As Halloween quickly approaches, many folks are finding themselves in the mood for some ghost stories. Tucson has many haunted locations, particularly in the downtown area, like my favorite Pioneer Hotel. Ironically, I wrote that Pioneer piece exactly one year ago today.

The University of Arizona campus, where many buildings are reportedly haunted, runs a close second on my list of favorites.

A friend of mine forwarded a website to me. The site contains a treasure trove of tales related to the University of Arizona, some I was familiar with and some that I was not. Some of the stories are ghostly tales, some are not. Some are related to the unexplained mysteries associated with the campus.

When I worked and went to school there, my colleagues regularly disclosed paranormal activity in particular buildings.  The website is worth bookmarking, as it states that it is continually updated. Perhaps I’ll even contribute a tale or two about  buildings that I didn’t see included on the website.

The website includes stories related to Bear Down Gym, The Maricopa Residence Hall, Old Main, Centennial Hall and others.

Visit the U of A Mystery website…

and

Go Wildcats!

Paul the Octopus died yesterday. As the news spread of his passing, many folks spread jokes on Facebook and Twitter about using his carcass for a good batch of Calamari. Calamari is prepared from squid in most regions, as my dad pointed out.

Whether it was just chance, or Paul was really an “oracle Octopus”, the prediction record of the eight-legged creature was more accurate than many two-legged self-proclaimed psychics.

Paul’s predictions were designed so that he was presented with two boxes containing food in the form of a mussel, each box marked on the outside with the flag of a national football team in an upcoming match. His choice of which mussel to eat first was taken as indicating his prediction of a win for the country whose flag was on that box. These predictions were correct in four of Germany’s six Euro 2008 matches, and in all seven of their matches in the 2010 World Cup. He also correctly selected a win for Spain against the Netherlands in the World Cup Final on 11 July by eating the mussel in the box with the Spanish flag on it. His “predictions” were 100% (8/8) correct for the 2010 World Cup and 86% (12/14) correct overall. – Wikipedia

Anyway, when I heard of his passing, my mind shifted to The Beatles. I don’t know why my mind works this way, but it does. I started hearing “Octopus’s Garden” from the Abbey Road album in my head. The song was conceived while Ringo Starr was presented squid instead of fish,while on Peter Sellers’ boat in 1968. Later that day, as a related bit of trivia, the captain of the boat told him that octopuses “travel along the sea bed picking up stones and shiny objects with which to build gardens”.

I would say that I’m glad that Ringo’s order was flubbed that day. Call it synchronicity, or fate, if you’d like.

So, from there, I made a connection to the “Paul is Dead” rumour that circulated after the release of Abbey Road. According to fans, there was a plethora of evidence to support the rumor that Paul McCartney was killed in a car accident. One could hear messages like “I buried Paul” if the album was played backwards. There was even evidence from the album cover itself that were said to support these claims.

According to fans, McCartney had secretly been replaced by a look-alike Paul. Paul the Octopus has already been replaced by a look-alike octopus, also named Paul, but it is not a secret. However, in a strange twist, according to a Chinese film maker, there are assertions that Paul the Octopus died back in July, but his death was kept secret. He was replaced by a body double for the last three months. Read about the new “Paul is Dead” conspiracy theory at The Daily Mail.

“Paul is Dead” and it feels a little like Déjà vu.

Whether Paul the Octopus chose a great day to die, or it was chosen for him, yesterday’s date was very significant in Beatles history.

These are some of the things that The Beatles were up to on October 26th throughout the years, according to The Beatles Place.

1960 – The Beatles perform at the Kaiserkeller Club, Grosse Freiheit, Hamburg, West Germany.

1961 – The Beatles perform a lunchtime show at the Cavern Club, Liverpool.

1962 – The Beatles perform a lunchtime show at the Cavern Club, Liverpool. That night they perform at Public Hall, Preston, Lancashire, 30 miles northwest of Liverpool. Also appearing at this “Rock & Beat Spectacular” are Mike Berry, The Outlaws, and The Syd Munson Orchestra.

1963 – The Beatles perform at the Kungliga Tennishallen, Stockholm, Sweden. They play for two “houses.” The Beatles are second on the bill to the audience’s favorite, Joey Dee & the Starlighters although George Harrison is almost dragged off of the stage by enthusiastic fans.

1964 – The Beatles in the recording studio, Studio Two, EMI’s Abbey Road Studios, London. More recording for the “Beatles For Sale” album. Another break from their British tour spent in the studio. More recording for the “Beatles For Sale” album: “Honey Don’t” (5 takes); “What You’re Doing” (7 takes). They also record “Another Beatles Christmas Record,” to be mailed in December as a flexi-disc to Beatles Fan Club members.

1965 – The Beatles receive their M.B.E. medals from Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace. The media give extensive coverage to the event, with The Beatles conducting a press conference at the Saville Theatre (where they will film the video clip for “Hello Goodbye” in late 1967). According to John Lennon, The Beatles smoked marijuana in one of the palace bathrooms to calm their nerves. None of the other Beatles has confirmed this.

Whether you loved Paul the Octopus or not, a creature is dead. Play Abbey Road, if you’ve got it. Or simply enjoy a good song from Abbey Road about an octopus, written as a result of a mixed-up lunch order.

I was reading about various UFO waves in history and took quite an interest today in the ‘UFO Wave’ of October 1973.

Sightings 37 years ago were increasing dramatically across the United States. In turn, the increased sightings started to worry government officials.

“The increased sightings nationally could lead to a state of panic and hysteria and we ought to be concerned about it.” - U.S. Rep. J. Edward Roush (D-Ind.)

As quoted in the Columbus Citizen Journal
Oct. 18, 1973

So, as I was reading about the wave of 1973, I came across an article that includes UFO sightings in various parts of the country. It includes a layover in Hawaii, 37 years ago today.

I was extremely amused by it, so I thought that I would share it with you.

UFOs Visit Hawaii

The Crescent-News, Defiance, Ohio
Friday, October 26, 1973
From UPI

Hundreds of callers bombarded police and newspaper switchboards in Los Angeles Thursday reporting “shimmery, shiny” triangular- shaped objects in the sky, “just hanging up there” or moving very slowly.

Over Hilo, on the big island of Hawaii, three firemen and an air traffic controller spotted an unidentified flying object (UFO), three times the size of Venus.

In Corvallis, Ore., the recent rash of UFO sightings prompted a radio station to offer $10,000 reward for the first living space visitor brought to the station.

Bob Houglum, manager of KLOO, stipulated that the extraterrestrial visitor, animal or person, “must never have been on Earth before.”

One woman caller in Los Angeles said, “From my window there’s a great big massive thing, and I’m not nuts.

“My friend called me to look and we had our mailman look. We didn’t want to seem nutty,” she said.

THEY WERE TETROONS

The objects turned out to be tetroons; plastic bags released in an air pollution study being conducted by Dr. William Perkins of Metronics Associates, Palo Alto, Calif., the Environmental Protection Agency and the state Air Resources Board.

In Hawaii, sightings have been made on several islands recently, some by newsmen, some by citizens. The latest was Thursday night, over Hilo, and was seen by firemen and an air traffic controller.

Lt. James Higashite Jr., a fireman, said it was moving east-northeast and three times as big as Venus. He said, “we are trained observers with binoculars and telescopes. It looked like a large star but it has artificial lighting.” He and two other firemen saw it.

So did Hilo airport traffic controller Harry Marks. Marks said no flights were in the area, and the object shot straight up into the sky 10 minutes after it appeared.

In Chillicothe, Ohio, Sheriff’s Deputy Dale Gillette captured a “spaceman” late Thursday night. The “spaceman” was wrapped in industrial strength aluminum foil from head to toe complete with antennae on his head.

Gillette said he found the “spaceman” in the middle of a rural road while on patrol.

“I shook my head and didn’t believe what I saw,” said a shaky Gillette.

He explained he jumped out of his cruiser, put the spotlight on the “spaceman,” who took off running. The deputy said he called for the “spaceman” to halt, then fired a warning shot.

Gillette said the “spaceman” stumbled on the road, lost his antennae. That is when Gillette captured him and took him to the Sheriff’s Department.

Officials would only say the “spaceman” was a 15 year-old youth.

Tons of gratitude to the work of the late Kenny Young, a UFO researcher from Ohio, who spent much time pulling the information together. To read more about the UFO Wave of 1973 (and there is MUCH more), visit Kenny’s website.