets and cylinder seals, however, local scientists took a particular interest. At the forefront was a physician named Charles McCarthy. McCarthy took a great deal of care in making sure Bailey was properly restrained before a séance, including placing him in a double-sewn canvas bag. Bailey was still able to apport items such as an Arabic newspaper, hot Indian Chupatti cake and a live shark. When Bailey fell under international scrutiny, however, his abilities began to unravel. He was taken to both Italy and France, but became less and less cooperative with the researchers and their cheat-proofing techniques. The Babylonian tablets he was producing were sent onto the British Museum where they were declared fakes. When a hole was found in by French investigators in the bag they placed Bailey in prior to his apportation of several birds, they issued a scathing report and the medium was effectively debunked. Although he continued to hold seances up until his death in 1947, Bailey never again attracted any serious attention from the parapsychological world. |
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The nickname given to murder victim Elizabeth Short after her mutilated body was discovered in Los Angeles in January 1947. |
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The pseudonym adopted by the still unidentified murderer of Elizabeth Short, who has become commonly known as the “Black Dahlia.” The first use of the pseudonym occurred on January 24, 1947, in a note which accompanied a package sent to a Los Angeles area newspaper and which contained a variety of Short's personal papers and effects. The note read in full: “Here is Dahlia's belongings. Letter to follow.” Many additional letters from the “Avenger” followed. Some early examples seemed to indicate that the murderer was thinking about turning himself in. But later he seemed to change his mind and use the correspondence to mock the Los Angeles Police Department and deride Short. [See Enewsletter 03-2007: Was the Black Dahlia Murderer a Student of Jack the Ripper? | Urban Nightmares: Murder, Magic & Mystery in the City of Angels]
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BLAVATSKY, HELENA PETROVNA: |
 (1831-1891) Depending on which source you trust, Madame Blavatsky (as she preferred to be called), was either a talented adept or a consummate charlatan. According to Blavatsky, she was imbued as a child with a variety of psychic talents and magical gifts, chief among them the ability to move inanimate objects through psychokinesis. At age 17, she entered a very brief marriage to a Ukrainian noble named Nikifor Blavatsky, but quickly departed both the much older husband and her homeland to travel the world in search of knowledge and truth. She finally settled in Tibet where she began to study with the "mahatmas," reclusive wise men who lived in remote caves. From these men she refined and strengthened her psychic skills, until she was able to return to the West and begin plying her trade for rich patrons. (Other biographers claim that HPB’s background was not nearly so colorful, and included stints as a piano teacher and circus performer.) Over the next few decades, she worked in Egypt, France, India, England and the United States. In most cases, she would be successful for a while finally disclosed as a fraud, flee to a new locale and start all over again. While in the United States, she founded the Theosophical Society, which claimed to research parapsychological phenomenon, but was little more than a vehicle for the HPB personality cult. England’s renowned Society for Psychical Research debunked her in 1885 when conjuring equipment was found inside the parlor she used for seances, but this seemed to mean little to the Theosophical Society faithful. Perhaps her most dubious accomplishment was the creation of the seven "root races," stages that human beings pass through enroute to perfection. This racist doctrine was adopted years later by Heinrich Himmler, chief of the Nazi SS, as a moral basis for racial "purification." Great suffering followed. |
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(September 9, 1754 – December 7, 1817) A British Naval officer with a distinguished career, Bligh is best known for being the captain of the ill-fated HMS Bounty. In 1789, while on a mission to procure breadfruit trees from Tahiti, Bligh and a number of his seamen were arrested and set adrift at see by mutineers led by the Bounty's first mate, Fletcher Christian. Bligh's superb navigational skills allowed he and the other sailors to reach safety despite poor provisions and only a compass to assist. In October 1790, Bligh was acquitted by a tribunal for any wrong-doing in the loss of the Bounty. Despite a wicked tongue and quick temper, the tribunal found that Bligh was not the cruel tyrant that Christian, the other mutineers and popular fiction have protrayed him as. [See Enewsletter article: "Mutiny and Murder on Pitcairn Island".] |
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(Born October 19, 1936) A best-selling author, talk-show host and self-proclaimed medium. Browne travels around the world lecturing on the paranormal and providing both group and private readings for clients. She also claims to have assisted with multiple police and FBI investigations as a psychic detective, although her usefulness on such ventures and her accuracy as a medium are dubious. One of her first famous readings was in a San Jose area toy store that was supposedly haunted. Browne claims to have made contact with the spirit of a 19th century man named “Johnny Johnson” who had died working in an orchard on the same site as the toy store. Browne released a now famous seance photo of a misty figure she claims is “Johnny.” She has been denounced by James Randi and other skeptics as a fraud. [See Toys R Us, Sunnyvale, California, Alcatraz's Most Restless Spirit... Or Not] |
BRUNI D'ENTRECASTEAUX, ANTOINE-RAYMOND-JOSEPH: |
(1739–1793) The French navigator who explored the Australian coast in 1792 while seeking traces of his predecessor, Jean Francois de Galaup La Perouse. It was Bruni d'Entrecasteaux who finally determined that Perouse had probably been killed (and possibly eaten) by the natives of the Santa Cruz Islands. [See Enewsletter: Mysteries of the South Pacific, Part II.]
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| C: CAYCE, EDGAR THRU CROWLEY, ALEISTER |
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 (1877-1945) Also known as the "sleeping psychic," Cayce is perhaps the best known of the American mediums. Like so many others, Cayce claimed to have heard voices and had visions since he was a small boy. By the time he was in his twenties, Cayce was offering spiritual cures for a variety of ailments. He seemed to have an ability to diagnosesickness based on nothing more than the name and location of the patient. Many of these readings were done while he was in a trancelike state or asleep, thus his moniker. Cayce was also interested in reincarnation and claimed to have lived many previous lives, including as a Trojan warrior, a disciple of Jesus Christ and an angel in the Garden of Eden. He established the Association for Research and Enlightenment in Virginia Beach, Virginia. |
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A lifelong native of Chuuk Lagoon, Micronesia, Charles acted as guide and local historian for the OCE team during their investigation there. Charles was instrumental in helping the team locate and conduct a longterm examination of a crashed Japanese Zero fighter plane in the southern part of the lagoon on an islet they referred to as "Zero Atoll." [See Chuuk Lagoon: Fractured Paradise.] |
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 (c. 4 B.C.E. – 27 A.D.?) Christ is the pivotal figure in Christianity, considered by the faithful to be the son of God whose birth, life and death was predicted by prophets. He was born to parents named Mary and Joseph, a poor Jewish couple from the tribe of Judah. According to the New Testament, the religious text that details Christ’s miraculous works, his mother’s pregnancy was immaculate, or was achieved through the intervention of God rather than through typical sexual union. Christ was imbued with a variety of paranormal abilities, including clairvoyance, the ability to cure the sick through a simple touch, the transformation of physical objects and the ability to walk on water. Thousands of books have been written on Christ, but the best source of information remains the Bible. |
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(September 25, 1764 - October 3, 1793) Fletcher Christian had made international news when he and his crewmembers arrested, William Blight, the captain of the HMS Bounty and cast him adrift at sea. Depending on whose account you believe, Christian was either an abused first mate who defeated a malicious and incompetent commander; or a disgraceful hedonist who succumbed to the guiles of Tahitian women and lifestyle. Whichever the case, the British had been keen to find Christian and his co-conspirators and bring them to justice. Christian had evaded British law by sailing the stolen Bounty into the Pacific, never to be seen again and presumed by many to be lost. In reality, Christian and his compatriots (who included other mutineers and a handful of Tahitian men, women and children) had made a long and frustrating voyage to Pitcairn Island. The island had been previously discovered and labeled as uninhabited. Because it was an "iron bound" island (meaning it had no natural harbor or anchorage) and had been incorrectly plotted on navigational charts of the time, the mutineers had escaped discovery by their countrymen. Christian was reportedly felled by the Tahitian natives who had come with him to the island – apparently as part of an ongoing state of "warfare" that existed between the Englishmen and the Polynesians. His descendants still live on the island. [See Enewsletter article: "Mutiny and Murder on Pitcairn Island".] |
| CIPHER: |
 (b. March 23, 1988) Cipher
was born In Chicago, Illinois, and
has the distinction of being Polaris's first-cousin-once-removed. He joined Outcast Earth in August 2006, taking over the
spot vacated by Coyote, Polaris's oldest
son who left the team in 2005. Cipher's
inclusion to the OCE team was a surprise. "We always knew that he was visiting the website and keeping track of what we were doing," said Polaris, "but I also knew that my cousin [Cipher's father] thought we were a bunch of dumbasses... we never thought he'd be allowed to join us." Despite his family's feelings about the OCE project, Cipher asked to join shortly after turning eighteen. "He was ready to jump ship!" laughed Rune. "I never met someone who was so enthusiastic about trying new things. Most people fear that." Unfortunately, Cipher's early experiences with the team were not good ones... including a serious injury he sustained on the island of Saipan while investigating a haunted cave once occupied by Japanese soldiers. "A few days after being there," he remembered, "we discovered this old cache of ammunition. Naturally, it decided to blow up while I was walking through that area. I had a nice two week hospital stay after that." Cipher admits that his parent's were not pleased with his decision to join OCE and the Saipan experience didn't do much to change their minds. "Fighting with them about my participation is kind of an ongoing battle," he said. "They're having a hard time remembering that I'm not eight years old."
As a result of his various misadventures with OCE, Cipher is the leading proponent of the theory that the team is operating under a curse [See "Outcast Earth Curse.] Although the other team members had mixed reactions to his theories, Cipher took them very seriously. His concern over the alleged curse came to a head in November 2008 when a series of prophetic dreams led the team to the decomposed remains of their long-missing colleague, Anvil. The discovery of Anvil's death was extremely disturbing to Cipher and he resigned from the team soon after, returning home to Chicago.
"I think he left because he was honestly in fear of his life," said Ash, Cipher's second-cousin. "He believed in the curse so strongly that when we found out Anvil was dead, that just pushed him over the edge."
Cipher currently resides in Chicago and seeking a college degree.
Cipher participated in the following investigations: Black Sands of Iwo Jima | Saipan Spirits | Urban Nightmares | Mojave Mysteries | Into the Wilderness | Spirits of Silicon Valley | Of Myth and Mist | Dark & Dangerous Places | Lost Ruins of Kaua'i | Woodland Beasts & Haunted Halls
Related information: Spirits by the Sea |
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 (October 17, 1920 - July 23, 1966) (Born Edward Montgomery Clift.) An American actor whose career spanned 1948 until his untimely death in 1966. At the height of his popularity, Clift was often compared to Marlon Brando in both charisma and talent. His good looks made him an obvious candidate to be a cinema idol, but his fame was tempered by his own fretful personality and selectivity about roles. His personal problems lead him into a destructive relationship with drugs and alcohol which contributed to his early death. The ghost of Clift is said to inhabit the hotel room at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel in Los Angeles. |
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(born Bessie Lee Pittman on August 28, 1910 - August 9, 1980) Shortly after the
disappearance of Amelia Earhart,
her husband George Putnam
presumably employed some
unorthodox methods to find
her. Putnam, who was an
influential publisher in the
United States, called in a variety of personal and
political favors in the search
for Earhart and her aviator, Fred Noonan. The International Group for
Historic Aircraft Recovery
(TIGHAR), the agency most
acutely engaged in the
search for Earhart today,
surmised that the nature of Putnam’s
request originated with
Cochran, a famous aviatrix and a friend
of Earhart’s. Cochran’s
talents may have extended
beyond aviation, as she was
also a self-proclaimed
clairvoyant. Whether it was
Cochran’s psychic talents or
Putnam’s need to hope that
Earhart was still alive, the
latter went to great lengths
to investigate what lay in an area of the Pacific Ocean that was presumably designated by Cochran. When the U.S. Navy
refused to help, Putnam
pulled some strings and
found help from the British
forces in the area. Although
sea-faring investigators
found no trace of Earhart, they did return with
a local tale that an invisible "spirit island" called
Katagateman existed at
that location. [See Amelia's Shadow: The Search for Earhart and Noonan on Nikumaroro Island.] |
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(1804-1821) Seventeen-year old Coffin was the cabin boy on the Essex, an American whaling ship that was rammed and ultimately destroyed by an attacking whale (the event was the real life inspiration for the novel Moby Dick by Herman Melville). Following the attack, the whalers abandoned the vessel and were stranded for a time on Henderson Island in the South Pacific. Coffin and a number of other men (including the Essex's captain and Coffin's uncle, George Pollard Jr.), galantly decided to risk the open sea again to find help. Many perished in the hot tropical sun
or due to lack of drinking water and
food. The situation
eventually became so desperate
that Captain Pollard decided that one of the
men in his boat must be killed in
order to provide food for the others.
The survivors decided to draw lots to
see who would sacrifice himself.
The "winner" was Owen Coffin. Despite Pollard’s
attempts to exchange places with
Coffin, the teenager insisted on
fulfilling his obligation. Ultimately,
his 15-year old friend Charles
Ramsdale shot him to death.
When Coffin’s flesh and soft tissues
had been fully consumed, Ramsdale, Pollard and the others sucked the
morrow from his bones. The popular song "Nantucket Sleighride" is about the death of Owen Coffin. [See Enewsletter article "What Happened to the Other Essex Sailors?"] |
CON-TICI VIRACOCHA ("KON TIKI"): |
Described in Incan texts as a sun-god who led the exodus of a race of mysterious light-skinned people from South America to the South Pacific. [See Thor Heyerdahl and the Enews article: "The Puzzle of the Light-Skinned Polynesians."]
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 (October 27, 1728 - February 14, 1779) The famous British explorer who is credited for discovering many of the islands of the South Pacific for the Europeans, including Hawai'i and New Zealand. It was during his third expedition to the area that Cook lost his life in a particuarly grusome way while visiting the Big Island of Hawai'i. After his ship was damaged in a storm, Cook landed in Kealakekua Bay without knowing that the Hawai'ian chief Kalaniopu'u had declared the area kapu, or forbidden to everyone. When the natives stole a small rowboat from Cook's ship, the captain went ashore with a small company of marines with the intention of capturing Kalaniopu’u and holding him hostage until the cutter was returned. But the abduction took a bad turn when two hundred Hawai’ians came to their king’s aid. Only half of the landing party survived – and Cook was not among them. A delegation of Hawai’ians later returned Cook’s body, or at least what was left of it. James King, Cook’s second lieutenant, described the pieces that were returned in his ship’s log: "…the captain’s hands (which were well known from a remarkable cut), the scalp, the skull, wanting the lower jaw, thigh bones and arm bone; the ands only had flesh on them, and were cut in holes, and salt crammed in; the leg bones, lower jaw and feet, which were all that remained and had escaped the fire, he said were dispersed among other chiefs." Today, there is a beachside monument on the Big Island at the spot where Cook fell. |
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(killed 1824) a young, ambitious sailor whose fascination with the paradise of the South Pacific prompted him to organize a mutiny against his commanding officers and hijack a whaling vessel. From most accounts, Comstock was a born butcher whose motives were much more complex and bizarre than those of other mutineers of the time, including Fletcher Christian. He was the eldest child of a respected Quaker family residing on the island of Nantucket. Even at the youngest of age he fantasized about going to sea. This was not unusual for a boy from his background, but there were numerous things about young Samuel that both friends and family members found unusual, often disturbing. He had little fear for his own safety, was sexually perverse and an uncanny tolerance for intense pain. He was also a cunning thief and a practiced liar. Even more strange was Comstock's persistent fantasy about creating his own island monarchy in the South Pacific. In 1822, Samuel and his younger brother George joined the crew of the whaling ship Globe, a vessel whose captain Comstock would ultimately murder during a bloody mutiny two years later. By mid-February 1824, Samuel and his terrorized crew had landed on the beaches of Mili Atoll in the Marshall Island Chain where Comstock intended to establish his kingdom. He was killed the following day by crewmembers who finally realized that Comstock was more brutal and unstable than any captain they would ever sail with. Samuel’s other brother, William, would use George’s eyewitness accounts as the basis of his book THE LIFE OF SAMUEL COMSTOCK, THE TERRIBLE WHALEMAN. [See Enewsletter article: "The Bloody King of Mili Atoll."] |
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 (1859-1930) [Pictured left] Best known as the creator of Sherlock Holmes, Conan Doyle spent the latter part of his life dedicated to the study of spiritualism. Many scholars believe that this remarkable fascination was preceded and inspired by the death of his son, Kingsley. Conan Doyle’s beliefs may have gotten the best of him, however, as he began to champion paranormal "causes" that were clearly invalid, sometimes fraudulent. Perhaps the best known of these is the case of the Cottingley Fairies. In 1917, two English girls created some paper cutouts of fairies, posed them around their garden and snapped a few photographs. Conan Doyle was one of the first to proclaim the photos proof for fairy existence. Much of his belief, however, centered on his post-Victorian notion that he, as a man of great stature and intelligence, could not be fooled by two country schoolgirls. The fairy fraud was revealed in the 1970s, years after Conan Doyle had died. Conan Doyle was equally certain that the magical feats of Harry Houdini were paranormal in nature, despite Houdini’s assertions that they weren’t. Thus was the state of Conan Doyle’s fervor. The author, now somewhat discredited, died in 1930, still ardently supporting spirit mediums without question. [For related information, see Enewsletter "Sir Arthur's Great American Ghost Hunt."] |
COSTA DEN LUCA OF BAALBEK: |
A contemporary of Alkindi, be Luca was also a thoughtful critic and theorist on paranormal subjects. He wrote extensively about magic, the most important of his works being The Epistle Concerning Incantations, Adjurations and Suspensions from the Neck. He carefully analyzed the concept of sympathetic magic and asserted that an individual’s belief in the supernatural had a tangible impact on their physical well-being, both negative and positive.
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 Polaris's oldest son and one of the first members of the OCE team. Coyote left the team in June 2005 to return home to Kaua'i, Hawai'i. Although he has returned for the occasional visit, he is not actively involved with the OCE project.
Coyote currently resides on the island of Kaua'i and is a senior in high school.
Coyote participated in the following investigations: Tahiti: Isle of Volcanoes and Lagoons | Atomic Atolls: The Marshall Islands Chain | Into the Wilderness |
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(1875-1947) Crowley may have the distinction for being the most unabashedly (and self-proclaimed) evil man of modern times. Even today, his name conjures up (no pun intended) images of a darker, more malevolent side of the paranormal. As an ardent and outspoken Satanist, Crowley was deeply scornful of most societal institutions, in particular Christianity. He created not only is own demonic church, but a cult of personality which included extravagant costumes, bizarre rituals incorporating animal sacrifice and sexual debauchery, and a completely hedonistic lifestyle. One of his more interesting paranormal claims is that he was the reincarnation of Edward Kelley, an alchemist from the court of Elizabeth I, and known associate to Dr. John Dee. Crowley died destitute at age 72. |
| D: DAVIS, EDWARD THRU DISNEY, WALTER ELIAS |
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An English mercenary and pirate who accidentally discovered Rapa Nui while roaming the ocean in search of treasure-laden Spanish galleons. Davis did not venture any closer to the unknown land, but speculation about the sighting persisted for the next three decades. Many contemporary explorers theorized that Davis’s discovery was actually a long-sought South Pacific continent, one possibly laden with gold and other valuable resources. [See Rapa Nui: Journey to the Navel of the World.] |
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 (February 8, 1931 – September 30, 1955) James Dean was a young, highly-talented actor whose career was brief but who made a lasting impression on Hollywood. Dean was a proponent of method acting which gave all of his performances a realistic, gritty quality that was new to show business at the time. He only starred in three films: East of Eden, Rebel Without a Cause and Giant. He was posthumously nominated for Academy Awards for both East of Eden and Giant, although Rebel remains his best known film. In real life, Dean was a depressed, some say self-destructive individual, who ultimately died before his time when he was killed in a car accident. Following his death, Dean became an iconic symbol for America's disaffected youth and his meager dramatic performances still enjoy tremendous cult popularity. Dean is also the subject of a persistent rumor that a curse lead to the premature and tragic deaths of he and his Rebel co-stars. [See Sal Mineo | Natalie Wood | Urban Nightmares: Murder, Mystery and Magic in the City of Angels | Enewsletter: Was James Dean Killed by a Cursed Car?] |
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(1527-1608) The list of accolades and accomplishments for Dr. Dee are impressive. During his eighty-one years on earth, Dee became a skilled mathematician, cartographer, writer, astrologer and scientists. But his fortunes really took a turn for the better in 1555 that he was imprisoned in the Tower of London alongside Elizabeth Tudor (later to become Queen Elizabeth I). Dee prophesied that Elizabeth would one day be free, and would rise to great power and importance. The queen never forgot Dee’s words, and when she ascended the throne, brought Dee into the royal court as an astrology and head of intelligence. The queen tolerated Dee’s unconventional interests, and eventually his fascination with the occult became all consuming. Dee claimed that much of his power came from divine sources. Dee said he was given a special mirror called the "Angelical Stone" by the archangels Raphael and Gabriel. The mirror was to be used for scrying, but since Dee lacked this particular ability, he enlisted the aid of two associates to help obtain his metaphysical knowledge. His first assistant was Barnabas Saul, but the man claimed to lose his scrying power and was replaced by Edward Kelley. Dee and Kelley claimed that they were fed mystical knowledge through the mirror by angels who spoke a language called Enochian. But Kelley, a convicted counterfeiter and alchemist, would ultimately prove to be Dee’s downfall. The doctor became so reliant on Kelley, and so engrossed with alchemy, that all his other skills began to degrade. His reputation gone, Dee found himself the object of scorn and fear. When Elizabeth I died in 1603, Dee was banished to the countryside by her successor; James I. He died a pauper, having lost everything including a monumental metaphysical library. It is believed that William Shakespeare based his character of Prospero (The Tempest) on Dee.
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(460-370 B.C.E.) Born in Abdera, Thrace, Democritus was born into a wealthy and influential family, whose major distinction appears to be that they provided aid and comfort to Persian invaders out to conquer Greece. Their treason did have some benefits, however, as the Persian emperor Xerxes left behind several of his court magi (magicians) to thank the Abderites for their assistance. It was through these magi that a young Democritus first became interested in the mystical world. Following the death of his father, Democritus used his inheritance to travel the world seeking knowledge and enlightenment. His biographers claim that he studied with adepts in many distant lands, including Egypt, Ethiopia, Persia and India. He finally returned to his homeland destitute, but quickly found new fame and fortune by dedicating his newfound skills to the betterment of his community. He became well known for his knowledge of plants, herbs and the natural world. It was said that he could accurately forecast the weather and was able to divine the future. He became so revered for these skills that many Abderites proposed that he oversee all their public affairs. Democritus declined this offer, however, preferring a life of quiet contemplation to one of public service. Demociritus was also a serious scientist, and expanded the atomic theory of Leucippus. Unlike Pythagoras, Democritus was more interested in the substance of the universe rather than its form. According to some accounts, Democritus may have also been an early alchemist, and dedicated a great amount of his time to researching the enigma of immortality. He did not find it, but still managed to live to the ripe old age of one hundred. |
DE RAIS, GILLES (A.K.A. BLUEBEARD): |
(1404-1440) Gilles de Rais was born into French nobility, married into great wealth, and died an utter villain. As a baron and marshal of France, de Rais earned early distinction as having fought alongside Joan of Arc at the Battle of Orléans. Then, in his late-twenties, he unexpectedly retired from public life in order to pursue his interest in alchemy. Like so many other alchemists, he had little trouble finding rich patrons to fund his work. But de Rais’s interest in the occult took a very sinister turn when he began practicing demonology and child sacrifice in order to obtain even more wealth. He was arrested in 1440 after innumerable children were reported missing in his area and was tried by the Holy Inquisition for witchcraft, of which he was undeniably guilty. He sentenced to burn at the stake, but due to his noble background was allowed the courtesy for being strangled before he was burned. Curiously, someone decided to take this gruesome story and retell it as a child’s fable, thus the story of Bluebeard was born. |
| DELAUROT, BOGDEN: |
(1955-1973) An eighteen-year old native of Brooklyn, New York, who drowned in the Disneyland River of the Americas after he and his brother hid on Tom Sawyer island to watch the nighttime fireworks. [See Urban Nightmares: Murder, Mystery and Magic in the City of Angels] |
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(December 5, 1901 – December 15, 1966) An American film producer, animator, director and visionary, Disney started an entertainment empire that is still a formidable force to this day. Among is numerous achievements, Disney founded a groundbreaking theme park called Disneyland, located in Anaheim, California. [See Enewsletter 02-2007: the Wonderfully Bizarre World of Disney | Urban Nightmares: Murder, Mystery and Magic in the City of Angels] |
| E: EARHART, AMELIA THRU EYRAUD, EUGENE |
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 (July 24, 1897-missing as of July 2, 1937) An American female aviator whose renown for her daring and record-breaking was ultimately overshadowed by her mysterious disappearance. Earhart's career became a beacon for many women and her attitude a model for feminism around the world. She propelled herself through the ranks of aviation, a new and highly risky endeavor during the 1930s, and often surpassed her male counterparts. In 1937, Earhart attempted to add a round-the-world flight to her list of accomplishments. Along with her navigator, Fred Noonan, she vanished in her Lockheed Electra airplane on July 2nd. A massive air and sea search revealed no traces of either the aircraft or its two occupants and most thought that they must have crashed into the sea and drowned. Following the disappearance, a variety of rumor began to circulate about the missing duo. Rumors ranged from they were captured and executed by the Japanese military to Earhart had been found years later and was returned to the United States under an assumed name. One of the most intriguing stories was advanced by TIGHAR (The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery) which claimed that Earhart and Noonan crash landed on Nikumaroro, a remote island in the Phoenix Island chain, and lived there for some time without rescue. TIGHAR's claim has been supported by a variety of archeological digs and some intriguing artifacts found on the island; along with curious reports about plane wreckage and human remains being reported by former residents of the island during the three decades following Earhart's disappearance. To this day, however, the mystery remains unsolved. The OCE team briefly visited Nikumaroro during September and October 2005. [See Amelia's Shadow: The Search for Earhart and Noonan on Nikumaroro Island and Earhart In The Marshall Islands?]
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A Catholic missionary based on Rapa Nui who inadvertently discovered the mysterious island script known as Rongorongo. [See Journey to the Navel of the World.] |
| F: FLAMEL, NICHOLAS THRU FOX SISTERS |
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(1330-1418?) Flamel was said to be the great alchemist of his time, being one of the few to achieve the two major goals of his discipline: transmuting base metals into gold and finding the secret to immortality. Apparently his success was due in large measure to having received a copy of a mysterious book penned by Abraham the Jew. The tome was written in an unknown language and filled with magical spells and formulas. Flamel dedicated most of his adult life to deciphering the text, often traveling across the known world to consult with other alchemists and magicians. In the end, or so legend has it, he was successful and enjoyed tremendous personal wealth which he spent mostly on philanthropic ventures such as building schools and hospitals. His final and most impressive feat was to cheat death for he and his wife. Although his tomb was located in Paris, and his headstone complete with alchemist symbols is preserved in a local museum, no one knows what happened to his remains... if in fact they were ever any remains to begin with! |
| FORD, ARTHUR: |
(January 8, 1897 - January 4, 1971) A professional medium and spiritualist, Ford is best known for his claim to have cracked the famous “Houdini Survival Code.” This claim is dubious at best, especially considering Ford’s long career as a con man. Like many mediums, Ford claimed to have contact with the “other side” through the use of a spirit guide named Fletcher. During seances, Ford would channel Fletcher and the spirit would provide intimate information about deceased loved ones to Ford’s various clients. What was not revealed until after Ford’s death, however, was the elaborate steps the psychic went to to collect information on his clients through less-than-metaphysical channels. A friend of Ford’s discovered volumes of personal information disguised as poetry books in the dead man’s home. Ford had a custom of reading poetry before a seance, but unknown to his clients he was apparently reading over their secret dossier. His former secretary also confirmed this practice and said that Ford had no paranormal abilities whatsoever. [See Houdini, Harry] |
FOX SISTERS (KATHERINE, LEAH AND MARGARET): |
 In 1848, the younger Fox sisters, Katherine and Margaret, reported strange, disembodied raps coming from their bedroom [their family home is shown left]. The case, original thought to be some kind of haunting or poltergeist phenomenon quickly gained the attention of the media. The resulting sensationalism helped to usher in the spiritualism movement of the mid-19th century. The sisters toured the country to demonstrate their power to create these disembodied raps under the watchful eye of their older sister and manager, Leah. Later, Margaret claimed that she and her sister had faked the sounds by cracking the bones in their toes. She later recanted that confession, and parapsychologists still argue the case. |
| G: GALLAGHER, GERALD BERNARD THRU GIMLIN, ROBERT |
GALLAGHER, GERALD BERNARD: |
 (July 6, 1912 - September 27, 1941) Gallagher was the young, enthusiastic and highly-efficient administrator of the British colony on Nikumaroro (still called Gardener Island
at the time). The colony was part of the
British Empire’s last major
expansion before World
War II and the end of the
colonial period. Members
of the British Pacific Islands
Survey Expedition arrived
on the island on December 1,
1938, a year and a half after Amelia
Earhart’s much-publicized
disappearance. The original
purpose of the expedition
was to see if the British
could adapt the island for
use as an airfield. With the
Japanese military threat
growing in the South Pacific,
and directly threatening
Britain’s extensive interest
in the area, the need for
expanding Anglo military
capability was obvious.
Additional settlers and
administrators arrived on the
island during the next six
months, most of which
was used in finding a
permanent and reliable
source of drinking water.
Once wells were established,
the British and Gilbertese
settlers began planting
coconut palm groves and
expanding the village itself.
In true British style, the
village included a large
parade ground, a rest
house, wireless station,
official residences, a
kitchen, carpenter’s shop
and a school. The village
was crisscrossed with neatly
surveyed roads paved with
crushed coral. At its height,
the village and government
station supported a
population of sixteen men,
sixteen women and twenty-six children. During his short time on the island, Gallagher and his men were reported to have found artifacts and human remains that he believed belonged to Earhart. [See Amelia's Shadow: The Search for Earhart and Noonan on Nikumaroro Island.]
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| GIMLIN, ROBERT: |
(October 18, 1931) A friend and partner of Roger Patterson, the man credited with filming what is considered some of the best photographic proof of the existence of Bigfoot. |
| H: HEYERDAHL, THOR THRU HSIAO, BARBARA ANNE: |
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 (October 6, 1914 - April 18, 2002). A Norwegian ethnographer, Heyerdahl had extensive backgrounds in zoology and geography and spent most of his life studying the people and settlement patterns of the South Pacific. Heyerdahl did not shy away from controversy or disputing more popularly held anthropological beliefs about the people of this region. Heyerdahl began to form an alternate theory to the colonization of the South Pacific islands after noticing that many islanders had distinctly un-Polynesian features, including light-colored skin and hair. Heyerdahl surmised that colonization of the region may have occured in the opposite direction from what was generally accepted – or that the Polynesian people originated in South America rather than Asia. Heyerdahl supported his claim with ancient Incan myths that told of a race of advanced white-skinned people led by a sun-god named Con-Tici Viracocha ("Kon Tiki") who fled the continent and disappeared into the Pacific Ocean. In 1947, Heyerdahl proved that travel from South America (and thereby the possibility of colonization) was possible when he and a handful of colleagues created a raft based on Incan design and sailed from the shores of Peru to the Tuamotu Islands (in French Polynesia), a journey of over 4,300 miles (7,000 km). Heyerdahl spent his later years working in Africa, the Mediterranean and the Indus Valley. He died in 2002 of a brain tumor. His theories continue to be a source of great debate. [See Enewsletter Article: "The Puzzle of the Fair-Skinned Polynesians."] |
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(d. 1999) Hodel was idenyified as the murderer of Elizabeth Short, better known as the “Black Dahlia,” by his son Steve in the 2003 book BLACK DAHLIA AVENGER. At the time of Short's murder, George Hodel was a prominent physician working in the Los Angeles area. A 1949 scandal, in which Hodel was accused to raping his teenager daughter, revealed a seamier side to the doctor, one which included an insatiable and sometimes cruel sexual appetite. Although acquitted of the sexual assault, Hodel left the United States and lived overseas for several decades. Although he was never publicly tied to the Black Dahlia murder, research by his son Steve revealed that the LAPD listed him as one of their prime suspects. [See Enewsletter 03-2007: Was the Black Dahlia Murderer a Student of Jack the Ripper? | Urban Nightmares: Murder, Magic & Mystery in the City of Angels] |
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A retired Los Angeles Police Department homicide detective, Hodel made national news in 2003 when he announced that he believed his father, Dr. George Hodel, was the murderer of Elizabeth Short, better known as the “Black Dahlia.” Hodel came to suspect his father when he discovered intimate photos of Short in a secret album belonging to the elder Hodel. His intriguing, cogent argument for the guilt of his father is detailed in his book, BLACK DAHLIA AVENGER. [See Enewsletter 03-2007: Was the Black Dahlia Murderer a Student of Jack the Ripper? | Urban Nightmares: Murder, Magic & Mystery in the City of Angels] |
| HOLZER, HANS: |
 (Born January 26, 1920) An American parapsychologist and author of over one hundred titles on paranormal subjects. Holzer is probably best known for his investigation in the “Amityville Horror” case. He also accompanied Sybil Leek, a famous English witch, on several paranormal investigations throughout the U.S., including the famous Whaley House in San Diego. |
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 (1833-1886) Home (pronounced Hume) has the distinction of either being the most talent physical mentalist of the 19th century, or the most successful charlatan posing as a physical mentalist. Home was born near Edinberg, England, and lost his mother at a young age. Following this tragedy, a variety of unexplained phenomenon began to manifest itself in Home’s house. Home was aware of the Fox Sisters case in the United States, and became convinced that his deceased mother was attempting to reach him from the Great Beyond. Home was finally able to make contact through an automatic writing experience, during which his mom instructed him to go forth and champion the new art of spiritualism. Home began to hold seances in his aunt’s parlor, and despite his success and excellent reputation, his family declared his actions to be satanic and kicked him out. Home next traveled to the United States and despite his unwillingness to accept any money for his services, lived well as a perpetual houseguest to rich patrons. He was in Massachusetts in 1852 when he delivered one of his most profound readings. During a visit by the local reverend, Home fell into a spontaneous trance and cried out, "Hannah Brittan is here! Save them from the pit! There’s no light! Where am I?" The reverend immediately recognized the "drop in communicator" to be a relative who had gone mad years earlier. Home returned to England in 1855 to help alleviate the symptoms of tuberculosis and quickly became the darling of Britain’s spiritualistic community. Although even the eminent physicist Sir William Crookes regularly challenged his increasingly famous skills, no one was ever able to prove that Home was perpetuating a fraud.
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| HOUDINI, HARRY: |
 (March 24, 1874 - October 31, 1926) Born Ehrich Weisz, Houdini was a Hungarian immigrant who came to the United States as a young boy. He would gain world-wide fame as a magician, stunt performer, actor and film producer. Less known was his very active role, especially later in his life, as a skeptic and debunker of spiritualism and professional mediums. As a magician, Houdini often recognized mediums using carnival tricks to hoax results at their seances or psychic readings. Houdini was very offended by practice and created a vast number of enemies for himself within the spiritualism movement. Houdini died of an acute apendicitis following a stage performance. [See Urban Nightmares: Murder, Mystery and Magic in the City of Angels | Houdini’s “Survival Code” | Enewsletter "Sir Arthur's Great American Ghost Hunt."] |
| HOUDINI, WILHEMINA BEATRICE RAHNER (“BESS”): |
(1876-1943) The wife, stage assistant and best friend of magician Harry Houdini. Following his death in 1926, Bess challenged mediums to prove the existance of life after death by uncovering the secret “survial code” she had created with Harry. She discontinued the practice in 1936 after a final and unsuccessful seance held on the roof of the Knickerbocker Hotel in New York City. [See Houdini’s “Survival Code”] |
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Hsiao was born to a prostitute mother working in Iwilei, the Chinatown and red-light district outside of Honolulu, Hawai'i. Hsiao’s father was unidentified and probably wasn’t even known to her. Very little information was uncovered about her early life. She was a poor student and dropped out of school early. She seems to have officially entered her mother’s profession at age seventeen, which is when she makes her first appearance in the local police records. Multiple arrests followed, although only a few were for prostitution. Sometime early in her career, Hsiao became the paid mistress of a local businessman who would later abduct her and forcibly transport her by boat to his rural home on Kaua’i. Her remains were found in the basement of the burned out house in 1999, over fifty years after her disappearance. Her bones were found thanks in part to Ash, we claimed to have witnessed her ghost on a variety of occasions while playing in the forest behind his family home on Kaua'i. Although murder was confirmed in Hsiao's death, the primary suspect is now dead as well. [See The Lady in the Forest: The History of the Outcast Earth Project.] |
| I: IAMBLICHUS |
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(A.D. 250-325) A Neo-Platonist philosopher and founder of the Syrian School of Neo-Platonism. He had two particular interests: the philosophy of Pythagorus and the metaphysical world. On the latter, he wrote a variety of treatises on magic, including Theurgia or On the Mysteries of Egypt and the metaphysical masterpiece, The Mysteries of the Chaldeans and Assyrians. His writings were so influential that he had many imitators over the centuries, including Nostradamus. |
| J: "JACK THE RIPPER" THRU JUNG, CARL GUSTAV |
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The pseudonym adopted by an unidentified killer who worked the east end of London, England, during late 1888. The killer named himself in a series of taunting letters (considered by some to be forgeries) sent to a London-area newspapers and individuals. During less than a three month period, “Jack” murdered and mutilated five female prostitutes working in the impoverished neighborhood of Whitechapel. The Ripper murders are considered to be one of the first known examples of a modern serial killer. [See Enewsletter 03-2007: Was the Black Dahlia Murderer a Student of Jack the Ripper?] |
JOAN OF ARC (JEANNE D'ARC or JEANNE LA PUCELLE): |
 (1412-1431) Born into poverty in the French village of Domremy, Joan began to claim at an early age that she was able to hear angelic voices (clairaudience). Some went so far as to assert that she possessed a direct line of communication to God. During her youth, an uneasy peace existed between the French and the British. But when civil war broke out in France in 1415, the King Henry V saw an excellent opportunity to invade and lay claim to the French crown. The two sides were the nationalistic "Orleanists" under the leadership of Count Bernard VII of Armagnac and Duke Charles of Orleans; and the pro-British "Burgundians" led by Duke John ("The Fearless") of Burgundy and his son, Philip ("The Good"). The British forces made a variety of spectacular advances against the French, eventually occupying Paris and forcing the French heir-apparent [known as "dauphin"}, Charles VII, to move his capital to Bourges-en-Berri in central France. In 1424, at age 12, Joan claimed to be receiving visitations from a variety of angels, including the Archangel Michael. As the British prepared to invade the vital city of Orleans in 1428, Joan obeyed her supernatural visitors to lead an army to defend the city. Apparently she won the allegiance of the French commanders by correctly predicting the French defeat near Rouvray. She later convinced Charles VII of her abilities by correctly relating a prayer he had made the previous November. Desperate for success, the peasant girl was made commander of the army at Blois. She quickly reformed the troops by expelling all the prostitutes from the camp and forcing the soldiers to pray and attend confessionals. Joan’s forces began to arrive in Orleans on April 29th, and by May 5th she had expelled the British from the region. Ultimately, her involvement in the war led to the crowning of the dauphin and the restoration of the French crown. The British were humiliated by the defeat, especially at the hands of a peasant girl. They paid French mercenaries to capture Joan, tried her as a witch, and ultimately burned her at the stake is 1431. Her many miraculous feats were not overlooked by the faithful Christians and she was canonized in 1920. |
| “JOHNSON, JOHNNY:” |
(Sometimes referred to as Johnny Johannsen.) Professional psychic Sylvia Brown claimed that “Johnny Johnson” was a nineteenth century farmhand haunting the rear aisles of a Toys ‘R’ Us store in Sunnyvale, California. According to Brown, Johnny was heartbroken because his girlfriend married someone else. He later hurt himself with an axe while working in the orchards that once stood where the toy store is located and died from infection. Brown produced a grainy black and white photo of what she claimed was Johnson’s ghost, but the photo is the source of much speculation. There is no proof that Johnson was a real person. For more information, see Spirits of Silicon Value. |
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 (July 26, 1875 – June 6, 1961) A Swiss psychiatrist and a contemporary of the famous Sigmund Freud, Jung is widely credited as the founder of analytical psychology. His approach to the human mind was unique in that he felt that such a complex system could only be understood if you incorporated the world of dreams, religion, philosophy, art and myth. He even became interested in studying more esoteric sciences such as alchemy, astrology and metaphysics. As a result, he quickly became a pioneer in the field of dream analysis and much of his work is the foundation for modern parapsychology. |
K: KAHAHANA THRU KAHEKILI |
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A young Hawai'ian king of the island of Oah'u. [See Oah'u: More Centuries of the Dead .] |
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A warrior king of the Hawai'ian island of Mau'i. [See Oah'u: More Centuries of the Dead .] |
| L: LAO TSU THRU LILI'UOKALANI |
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(601-? B.C.E.) Considered one of China’s greatest philosophers and mystical thinkers, Lao Tsu began his career rather inauspiciously, working as a lower level bureaucrat and librarian for most of his life. It was not until his old age that he set out on a personal pilgrimage for enlightenment. His journeys took him to the Gobi Desert, where he paused briefly to write down a short record of his teachings. This work would be known as the Tao Te Ching, and is today considered one of the world’s greatest religious books. Lao Tsu was the first to conceive of the universe as a struggle between two opposites – ying and yang. Only when these opposites are in harmony can an individual find true enlightenment. Lao Tsu also asserted that the only way to truly understand the way of the Tao was to experience it, to practice finding balance every moment of one’s life. This could be achieved through a variety of regimes designed to increase one’s control over their internal states. But true Tao, he wrote, could not be expressed in words. Centuries after his death, Lao Tsu was being worshipped as a god throughout China. |
| LEEK, SYBIL: |
 (February 22, 1917 - October 26, 1982) Once referred to as “Britain’s most famous witch,” Leek was an acknowledged expert on the occult and other esoteric subjects. Her family had a long history in these areas and it is said that Leek herself was primarily raised and educated by her grandmother, who taught her about herbalism, astrology, divination and other occult practices. During the middle part of the twentieth century, Leek became quite famous in the pagan community and produced numerous books on witchcraft and related subjects. Needless to say, she was also the source of great controversy and had many detractors who worked tirelessly to discredit her. Sometime during the 1960’s, Leek apparently visited the famously haunted Whaley House in San Diego, California. She is credited with identifying one of the resident ghosts there as a neighbor child named Carrie (or sometimes Annabelle) Washburn. Washburn was said to have died in the Whaley kitchen after accidentally strangling herself on a clothesline in the back yard. Historical research has now discredited this story although it is still repeated as fact in many books and websites. |
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(September 2, 1838 - November 11, 1917) The last soverign monarch of the nation of Hawai'i. [See Oah'u: The Statue and the Ghost.]
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| M: MAGNUS, ALBERTUS THRU "MURPHY, BRIDEY" |
MAGNUS, ALBERTUS (SAINT ALBERTUS): |
(1206 - 1280 A.D.) Considered the greatest German philosopher of the Middle Ages, Magnus is best known for his writings on his reconciliation of science and religion, a concept that was often considered heresy at the time. But Magnus was unconventional in more than one way. Aside from being a man of God, he was also an alchemist... a fact that was often used against him by many of his unfriendly contemporaries who saw witchcraft and devil-worship everywhere. Among his scientific achievements was his discovery of arsenic, the first element to be discovered since antiquity. Among his reputed achievements as an alchemist was his discovery of the Philosopher's Stone. |
MAGUS, SIMON (SIMON THE MAGICIAN): |
Little is known about this self-proclaimed magician and contemporary of the Apostles of Jesus Christ, except that he seemed anxious to prove himself an extraordinary human being, even divine in nature. The Bible mentions him in Acts 8:10, and describes him as a talented magician from Samaria whose talents included invisibility, invulnerability to fire, curing the sick, raising the dead, and flying. By some accounts, Simon is credited as the first true Gnostic, a mysterious belief systems that combined the teachings of Christ with various pagan elements. Certainly Simon appears to have had some interest in Christianity, and even had an ongoing rivalry with Saint Peter which culminated in his claiming that he could fly to heaven. Apparently Saint Peter’s abilities prevailed, and Simon Magus came crashing to the ground and died from the resulting injuries. Christians seem to categorize Simon’s magical abilities as fraudulent, as he is frequently referred to as the "King of Heresies." |
| "MALDOWITZ, ABIE:" |
The alleged identity of a ghost haunting the laundry room at the Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary in San Francisco, California. Maldowitz was "identified" through the mutual efforts of professional psychic Sylvia Browne and an ex-inmate at the prison named Leon "Whitey" Thompson during a paranormal investigation of the facility. Thompson claimed that the spirit Browne was describing had to be Maldowitz, a former member of the notorious Murder Inc. crime syndicate who's nickname of "The Butcher." OCE could find no historical record of a Abie Maldowitz ever residing at Alcatraz. [See Alcatraz's Most Restless Spirit... Or Not.] |
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 (1663-1728) A key player in the Salem Witch Hunts in Massachusetts, Mather started out his career as a Boston-based minister. He became involved in the larger atrocity when he was called upon to investigate the strange behavior of four children. Mather concluded that the children’s’ ailment – complaining of sudden pains and screaming in unison – was the result of witchcraft. He fingered an Irish servant named Mary Glover, who was subsequently searched, interrogated and hanged in 1688. Before she died, Glover revealed (probably under the pain of torture) the names of several "accomplices," who were diligently sought out and suitably punished. Mather was unrelenting in his persecution of presumed witches. In the case of George Burroughs, Mather intervened when a sympathetic crowd called for the poor man’s release from the gallows. Burroughs had successfully recited the Lord’s Prayer, something a true witch was apparently incapable of doing. Mather argued that Burroughs still needed to die since a jury had already convicted him. Mather went on to author over four hundred books and pamphlets (including Memorable Providences that describes the witch trials), all extolling the virtues of Puritan belief. Later in his life, he began to rethink some of his extreme stances during the witch trials, especially when so many of the victims began to recant their forced confessions. |
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 (June 12, 1970 - August 6, 2003) Trespass’s step-sister. Meryl was the only child of Trespass’s stepfather, Patrick. Trespass and Meryl met when he and his mother relocated to Patrick’s hometown of Dry Tree, Louisiana, and they quickly became fast friends. Both were frequently the target of Patrick’s drunken rages and would take comfort in each other's company. Sadly, Meryl accidentally drowned in the swamp outside of Dry Tree in 2003 and was buried in the local cemetery. It was this loss that prompted Trespass to finally flee Louisiana and join the Outcast Earth project a little over a year later. [For more about Meryl, see Trespass's Return to the Bayou | Into the Wilderness | Enewsletter: Outcast Earth's Invisible Member] |
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(1734-1815) Although trained as a medical doctor, Mesmer was interested in decidedly unorthodox avenues of healing. Early in his career, he wrote a sensational dissertation on the effect of heavenly bodies and magnets on human health. He called this effect animal magnetism (later redubbed mesmerism), and quickly found himself en vogue with the elite of French society. Shortly thereafter, Mesmer was conducting therapeutic sessions for rich patrons. His technique included having client sit around a vat of acid into which they dipped iron implements. Mesmer would flit around the clients with a wand, reciting incantations. Needless to say, his techniques were attacked and debunked by serious scientists. Mesmer, coming under increasing fire, finally gave up his strange healing sessions and founded the Society of Honour, a "medical clinic" that catered to the well heeled. He was eventually ousted and returned to his native Austria to live out the remainder of his life, quietly.
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MINEO JR., SALVATORE “SAL”: |
(January 10, 1939 – February 12, 1976) Mineo was a relatively unknown screen and stage actor until his breakout role in 1955's Rebel Without A Cause. Mineo played the role of “Plato,” a high school-aged outcast who is befriended by Jim Stark (James Dean), a brooding youth who acts as both his protector and idol. It was a role that ultimately earned Mineo an Academy Award nomination. The success of Rebel only succeeded in typecasting him and his successive roles all tended to be that of juvenile delinquents. His flagging career and personal torment over being a closeted homosexual in a very gay-unfriendly industry led Mineo into a lifestyle filled with drugs and anonymous sex. He was killed in the alley behind his house during a botched burglary. His untimely death has led some fans to believe that like Rebel co-stars James Dean and Natalie Wood, Mineo was the victim of a curse. |
MIRANDOLA, COUNT GIOVANNI PICO DA: |
(1463-1494) An Italian scholar, astrologer, mystic and Platonist, Mirandola specialized in the study of the Kabbalah. Although born into the highest ranks of Italian society, Mirandola gave up his inheritance at age fourteen to pursue an ecclesiastical career. He quickly turned away from an orthodox education and spent most of his youth wandering Europe and absorbing more esoteric philosophies. He became interested in the Kabbalah after he purchased sixty Hebrew manuscripts said to contain the secrets of nature and religion. The manuscripts were later proven to be rakes, but this did not dissuade Mirandola’s zeal for Judaic mysticism. He spent years trying to reconcile religion and philosophy, borrowing heavily from the ideas of other philosophers. He eventually ran afoul of the church and was accused of heresy. Only his strong family ties saved him from persecution. The experience seems to have changed Mirandola profoundly, however, as he later turned away from astrology and other forms of mysticism and spent his latter years writing books in defense of Christianity against Judaism, Islam and astrology. |
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 (June 1, 1926 – August 5, 1962) (Born Norma Jeane Mortenson.) An American actress and icon, Monroe is Hollywood's best known blond bombshell. She was best known for her on-screen charisma and expert comedic abilities. She died of a drug overdose in her home in 1962. According to legend, her ghost can be seen in a mirror that once hung in her hotel room at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. |
| MORRIS, FRANK: |
(September 1, 1926 – escaped from prison and presumed dead as of June 11, 1962) Morris was one of three men – the others being brothers Clarence and John Anglin – who successfully escaped from the Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary in San Francisco, never to be seen again. A career criminal whose rap sheet included narcotics and armed robbery, Morris was said to possess a genius-level IQ and was continually escaping from prisons all over the country. He was finally sent to Alcatraz in 1960 due to its reputation as being "unescapable." While there, Morris devised an elaborate plot to break out of the facility and escape to freedom using a homemade raft and life preservers. The break out was successful... although experts still wonder if Morris and and Anglins really survived the cold waters of the San Francisco Bay. None of the three men were ever seen again. [See Enewsletter 02-2008: Was the Alcatraz Great Escape Successful? | Of Myth and Mist: Famous Escape Attempts from "The Rock"] |
MOTHER SHIPTON (URSULA SOUTHILL): |
 (1488-1561) Mother Shipton is reputed to be England’s most famous and successful prophetess, a claim made even more spectacular when you consider the fanatical anti-witch culture she lived in. Mother Shipton is said to have been born in a cave to a powerful witch named Agatha Southill. The child’s paternity is debatable, although it was widely accepted at the time that her father was… well, Satan. This rumor was further born out by the fact that Mother Shipton’s physical appearance was unfortunate to say the least. Despite this infirmity, the young woman was able to work her way into wealth and prominence in 1512 when she married Tobias Shipton, a businessman from York. From this somewhat loftier position, Mother Shipton began to distribute pamphlets with her precognostications. This quickly earned her the nickname "The Northern Prophetess." Her powers became so renowned that she quickly developed imitators and charlatans who began to disseminate their own prophecies, attributing them back to Mother Shipton. Among the events she is said to have foretold was the Great Fire of London. Unlike other mystics of her time, Shipton avoided the inquisitioner’s prison and pyre and died at seventy-three years of age. |
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See Helene Smith.
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(1798-1864) Although still hotly debated, the case of Bridey Murphy is certainly one of the more sensational cases of possible reincarnation. The story began in 1952 when a homemaker named Virginia Tighe underwent several sessions of hypnosis during which she recounted her former life as an Irish peasant woman named Bridey Murphy. Tighe delivered a wealth of information about Murphy’s life, which spanned the years of 1798 to 1864. When assuming the personality of Murphy, Tighe spoke in a heavy Irish brogue and used many quaint Irish expressions not common to a resident of Colorado, USA. Tighe’s hypnotist, Morey Bernstein, later compiled the information and wrote a book entitled The Search for Bridey Murphy. It became a national bestseller and began the interest in using hypnosis to extract details of past lives, a technique better known as past-life regression. Two newspapers began to research the historical facts about Bridey Murphy, and came up with some convincing evidence that the case was not as sound as Bernstein and Tighe might have claimed. For example, it was revealed the Tighe had grown up across the street from an Irish immigrant woman named Bridie [sic] Murphy Corkell who had often regaled the girl with tales from her homeland. Additionally, as a teenager, Tighe had been active in her school theater and had perfected an Irish brogue for some of her roles. Believers still assert that many of the details about Irish life Tighe knew could not have been obtained through ordinary means, supporting the reincarnation claim. It seems more likely, however, that the Bridey Murphy case is either a fraud or an excellent example of cryptomnesia. |
| N: NELSON, OSWALD GEORGE THRU NOSTRADAMUS |
| NELSON, OSWALD GEORGE “OZZIE:” |
 (March 20, 1906 - June 3, 1975) A popular American actor and musician whose claim to fame includes the long running radio program and television sitcom “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet.” The show was based on Nelson’s real family who played themselves in the televised version. Nelson died in 1975 from cancer and it is claimed still haunts the house where he lived and the television program was filmed. [See Urban Nightmares: Murder, Mystery and Magic in the City of Angels.] |
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(April 3, 1893 - missing on July 2, 1937) Noonan was the navigator for famed American aviator Amelia Earhart during her ill-fated World Flight, an attempt for the duo to circumnavigate the globe by air. Noonan was a skilled navigator who has often posthumously shouldered the burden of scapegoat for Earhart's disappearance. Most historians believe that Noonan and Earhart probably ran out of gas somewhere over the Pacific Ocean and died when their plane crashed into the ocean. TIGHAR (The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery) began to advance a theory in the 1990s that both individuals successfully landed on Nikumaroro, a small island in the Phoenix Island group and survived there for some time. [See Amelia's Shadow: The Search for Earhart and Noonan on Nikumaroro Island.] |
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(1503-1566) Probably one of the most famous prophets of all time, Michel de Nostredame (who later Latinized his named to Nostradamus) was born on December 14, 1503, in St. Remi, France. Although he was eventually trained as a physician, and gained an impressive reputation as a healer during the dark times when the bubonic plague was ravaging Europe, his interested in the occult was fostered at a very early age. As he was growing up, Nostradamus spent a great deal of time learning languages, math and astrology from his grandfather. In 1534, Nostradamus married and had two children. Tragically, all three were killed by the plague while Nostradamus was out of town helping other victims. Devastated by the loss, the doctor renewed his interest in mysticism. He moved to Salon, France, in 1554 where he married his second wife and had six children. At this time, the Holy Inquisition was persecuting thousands all over Europe, so Nostradamus had to proceed carefully in order to avoid the witch hunter’s wrath. As a result, when he began forecasting the future, he hid his prophecies in a series of simple four-line poems called quatrains. His first collection of one hundred quatrains was published in 1555 and was called Centuries. Among his alleged predictions have been the Napoleanoic Wars, the rise of Adolf Hitler and the Nazis, and the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. It was Nostradamus’s attempts to be circumspect that have bolstered both his supporters and critics when they analyze his writings. Both can look at the same quatrains and see brilliant prophecy or tremendous hyperbole respectively. Regardless, Nostradamus’s predictions continue to amaze, haunt and irritate people to this day. Nostradamus continued to be a prolific author through the remainder of his life, penning valuable almanacs along with his prophecies. Nostradamus died on July 1.1566… just as he predicted. |
| O: O'DRISCOLL, JAMES |
| O’DRISCOLL, JAMES: |
The murderer of Mel Yorba in the Disneyland theme park. [See Urban Nightmares: Murder, Mystery and Magic in the City of Angels] |
| P: PARACELSUS THRU PLATO |
PARACELSUS (AUROLEUS PHILLIPUS THEOSTRATUS BOMBASTUS VON HOHENHEIM): |
(1493-1541) Perhaps the most talented and revered healer of the 16th century, Paracelsus was also an alchemist, scholar, surgeon and mystic. At the age of sixteen, Paracelsus entered the University of Basle (Switzerland) to study medicine and alchemy – two disciplines that, at the time, were considered to go hand-in-hand. There he became familiar with the work of Isaac Hollandus, whose work in both areas inspired Paracelsus to seek a level of medicine superior to anything that had come before. Unfortunately, the young man’s interest in necromancy came to the attention of the local authorities and he was forced to flee the city. This was the first step on a nomadic life that led Paracelsus through Germany, France, Hungary, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden and Russia. Through a series of adventures and misadventures, Paracelsus found himself in the employ to the Grand Cham of the Tartars. As a member of the royal court, he was eventually able to make his way to Constnatinople, where he studied with Arabian alchemists and allegedly learned some amazing mystic secrets. His newfound skills were put to the test when he returned to Europe in 1526 as an army field surgeon. His ability to treat and cure even the most devastating injuries and illnesses helped to underscore his reputation. Needless to say, his unorthodox behavior and outspoken nature earned him as many enemies and enthusiasts within the medical profession. Paracelsus also combined scientific rationale with tremendous superstition, and as he aged he became more and more interested in the mystic arts. In 1536, he published a book of prophecy called Prognosticatio, which many think inspired Nostradamus. Thus, Paracelsus distinguished himself as one of the most creative and original thinkers of the Renaissance. |
| PATTERSON, JOHN: |
 (1941-1961) A twenty-year old student at the University of California / Berkeley who killed himself by jumping off the campus’s historic campanile (bell tower) in 1961. Some accounts claim that Patterson’s ghost still haunts the tower and the promenade below. [See Saphir, Richard | Berkeley, California] |
| PATTERSON, ROGER: |
 (February 14, 1933 - 1972) A former rodeo rider and amateur Bigfoot hunter who is credited with filming what some consider the most compelling photographic proof of the creature. In 1967, Patterson and his colleague Bob Gimlin were searching for the animal in the Bluff Creek area, California. The area had been a hotbed of Bigfoot activity several years earlier and Patterson had a tip that fresh footprints had been found in the area. After seven days of fruitless searching, Patterson and Gimlin were surprised when their horses reared and a large, hairy biped quickly crossed a dry riverbed in front of them. Patterson was able to film twenty-four feet of 16 mm footage as the Bigfoot walked across and sandbar and disappeared into the trees on the other side. Patterson went to his grave in 1972 declaring the film to be genuine despite numerous scientific attempts to debunk it. One intriguing rumor is that a Hollywood special effects makeup artist named John Chambers created the costumed creature Patterson filmed. In 1967, Chambers was creating the makeup effects for Planet of the Apes, an endeavor that would later earn him an Academy Award. Chambers denied any hand in Patterson's film. Gimlin also continued to maintain that the film was legitimate. No costume (or the actor in the costume) has ever been produced as proof that the film was faked. |
PEROUSE, CAPTAIN JEAN FRANCOIS DE GALAUP LA: |
(August 22, 1741 - 1788) Perouse was the French answer to Captain Cook. A born navigator and a war hero who had assisted the Americans in their fight for independence, he gained his true renown as an explorer in the South Pacific. His assignment was contrived by King Louis XVI who was bothered that the English, his greatest rivals, had navigated and lay claim to lands throughout the Pacific. The monarch dispatched Perouse with a simple command, to search for "all the lands that had escaped the vigilance of Cook." In 1785, Perouse set sail in two frigates - L'Astrolabe and La Boussole – with a compliment of talented sailors, artists and naturalists and enough supplies to last for years. During their time at sea, Perouse and his crew made many important discoveries and catalogued innumerable new island cultures, artifacts and plant and animal life. His expedition became more than a simple display of French jurisdiction, it became an admirable scientific and cultural endeavor. In February 1788, Perouse’s ships were anchored in Botany Bay, New Holland (Australia), from which he sent home his most recent logs, charts and detailed correspondences. He wrote his superiors that he intended to sail from Botany Bay to the Isle of France and New Guinea. He was never heard from again and it is surmised that he was killed (and eaten) by the cannibals living on the Santa Cruz Islands. [See also The Menehune of Kaua'i | "Who Ate Jean-Francois?"]
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(1859-1930) Considered America’s best mental medium of the 19th century, Leonora Piper began her career at the age of 8. While playing in her mother’s garden, Leonora felt a sudden pain in her arm and heard a voice whisper in her ear: "Aunt Sara, now dead, but with you still." The panicked child ran to tell her mother of the experience. It was later confirmed that her Aunt Sara had died at approximately the same time as the clairaudial incident. There were several other paranormal experiences during Leonora’s youth, but her true talents did not seem to manifest themselves until she married William Piper at age 22. In 1884, Leonora visited a healing mentalist for some chronic health problems, and while there fell into a deep and spontaneous trance during which she relayed much accurate information about some of the other sitters in the room. Leonora’s technique for contacting the dead utilized spirit controls, who identified themselves as the poet Longfellow, act Sarah Siddons and a Native American girl named Chlorine. Her best known (and many say must dubious) spirit control was an 18th century French physician named Phinuit. Although Phinuit often relayed startlingly accurate information, he had no knowledge of the French language and an exhaustive search could find no record of a French doctor by the same name. This helped skeptics to label Leonora as a fraud. But debunking the medium would not be that simple. Her abilities were simply too uncanny to be so quickly dismissed. She would eventually come to the attention of renowned Harvard psychologist William James and the American Society for Psychical Research (ASPR). Both James and the ASPR put Leonora through rigorous tests, and were impressed by both her results and willingness to cooperate. In 1887, the ASPR employed Richard Hodgson to investigate Piper. Hodgson was well known and widely feared by mediums, having successfully debunked the world-famous Madame Blavatsky. Hodgson took the unusual measure of transporting Leonora to England for some of his research. His intent was to introduce the medium to a completely unknown locale, thereby negating any chance she had of researching her sitters. Although Hodgson noted that Leonora’s spirit controls often "fished" for information or in the case of Phinuit were obviously fictitious, he was still impressed by her results. In 1898, a new spirit control surfaced in the personage of George Pellew (or G.P.), a writer who had died at a young age and had been personally known to Hodgson. G.P. was able to provide Hodgson with amazingly accurate information about their own relationship, further solidifying the skeptic’s belief in Leonora. The medium continued to work cooperatively with the ASPR for the next fifteen years. No investigator was ever able to prove any fraudulent behavior on Leonora’s behalf. |
| PLATO: |
(427-327 B.C.E.) Perhaps the best known of the ancient Greek philosophers, Plato expounded on and expanded many of the ideas originally put forth by his mentor, Socrates. Plato was particularly interested in finding the source of absolute truth and felt that ideas were just as real as any physical object. He shared several views with Pythagoras, particularly in the structure of the human soul. Plato asserted that the human soul was immortal and capable of choosing its own incarnate structure – essentially the spirit chooses its own body depending on what kind of existence it wants. The soul subsequently goes through a variety of lives until it can obtain perfection, a theory very similar to that of karma. Between these incarnations, the soul "forgets" much of what it knows about the Divine. This memory must be reawakened during the next lifetime in order to become enlightened. Plato also wrote extensively about other mystical ideas, even including a life-after-death experience in the last chapter of his book, The Republic. He also founded The Academy in Athens; a school dedicated to exploring philosophy, mathematics and the natural word. Plato has one further paranormal distinction: he is the original source for our knowledge about Atlantis, the so-called "lost continent." Arguments are still held as to whether his account of Atlantis was meant as a parable, a recounting of a true historical event, or the retelling of an old Egyptian myth. |
POLLARD JR., CAPTAIN GEORGE: |
Commanding officer of the whaling ship Essex. [See Coffin, Owen.] |
| PORSHNEV, BORIS F. |
(1905-1972) A Russian historian whose interest in the origins of humankind led to some pioneering investigations into reports of relict populations of hominids in the eastern part of the Soviet Union. One of his most intriguing studies was carried out in a small village in the Caucasus, where a captive “wild woman” was said to have lived out her adult life. [See Almas and “Zana” for additional information.] Porshnev also found a study group on surviving hominid species as part of his work for the Soviet Commission on the Academy of Sciences. His study group was creatively known as the “Soviet Snowman Commission.” |
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(circa 580-500 B.C.E.) A Greek philosopher and mathematician, he was born on the island of Samos, Greece. Pythagoras was passionate about the mystical theories and qualities of numbers, and was quoted as saying that where the mysteries of life are concerned "the number is all." Although hailed, even during his time, as a semi-divine individual, nothing remains of his writings. What is known about him comes through second or third-hand sources. We do know that he left is homeland due to his political opposition for its ruler, Polycrates. He resettled in Cretona; a Greek colony in the southern part of Italy, where he founded a school dedicated to the study of mathematics. His followers adhered to a strict lifestyle that included obedience, silence and abstinence. Pythagoras also traveled extensively through Egypt, studying with the native mathematicians. His work eventually culminated in what he called the "Harmony of Spheres," which detailed the mystical relationship between heavenly bodies. Pythagoras was also a passionate opponent of democracy. Fortunately, for so many of us, his thoughts on this final topic did not prevail. |
| R: RAMSDALE, WILLIAM THRU ROGGEVEEN, CAPTAIN JACOB |
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A crewmember aboard the whaling vessel Essex. [See Coffin, Owen.]
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 (Born August 7, 1928), Also known as the Amazing Randi, this stage magician is best known for being a professional skeptic and debunker of pseudoscience. His organization, the James Randi Foundation, is offering a $1 million reward for anyone who can prove the existence of paranormal, psychic or metaphysical phenomenon. |
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(1849-November 1878) A young sailor born in Stromness, Scotland, Renton achieved fame in his homeland for his real-life ordeal among a headhunting tribe in the South Pacific. Renton ended up in the area after being shanghaied in San Francisco and forced to work aboard a guano-filled freighter. When he and three shipmates escaped the frieghter, they ended up drifting through the Solomon Islands chain until they were rescued by a tribe on the island of Malaita. The Malaitans were a fierce headhunting tribe but they adopted Renton into their numbers and he eventually became a confidante to their chief. He was rescued eight years later and returned shortly to Scotland, but quickly became lonely for the islands and returned as a British government agent. He was killed and ritualistically eaten on another island in 1878. [See Enewsletter: Mysteries of the South Pacific, Part VII.] |
RHINE, DR. J. B. (JOSEPH BANKS): |
(September 29, 1895 - February 20, 1980) Although trained as a botanist, J.B. Rhine distinguished himself over his long career as an American pioneer in the field of parapsychology. His work laid the foundation for many techniques and investigative procedures used by modern scientists looking into the mysteries of the mind and the human experience. Perhaps his most notable contribution is the creation of the Zener cards, a technique still used today to test clairvoyant ability. His wife, Louisa, was also his research partner and wrote two particularly notable books on the subject: Hidden Channels of the Mind (1961) and The Invisible Picture (1981). Like her husband, Louisa was trained in the more traditional field of biology and used this background to change parapsychology into a true experimental science. Both of her books dealt thousands of case studies on unexplained phenomenon include psychic ability and near-death experiences and are popular college textbooks today. The Rhines' work is carried on by the Rhine Research Center: An Institute for the Study of Consciousness located in Durham, North Carolina. |
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(1891-1983). See Rhine, Dr. J.B. above. |
| RIPOSTE, JEREMY: |
 (b. August 9, 1967) A longtime resident of Kaua’i, Hawai’i, and personal friend of Polaris, Riposte was one of the candidates originally considered for inclusion on the Outcast Earth team when it was first forming in 2003. Riposte spent most of his professional life on the island working as a high school history teacher and his encyclopedic knowledge of the myths and legends of the South Pacific was seen as a potential asset to the team. He was ultimately rejected due to irreconcilable personality conflicts with the other OCE members. Riposte did not handle the rejection well and refused to speak to Polaris for years after. In mid-2008, Riposte unexpectedly contacted the team and invited them to investigate a previously unknown ruin on Kaua’i. Riposte intended to lead week-long horseback tours to the ruins which were located in a remote valley. The OCE team’s investigation ultimately revealed the ruins to be part of an elaborate hoax perpetrated by Riposte and his associates. Riposte closed down his tour business soon afterward and continues to regard Outcast Earth with contempt. [See Lost Ruins of Kaua'i.] |
| ROBINSON, SANTIAGO “YANKEE JIM:” |
(Died August 1852) A character of ill-repute in early San Diego, California, “Yankee” Jim is best known for the circumstances around his death. During life, “Yankee” Jim appeared to be a petty criminal and trouble-maker. In August 1852, he was accused of stealing the community’s only pilot boat and taking it on a “joy ride” around the harbor. A posse was set up to capture him, but “Yankee” Jim resisted and subsequently received a serious head injury. While still incapacitated by the wound, he was rushed to trial before a drunken judge who handed down a particularly harsh sentence – death by hanging. In a stroke of cruel irony, “Yankee” Jim’s capture and sentence were overseen by his godfather, Sheriff Phillip Crosthwaite. The sheriff and his team transported “Yankee” Jim in the back of a wagon up to the hillside gallows with Jim protesting his innocence and the unfairness of the sentence the entire way. As a final indignity, Crosthwaite and his team miscalculated the length of the rope needed to hang the convict and “Yankee” Jim slowly strangled to death over a fifteen minute period. The site of the execution was used a few years later as the homestead for Thomas Whaley and his family. After their home was constructed, the family began to report a variety of strange phenomenon including disembodied footsteps, which they seemed to attribute to “Yankee” Jim’s restless ghost. “Yankee” Jim is buried in the El Campo Santo cemetery, just a short walk from the Whaley House museum. |
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 (1938 - presumed dead on November 18, 1961) The youngest son of millionaire Governor Nelson Rockefeller, Michael disappeared during an expedition in the Asmat region of southwestern New Guinea while working with a Dutch anthropologist. Rockefeller's canoe overturned in rough seas and the young man swam off to get help. He was never seen again. [See Enewsletter 1-2006 for more information.]
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ROGGEVEEN, CAPTAIN JACOB: |
A Dutch explorer working for the Dutch West India Trading Company. Roggeveen was dispatched to find the fabeled Terra Australis when he rediscovered the island of Rapa Nui (Easter Island) in 1721. He used the accounts and charts made decades earlier by Edward Davis to find the island. Roggeveen was startled to see huge stone idols rising out of the grassy hills and staring out into the sea. In his journal, Roggeveen marveled that the islanders were able to erect such statues, especially since they were a non-technological people and the land seemed devoid of any large trees or other supplies vital for creating the rollers, tools, winches and pulleys needed to move these megaliths into place. Roggeveen spent several days on the island and gave the Western world its first documented account of the island and its inhabitants. [See Rapa Nui: Journey to the Navel of the World.] |
| S: SAINT GERMAIN THRU SOSSAMAN, KATE (KATHERINE) |
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(Claude Louis, Compte de) (1710?-1784) One of the most intriguing characters from the 18th century, St. Germain appeared – allegedly with no past and no name – in the 1740s and preceded to entertain kings and aristocrats across Europe. St. Germain encouraged the belief that he was an alchemist who had successfully unlocked the mystery of eternal life. His contemporaries placed his age at somewhere between 188 and 2,000 years. Among the historical landmarks the saint claimed to have witnessed were the rule of King Solomon and when Jesus Christ turned water into wine in Galilee. There were numerous rumors about who Saint Germain actually was. Some thought he was a foreign king who was entertaining himself incognito; and others assumed he was a spy, scoundrel or confidence man. Interestingly, his legend continues because individuals have occasionally popped up through the centuries claiming to be St. Germain, and thereby underscoring the myth of his immortality. The Rosicrucians claim that he is still alive today – after living out an incarnation as Sir Francis Bacon. |
SAKAIBARA, REAR ADMIRAL SHIGIMATSU: |
 The garrison commander of Wake Island after its fall to Japanese forces in December 1942. Sakaibara was a cruel and efficient administrator who put the remaining Americans on the island to work building an
extensive network of bunkers,
anti-tank defenses and munitions
depots. As the war progressed and
American air raids became more
frequent, Sakaibara and his
subordinates became certain that
the Americans were poised to
invade the atoll. Sakaibara became convinced
that
the American POWs were somehow
feeding information to the naval
taskforces off shore, and thus
ordered their execution to "to
eliminate any threat they
might pose." The massacre was carried out by
Lieutenant Commander Tachibana. After Wake was reclaimed by American forces, Sakaibara and fifteen
of his officers were arrested charged
with war crimes.
Sakaibara was transported to
Guam to face the hangman’s
noose. A portrait of a man fitting Sakaibara's description was created by Polaris based on a psychic impression from Ash prior to the OCE team's visit to Wake Island in August 2005. [See Wake Island: Lost But Not Forgotten.] |
| SAPHIR, RICHARD: |
(1892-1959) A 67-year old lawyer who committed suicide in 1959 by jumping off the campanile (bell tower) on the University of California / Berkeley campus. Two years later, a coed followed suit and was allegedly the beginning of a haunting legend on the campus. [See Patterson, John | Berkeley, California] |
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(1538-1599) This English writer is best known for his book The Discouerie [Discovery] of Witchcraft which was originally published in 1584. This extensive work was a serious attempt to refute the superstition and paranoia that permeated Scot’s society regarding the influences of witches, and by extension, the Devil. At a time when even simple parlor tricks might earn a conjuror a short trip to the gallows, Scot hoped that an explanation of this form of magic might diffuse the hysteria. It was a worthy but short-lived effort. King James I, an ardent witchhunter, ordered all of Scot’s books burned, for fear that reason might undo all his fun. |
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(1972-1999) Artie was a 27-year old professional rodeo cowoy at the time of his death. Scotts allegedly receieved a fatal kick to the head from a rodeo horse named "Champion" while he was participating in a competition at Boojum Kate's Cantina and Rodeo Arena outisde of Twentynine Palms, California. Artie died several weeks later in a hospital in Yuma, Arizona. It was Scotts' injury that prompted his father, Lester Scotts, and three other men to later shoot to death "Champion" and several other horses sharing his corral. Following this gross act of animal cruelty, the ghost of "Champion" was said to roam the rodeo grounds and ultimately contributed to several other deaths. [See Kate Sossaman | Mojave Mysteries | Obituary for Artie Scotts] |
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 (July 29, 1924 - January 15, 1947) Better known as the "Black Dahlia," 22-year old Short was the victim of one of the most brutal and gruesome crimes ever committed in the city of Los Angeles, California. Short was an out-of-work aspiring actress who worked various odd jobs while waiting for her big break in the entertainment industry. The official Los Angeles Police Department report states that she was last seen alive in the lobby of the famous Biltmore Hotel on January 9, 1947. (Other investigators dispute the LAPD timeline, citing a massive coverup of the facts surrounding Short's death.) Six days later, her naked and mutilated body was found dumped in a vacant lot. The murder created a sensation in the city and prompted the killer, who nicknamed himself the "Black Dahlia Avenger," to write taunting letters to the local newspapers. The killer has never been definitively identified and the case officially remains unsolved. [See Dr. George Hodel | Steve Hodel | Urban Nightmares: Murder, Mystery and Magic in the City of Angels | Enewsletter 03-2007: Was the Black Dahlia Murderer a Student of Jack the Ripper?] |
| SIEGEL, BENJAMIN “BUGSY:” |
 (February 28, 1906 - June 20, 1947) An American gangster whose greatest claim to fame is the establishment of large scale gambling enterprises in the town of Las Vegas, Nevada. Siegel spent the later part of his life living in the Los Angeles area where he regularly hobnobbed with the show business elite. He was assassinated there in 1947. His ghost is reported to haunt his former residence there. [See Urban Nightmares: Murder, Mystery and Magic in the City of Angels.] |
SMITH, HELENE (CATHERINE ELISE MULLER): |
(1861-1929) Athough she presented herself as a mental medium, Helene Smith’s true talents may have been a highly creative mind and uncanny memory. Born in Geneva, Smith traveled throughout the world with her father, gathering cultural information and prowess over numerous languages. She did not become involved in spiritualism until she was 30, when a friend introduced her to it. Soon after, Smith began to hold her own seances and introduced author Victor Hugo as her spirit control. During her career, Smith would change spirit controls a variety of times. Among the disembodied personalities she channeled were Cagliostro and Marie Antoinette. In 1894, Theodore Flournoy, a psychology professor with the University of Geneva, undertook the challenge of studying Smith’s abilities. He found that the medium used a typical bag of "tricks" during her seances, including materializations, apports and disembodied voices. One of her most unusual skills was being spiritually transported to the planet Mars, from which she was able to described the native plant and animal life and write in a Martian language. Flournoy studied the language and found that although it had a unique alphabet that was consistently demonstrated from séance to séance, the structure was actually French. Flournoy eventually concluded that Smith, although appearing to have some paranormal abilities, was mostly a skilled actress possibly suffering from various personality disorders. |
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(470-399 B.C.E.) Much of what is known about this philosopher comes to us through his pupil and successor, Plato. Unfortunately, despite his huge impact on Western philosophy, Socrates left absolutely no written record, discourse, treatises or anything else created by his own hand. Socrates was instrumental in encouraging the people of Athens, Greece, to ponder the questions of ethics and virtue. His technique for discourse and questioning, known appropriately as the Socratic Method, laid the foundation for later scientific inquiry. His critics called him a rabble-rouser out to corrupt that youth of the city-state, and he accumulated as many enemies during his seventy years as he did followers. Among Socrates’ many skills was prophecy, which he attributed to personal daemon that had accompanied the man throughout his life. According to Xenophon’s Apology for Socrates, the philosopher stated: "This prophetic voice has been heard by me throughout my life: it is certainly more trustworthy than omens from the flight or entrails of birds [augury]: I call it a God or daemon. I have told my friends the warning I have received, and up to now the voice has never been wrong." One wonders if Socrates’ "inner voice" warned him of his own fate – that he would be tried and convicted for corrupting the youth of Athens and would be forced to commit suicide by drinking a cup of hemlock? |
| “SOMMERTON, FLORA:” |
(1858-1926?) Allegedly an 18-year old debutante who vanished from her home in San Francisco, California, in 1876. Flora was engaged to be married to a much older man and apparently ran away rather than go through with the nuptials. Her disappearance was said to have made national news and despite at $250,000 reward, she was never heard from again until her body was discovered in 1926 in Butte, Montana. She had lived in Montana for years, working as a poor housekeeper and never revealing her true identity. Her ghost is said to wander the fashionable Nob Hill area of San Francisco. The OCE team was unable to establish Flora’s existence or any authenticity to her story. The team believes that this “haunting” is a work of fiction. [See Nob Hill, San Francisco, California] |
SOSSAMAN, KATE (KATHERINE): |
(Died 2001) Owner and proprietor of Boojum Kate's Cantina and Rodeo Ground, located outside Twentynine Palms, California. The cantina and rodeo arena sat on a larger piece of property known locally as "Sossman Acres." Kate apparently inherited the business and property from her father and worked for over a decade to expand the facilities. Although initially successful, the enterprise fell on hard times during the late 1990s and early 2000s, allegedly due to the haunting of the property by a horse. The phantom equine is said to have contributed to the deaths of three people [See Scotts, Arthur for details], with Kate being the last victim. Her body is found by some of her employees in the rodeo arena. Although foul play is suspected at first, the coroner's report lists her cause of death as a coronary. Following her death, creditors foreclosed on Boojum Kate's. Some of the staff ransacked the place for valuables and everything else is simply abandoned. Today, the restaurant and arena continue to slowly decay under the hot sun of the Mojave Desert. [For related information, see Mojave Mysteries.]
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| T: TACHIBANA THRU TRISMEGISTUS, HERMES |
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See Sakaibara, Rear Admiral Shigimatsu. |
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 (sometimes referred to as "Tad Hicky"): A young man of French-Polynesian descent who befriended Ash and Coyote during OCE's visit to the island of Tahiti in May and June, 2005. Tahiki became the source of some mystery himself when he began telling the boys stories about his grandmother being a cannibalistic monster. The OCE team's attempt to locate Tahiki's home on the island was unsuccessful. Ash and Coyote claimed that they found the home Tahiki had taken them to previously, but that the structure was now inexplicably old and abandoned. Tahiki mysteriously "reappeared" a year later on the island of Iwo Jima, where Ash and Cipher were able to photograph him before he vanished again.
After the Iwo Jima encounter, the team began doing more research on Tahiki and found that there was a Tahitian legend about an “ehu” [fair-skinned and blond-haired] boy named Tahiki. There were elements to the legend that were reminiscent of Greek myths about demi-gods such as Prometheus and Herakles. The legend stated that Tahiki was a human boy from a powerful line of magical ancestors. Tahiki was “golden haired,” handsome and vigorous. Even at a young age he was able to best any other boy in the islands at any sport that could be devised. The other young men grew resentful of him and in a moment of spite attacked and nearly beat Tahiki to death. His mother was a skilled sorcereress, however, and she was able to use her magic to save Tahiki’s life. Tahiki's father, Hema, was incensed by the attack and decided to travel to the underworld to plead for justice from the dark gods who resided there. But the dark gods were unsympathetic and captured Hema, condemning him to live out eternity in a pit filled with feces. When Tahiki fully recovered from his injuries, he vowed to rescue his father from this horrible prison. His mother helped by imbuing him with her iho (or her spiritual strength) which gave Tahiki magical powers. After rescuing his father, Tahiki went on to use his powers to help the Tahitian people. Local legend credits him with creating everything from the first islands to different types of fish, rocks and trees.
Although no one on the Outcast Earth team has suggested that the Tahiki they met on the island is a mythical demi-god, he has played the recurring role of "spirit guide" with the team, often warning them of danger or passing along arcane information. Some believe that his appearances are connected to the so-called "Outcast Earth Curse," and that the information he is providing is intended to help the team beat the curse. His true nature and purpose remain unknown.
Tahiki returned again in November 2008 when he appeared in a series of prophetic dreams experienced by team member Ash. In those dreams, Tahiki encouraged Ash to come to the "sandy creek," a location that the team later surmised was the Sand Creek Massacre National Park located in southeastern Colorado. The team drove over 900 miles to the park where Ash reportedly encountered Tahiki once again in spectral form. Tahiki gave Ash directions to an abandoned gas station and told him cryptically, "You will find him there." Upon locating the gas station, the team members made a grisly discovery – the decomposed remains of their former colleague, Anvil. To this day, the team is still unable to explain how Anvil ended up in such a remote location – or why and how Tahiki appears to be feeding them such unusual information.
Related information: Tahiti: Isle of Volcanoes and Lagoon | The Black Sands of Iwo Jima | Enewsletter: The Puzzle of the Light-Skinned Polynesians | Woodland Beasts & Haunted Halls | Spirits by the Sea |
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 (full name withheld for privacy purposes): (May 27, 1969 - September 19, 2007) A resident of the unincorporated area outisde of Twentynine Palms, California, Tate became a friendly acquaintance to the OCE team during their investigation of "the phantom horse of Sossaman Acres." Tate proved to be a very useful resource for the team, providing a lot of local infomration and background on the alleged haunting. She became particularly close to Rune and the two developed a romantic relationship, much to the chagrin of team member Trespass who was already harbring unrequieted feelings for Rune. Sadly, Rune and Tate's relationship was short-lived as the latter was killed in a freak car accident on September 19, 2007, just a few miles from Sossman Acres. This accident also caused severe injuries to Ash who was hospitalized for several days. Tate was buried in a graveyard outside of Monterey, California, on October 6, 2007. [For related infomration, see: Sossaman, Kate | Scotts, Artie | Mojave Mysteries | Spirits by the Sea] |
| TRESPASS: |
 Meridian once described Trespass as the "first and most important mystery [OCE]
should investigate." Unlike the other OCE
members, this handsome 24-year old
contacted Polaris from his native
Louisiana and literally begged to be a part
of the team. "I cold-called [Polaris],"
Trespass remembered. "I said, ‘Hi, my name is such-and-such and I want to apply for membership to Outcast Earth.’ I think he responded by telling me that he wasn’t running a Boy Scout troop and I should go play with kids my own age..." Over the next few months, Trespass made a habit of regularly calling Polaris to remind him of his interest. Polaris began to interrogate the other OCE members about his mysterious caller, but no one knew anything about him. "I never have figured out how he found out about our plans," said Polaris. After several months of phone calls, suddenly everything stopped and Polaris felt certain that Trespass had finally lost interest… until he appeared in Kaua’i. Trespass, with Rune in tow, returned to Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina in order to find his mother. Unfortunately, the investigation yielded nothing but more questions. Then in April 2008, Trespass's stepfather was found alive and living under an assumed name in Florida. He ultiimately confessed to killing (accidentally he said) Trespass's mother, but the FBI and Trespass did not buy it. In May, the FBI began to excavate the family's homesite in Louisiana and ultimately discovered Trespass's mother's remains... which had apparently been fed to an alligator named "Big Jack" after her death. Following this discovery, Trespass decided to leave the OCE team and stay on in Louisiana to resolve this personal mystery. It is believed that currently resides in New Orleans, but since the team has had no contact with him since his departure, this cannot be confirmed.
Trespass participated in the following investigations: Journey to the Navel of the World | Tahiti: Isle of Volcanoes and Lagoons | Atomic Atolls: The Marshall Islands Chain | Wake Island : Lost But Not Forgotten | Amelia's Shadow: The Search for Earhart and Noonan on Nikumaroro Island | Chuuk Lagoon: Fractured Paradise | Black Sands of Iwo Jima | Saipan Spirits | Urban Nightmares | Mojave Mysteries | Into the Wilderness | Spirits of Silicon Valley | Of Myth and Mist
Related information: Meryl | Spirits by the Sea |
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Allegedly a Greek philosopher and alchemist living in Egypt during the 3rd Century B.C.E., it is still unknown if Trismegistus was an actual person or simply a pseudonym used by many other, and more recent authors. His name translates to "Hermes Thrice-Great," and he is described with the same superhuman attributes as the Egyptian god Thoth and the Greek god Hermes. Trismegistus is said to have authored the Corpus Hermeticum, a collection of mystical wisdom once contained at the Library of Alexandria. The Hermeticum was "rediscovered" in 1455 in Florence, Italy, although it seems to have existed in some form even in the Middle Ages. The work was widely disseminated and Trismegistus was hailed as one of the great minds of the ancient world. But even at that time there was a lively debate over whether or not Trismegistus and his book were legitimate. The French classical scholar Isaac Casaubon (1559-1614) claimed that the work was not Egyptian but actually created by early Christian mystics. In time, the excitement over Trismegistus waned and his work was largely forgotten. |
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There are currently no entries in this area. |
| V: |
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There are currently no entries in this area. |
| W: WOOD, NATALIE |
| “WASHBURN, CARRIE (ANNABELLE):” |
Carrie Washburn was allegedly a young girl who lived near Thomas Whaley and his family in San Diego, California, during the mid-nineteenth century. According to a legend from the haunted Whaley House, Washburn accidentally crushed her trachea and died after running into a clothesline in the back yard. Her spirit was identified by Sybil Leek as being one of the Whaley House’s resident spooks, often causing pots and pans to bang together in the kitchen. Historical research has determined that no such child existed and the story is probably a hoax. She is sometimes referred to as "Annabelle." |
| WHALEY, ANNA: |
Wife of Thomas Whaley. See details below. |
| WHALEY, THOMAS: |
 (October 5, 1823 - December 14, 1890) An early settler in San Diego, California, Whaley is best known for being the architect of the Whaley House, often hailed as “American’s most haunted” location. Whaley amassed a small fortune by opening the first extensive mercantile in San Diego which allowed him to build the house out of brick, a novelty for the time. The house served many purposes in the community aside from a personal residence. Part of it was leased to the county as the local courthouse and another area operated as a commercial theater. The hillside on which the home was built had originally been used as the gallows, a fact that apparently did not concern Whaley. Shortly after the home of occupied, however, Whaley and his family began to report unusual phenomenon including disembodied footsteps on the second floor. Some of this activity was attributed to the spirit of a criminal named “Yankee” Jim Robinson who had been hung on the spot four years before the house was built. After the last family member died, the house was purchased and restored by San Diego county and now operates as a museum. The house is a well-known destination point for ghost-hunters, professional physics and curiosity seekers. Strange phenomenon continues to be reported there, including sightings of specters thought to be Thomas, his wife Anna, “Yankee” Jim, two Whaley children and the family dog. |
| WINCHESTER, SARAH LOCKWOOD: |
(September 1839 – September 5, 1922) Originally born Sarah Lockwood Pardee. Sarah Winchester was the wife of William Winchester, the owner of the Winchester Rifle Company, and considered to be one of the richest men in the world. Despite her life of privilege, Sarah suffered numerous tragedies in her adult life, including the premature death of her child and husband. After William’s untimely demise, Sarah inherited approximately $20 million and decided to relocated to southern California. Prior to moving in 1884, however, Sarah was reportedly told by a medium that the spirits of all the people killed by the Winchester rifle were cursing her family. To remedy the curse, Sarah would have to continually build a house. Once she relocated to San Jose, Sarah purchased an eight-room farm house and immediately began renovations. Construction and improvements on the house continued, twenty-four hours a day, for the next thirty-eight years. Despite her lack of architectural training, Sarah insisted on designing every inch of the mansion. There are no blueprints in existence for the house as Sarah’s designs were often little more than crude sketches on scraps of paper or even linen tablecloths. The house is loaded with peculiar traits, some obvious architectural “mistakes,” and others intentional conceits whose significance were known only to Sarah. During her lifetime, there were many rumors circulating through San Jose that Sarah was a devout Spiritualist and engaged in seances and other strange rituals in an attempt to contact her dead husband. Those who knew her best denied these claims, but the house itself does seem to betray and intentional and peculiar sense of superstition. After her death in 1922, the amazing house was left to her niece who auctioned off most of the belongings and sold the property. The new owners eventually developed it into the “Winchester Mystery House” and it is now open daily to visitors. For more information, see Spirits of Silicon Value. |
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 (July 20, 1938 – November 29, 1981) (Born Natalya Nikolaevna Zakharenko.) An Academy Award nominated actress, Wood began her acting career at age 4. Her youth was an example of many Hollywood children, with a career overseen by an ambitious mother and sullied by alcohol, drugs and destructive sexual liaisons with her directors, co-stars and other notables such as Elvis Presley, Warren Beatty and Michael Caine. Wood's impressive resume included roles in Splendor in the Grass, Rebel Without A Cause, West Side Story and Love With A Proper Stranger. She was married to actor Robert Wagner when she drowned while trying to board a dinghy from the yacht owned by the couple on the night of November 29, 1981. Although her death was ruled an accident, probably aided by extreme intoxication, rumors persist that she was a victim of a curse that surrounded her and her Rebel Without A Cause co-stars. [See Sal Mineo | James Dean | Urban Nightmares: Murder, Mystery and Magic in the City of Angels.] |
| Y: YORBA, MEL |
| YORBA, MEL: |
(Died 1981) One of the few murder victims in the Disneyland theme park in Los Angeles, Yorba was stabbed by a man named James O’Driscoll following an argument over Yorba’s assault on O’Driscoll’s girlfriend. Yorba died in the park from his wounds. O’Driscoll fled from authorities but was later apprehended hiding in some bushes near Sleeping Beauty’s castle. He had thrown the murder weapon into the moat where it was later recovered. O’Driscoll was convicted of murder and imprisoned. [See Urban Nightmares: Murder, Mystery and Magic in the City of Angels] |
| Z: "ZODIAC" |
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The pseudonym adopted by a serial killer who worked the San Francisco, California, area between the dates of December 1968 and March 1970. The extent of his murderous rampage remains the source of great speculation... as do the strange symbols, ciphers and happenstance that surrounded his activities, disguised his identity and baffled the authorities. [See Enewsletter 01-2007: The Murder Code: Stalking the Zodiac Killer.] |
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