The announcement of the series hints that our nation’s schools have displayed some level of interest in participating.

The premise of the hour-long weekly series is simple: Staff, students and parents will recount their tales of paranormal activity. The involvement of Seth Jarrett (Celebrity Ghost Stories) hints that those familiar re-enactments will supplement first-hand accounts of ghostly encounters. Mark Burnett, of Survivor and The Apprentice fame, will join Jarrett as executive producer. .

A debut date was not announced for this series

Not long after I made my post, a commenter named “Lora” pointed out that the quote was not a full quote. Instead, it was only a “selected quote” from an interview with “Regis and Kelly”. After watching the entire segment on YouTube that Lora shared, it became very clear that the quote was conveniently clipped to create a paranormal-related buzz.

Boreanaz shared this story, but it had a very important (omitted) punchline. As it turned out, Boreanaz investigated, by looking under the bed. He realized that the cause for his bed moving in the middle of the night was not paranormal based. It was simply a problem related to the base of his bed.  The bed supports were faulty. There was no haunting, merely a funny story for the benefit of fans, with a non-paranormal punchline.

I did not take the post down, since Lora’s comment on the page was clearly visible not long after I posted the story. It is also an “old story” in the news life cycle. It did still serve as a good example for my post, which is about celebrities talking about their homes being haunted (whether jokingly or not) and the possible consequences.

It also is a good example of the media emphasizing the paranormal in order to get page views. After all, Boreanaz DID make that statement, it was “just” missing the punchline.  The media doesn’t get in trouble for clipping quotes, only for misquoting.

However, Boreanaz, in this selected quote, believes that his home is haunted. Depending on how far and wide this story circulates, it could rear its ugly head again if he tries to sell the home. This could potentially interfere with his personal life, which is unacceptable to me. It is an easily solvable dilemma in this case, with the evidence of the original talk show interview to back him up. Celebrities who find themselves taken out of context don’t always have that proof to back up what they originally said.

Like the guy or not, it’s just not right.

I rarely write about celebrities or television since it is my belief that Hollywood largely exploits the paranormal. Boreanaz appealed to his fans with this story based on a popular topic, which isn’t a crime. He simply left himself open to the media, who were able to clip his story to appeal to a wider audience of those interested in this popular topic. Unfortunately, this isn’t a crime either, it just threatens the credibility of the news outlet.

The reason I write about the paranormal is due to my desire, as well as my readers’ desire, to search for the truth behind paranormal phenomena. The truth in this case, is that Boreanaz was exploited by the media with a partial quote on a popular topic. A credible news outlet will present the full story.

Some may argue that what some celebrity said isn’t important enough to spend an entire post to point out what was really said. I, however, believe that it is very important to share the full context. To get to the truth of the matter. In this case, I am presenting the truth of the matter.

Here is the full context of the story that Boreanaz shared with Regis and Kelly last week:

Though “not too sure” about what’s really going on in the bedroom, the couple thinks that the culprit is a ghost.

The “Bones” star bought the house earlier this summer.

Boreanaz explained in a recent interview, “We’re not too sure. We woke up in the middle of the night and we heard this big bang. It felt like the bed literally fell off underneath us. My first instinct is, we’re having an earthquake…turns out, it wasn’t an earthquake. Cut to two weeks later, same thing happens. It’s like something picked our bed up… so Jaime and I think ghosts are here.”

This type of statement made by celebrities always bothers me.

While I think that these types of statements could bring potential real estate problems, others think that haunted homes can turn out to be good business. A couple of weeks ago, AOL News reported the tale of a woman who turned haunted real estate into a profitable “ghost tour” stop. The former owner of the home disclosed that there were plenty of ghosts there. The woman loved the home and didn’t mind. She proceeded with the paranormal purchase.

If David Boreanaz and Jaime Bergman decide to sell their home, they have now disclosed to the media that they believe the home is haunted. They could be obligated to disclose the “paranormal activity” to a potential buyer.

Consider the 1991 case of Stambovsky vs. Ackley in New York.

Jeffrey and Patrice Stambovsky bought a home without any knowledge of the local lore attached to it. The home had been publicized in the media as ‘haunted’ and was even a stop on a local ghost tour. When Mrs. Stambovsky heard that the house was haunted from the neighbors, she was simply too terrified to live in the home.

The couple sued to get out of the contract. Despite losing the first round of their contract dispute, they appealed in 1991, and subsequently won, in the State of New York Appellate Court.

“Whether the source of the spectral apparitions seen by defendant seller are parapsychic or psychogenic, having reported their presence in both a national publication and the local press, defendant is estopped to deny their existence, and, as a matter of law, the house is haunted.” Justice Israel Rubin, Stambovsky v. Ackley

Celebrities take note, sometimes these little statements made to the press could come back to “haunt” you.

To read my previous rant on this subject from November of 2009, click here: http://tucsoncitizen.com/paranormal/2009/11/22/haunted-rentals-advertising-a-ghostly-roommate/

UPDATE 9/13, 10:00am: Boreanaz quote clipped for paranormal entertainment. The story had a non-paranormal punchline omitted by the media. Click here for related post and original interview in full context.

The teacher, 45 year-old Stacy Swallows of Sequoyah High School, found the teens at the cemetery on Saturday. He blocked their exit with his car before aiming a loaded rifle at them. He told the teens to “stay put”, according to one of the teens, until the police arrived.

When the police arrived, Swallows was arrested on nine counts of assault and nine counts of false imprisonment. His bond, originally set at $180,000 was greatly reduced yesterday to $25,000. Several members of the community have vouched for Swallows and state that he is a “stellar citizen” with a “tremendous reputation”.

The members of the community are divided over the incident. The teens, who range in age from 13 to 19 years, have not been charged with any crime at this time. This outrages some residents who state that the teens should be charged with trespassing and had “no business” to be there in the first place. They call the arrest of Swallows “ridiculous”. Others are outraged that the teacher pointed a gun at the teens.

The use of cemetery by local teens has concerned residents in the past, who say that they frequently find used condoms, bras, panties and drug paraphernalia among the headstones.  Swallows, who lives near the cemetery, claimed that he went to the cemetery, armed, after hearing gunshots and reporting the sounds to police. None of the nine teens were found to possess a gun or drugs when apprehended.

Bobby Cassidy and her brother Tommy Iles “are fighting mad” that Swallows was arrested. Their family cemetery, which is a private cemetery, was where the incident took place.

Cassidy said Swallows is fully supported and “he had all the rights in the world to go down there.”

The teens state that they read about a ghost story related to the cemetery on the Internet earlier in the evening and just wanted to go on a ghost hunt.

Swallows is scheduled for arraignment on November 17th. In the meantime, the teens involved in the incident have been ordered to stay three miles away from the cemetery.

Judge Robert Moon, who lowered Swallows’ bond, stated that there are “out and out lies swirling in this case”. Voicing his frustration over the matter, he further stated: “Thank God we don’t try cases in the media.”

According to the tale that has intrigued the teens, when a vehicle hits 111 mph along Lemon Tree Passage Road, it is said that a motorcycle ghost will appear in the rear view mirror.

The road between New Castle and Sydney has been the backdrop for many YouTube videos posted by teens trying to prove the tale to be real. The videos have actually captured a white light behind the speeding cars when the vehicles are said to hit that specific speed.

The ghost could very well be a very much alive motorcycle rider playing a prank on local teens and having a jolly good time doing it. It appears as though the teens are having fun endangering the lives of themselves and others on these paranormal inspired joy rides.

Local police, of course, are not having a good time and are not happy at all about this dangerous ghost hunting trend. They do aim to stop it.

A police spokseman has issued a statement for speeders: “We want speeding drivers to know that the only bright light they’ll be seeing in their rear windows will be the red and blue lights of a police car.”

Although several videos are available for viewing, the videos are unsuitable to post.

This is due to the extreme profanity that spews out of the mouths of the screaming and speeding teens in the videos.

If profanity and screaming teens don’t bother you, you can easily find these videos by typing “Lemon Tree Passage Ghost” on YouTube.

Efron explained in a recent Virgin Media interview that he grew up next door to a reportedly haunted house. The house beckoned with broken boards, smashed windows, and creepy area lore.

The temptation to explore the home became too great for young Zac and his friends.

Efron said that the trek alone through the tall weeds to get to the house was “really weird like something in Alice in Wonderland.”

When Efron and company entered the house, the amateur ghost adventure became truly terrifying for the youths.

Efron said,”We went up to the attic and heard a bunch of noises. We were like, ‘What is that?’ Then all of a sudden bats just flew out at us – we were scared s**tless and ran away. I’m pretty sure the place is haunted.”

Efron’s expert analysis is not supported by any evidence gathered at the home, yet the story is circulating all over the place anyway.

The recent flood of celebrities like Efron disclosing their ghost stories to the media screams a message of a very sad state of affairs in Hollywood.

Don’t any of these celebs have actual projects to promote anymore? Do the persons conducting these interviews hurt these celebrities by ignoring anything else they have to say in an interview to get a paranormal keyword or two in their headlines?

If this is all Zac had to say in this interview, then we’ll have to burst Zac’s bubble with a statement directed toward him.

Zac, dear, a ‘bat’ is not a ‘ghost’. Furthermore, bats do not provide an adequate basis for a home to be deemed haunted. It’s just bats.

Publishing that story in the first place is simply batty.

Sutton residents take this offer quite seriously, as reported by the UK Press Association.

While normal queries to the call center range from normal questions about area housing, schools and parking services, the call center receives many odd questions. For example, “How long can I safely store ginger powder for?” and “Can I put a dead fox in my recycling bin?”

A woman called Sutton Council’s call center, related to “parking”, since her car failed to stay parked where she left it. She called to ask if her car was haunted after her vehicle “moved of its own accord.”

After a “paranormal investigation” was conducted, the Sutton Council revealed that a ghost did not move her car: “CCTV footage showed the car rolled into a different parking bay after she failed to apply her handbrake properly.”

The airline had a long (and documented) history of credible officials and employees who claimed to have had encounters with the paranormal.

Even though the airline officially denied the famous ghostly encounters associated with Eastern Airlines Flight 401, many former employees of the airline do still stand by their belief in the hauntings associated with that ill-fated flight.

Although the events reported are incredible in nature, the persons involved with the airlines and the events were considered to be credible.

Eastern Airlines was born normally enough. Established in 1926 as Pitcairn Aviation, the company won a government contract to fly U.S. mail between New York and Atlanta. By 1930, the name would change to Eastern Air Transport, then eventually would be called Eastern Airlines. In 1938, the airline was purchased by World War I flying ace Eddie Rickenbacker. The airline would become one of the “Big Four” airlines, along with United, American and TWA.

The purchase of the airline by Rickenbacker was made possible with the substantial financial backing of Laurance Rockefeller, a man who would fight later in his life for UFO disclosure by the U.S. government.

All persons and paranormal events presented in this article are associated with Eastern Airlines, but is by no means all-inclusive.

Laurance Rockefeller, Eastern Airlines shareholder

This third generation Rockefeller had an interest in aviation. After World War II, Laurance Rockefeller became friendly with Captain Eddie Rickenbacker, who had famously triumphed in many dogfights over Europe. Rockefeller had learned to fly by this time and was fascinated by Rickenbacker’s prediction of an approaching boom in commercial air travel.

The financial investment paid off for Rockefeller. Within a decade after Rockefeller’s considerable investment, Eastern Airlines had become the most profitable airline to emerge after World War II. Rockefeller was Eastern’s largest shareholder. Rockefeller also funded the McDonnell Aircraft Corporation.

Rockefeller’s interests eventually evolved to include other flying objects, specifically UFOs. In 1993, Rockefeller and his niece Anne Bartley established the UFO Disclosure Initiative to the Clinton White House. They asked for all UFO information held by the government (including information held by the CIA and US Air Force) to be declassified and released to the public. The following year, in 1994, Rockefeller called for the declassification of the Roswell UFO Incident files, but the Air Force denied that the 1948 incident was UFO related. That same year, Clinton produced an Executive Order to declassify numerous documents in the National Archives, though the declassification was not specifically related to UFO information.

Rockefeller’s investment in Eastern Airlines in the late 1930′s set the stage for many paranormal events related to the airline, which may have spurred this interest in UFOs later in life.

Rockefeller’s friend, Eastern Airlines President Eddie Rickenbacker, once said about UFOs:

“Flying saucers are real. Too many good men have seen them, that don’t have hallucinations.”

Rickenbacker spoke from experiences involving his own airline.

One of the very first reports of a UFO encounter by a commercial airline was reported by Eastern Airlines pilots in 1948.

The Chiles-Whitted Encounter

On July 24, 1948, two Eastern Airlines pilots reported that their Douglas DC-3 had nearly collided with a strange torpedo shaped object flying nearby. The object was seen within a few hundred feet by two very experienced pilots, Clarence Chiles and John Whitted. Both men were considered credible witnesses. They had both been decorated for their service as airmen during World War II.

The encounter occurred at about 2:45 a.m. Chiles spotted what was described as a hazy red cloud, said to be somewhat similar to aircraft exhaust. It was slightly above them, and to the front-right of the DC-3 by about half a mile. Chiles saw an aircraft and pointed it out to Whitted. Both men quickly realized that the object was unlike a jet plane, and was moving towards them at a very high rate of speed. Within seconds, the craft was almost on top of them.

When recounting the event to Air Force intelligence, the men’s stories remained consistent. They said they had seen the object for about 10 to 15 seconds. Both men described the object they encountered as “cigar- or torpedo-shaped”, about 100 feet in length, and about three times the diameter of a B-29 bomber but had no wings, projections or fins. They heard no sound from the craft.

Chiles wrote a few weeks later: “there were two rows of windows, which indicated an upper and lower deck, from inside these windows a very bright light was glowing. Underneath the ship there was a blue glow of light.”

“It [The Chiles-Witted Encounter] was a pivotal case for the personnel of the U.S. Air Force’s Project Sign, and was a main reason they championed the extraterrestrial hypothesis as the best explanation for UFOs.” – Wikipedia

Although most passengers were asleep, the passengers who witnessed the craft also gave consistent testimony to Project Sign.

Washington ‘flap’ of 1952

During a two-week period in July, the United States Air Force responded to reports of unknown objects flying in the sky at a high rate of speed. One of those incidents involved an Eastern Airlines flight.

In the early hours of July 27, 1952, at 3:00 a.m, an Eastern Airlines flight over Washington was informed that an unknown object was in its vicinity, yet the crew saw nothing unusual. Personnel on the ground tracked the object on radar. When the flight crew was told that the object had moved directly behind their plane, the crew began a sharp turn to see for themselves. When the plane began to turn, the object disappeared from both the sky and the radar.

This incident was one of many that took place over a two-week period.

Fireball on Flight 539

Almost eleven years later, in March of 1963, Eastern Airlines Flight 539 experienced unexplained phenomena that has not been solved to this day. The plane was on its way from New York to Washington when a fireball entered the plane at one end, travelled through to the other end and vanished near the toilet. No one was harmed by it, but passengers said that it smelled slightly like sulphur or nitrogen oxide.

“I was seated near the front of the passenger cabin of an all-metal airliner (Eastern Airlines Flight EA 539) on a late night flight from New York to Washington. The aircraft encountered an electrical storm during which it was enveloped in a sudden bright and loud electrical discharge (0005 h EST). Some seconds after this, a glowing sphere a little more than 20 centimeters in diameter emerged from the pilot’s cabin and passed down the aisle of the aircraft approximately 50 centimeters from me, maintaining the same height and course for the whole distance over which it could be observed.” – Physicist Richard Jennison, published in Nature, 1971

Jennison also stated in the article that the object was blue-white in color and did not radiate any heat. He said that it moved at a “walking pace” about 2.5 feet above the floor.

Although experts have mulled this one over and suggested possibilities like ball lightning, it remains unsolved 47 years later.

A UFO Over Palm Beach

On September 14, 1972, Major Gerald Smith of the US Air Force was of the F-106 pilots scrambled under orders from NORAD (North American Air Defense Command) to investigate a UFO over West Palm Beach, Florida. The UFO was seen by many others, including an FAA supervisor, an Eastern Airlines captain, police and several civilians. It was also tracked on radar by Miami International Airport and Homestead AFB.

Frank Borman, Astronaut and Eastern Airlines CEO

Frank Borman was an astronaut who flew two flights while with NASA. In 1970, he retired from the Air Force and NASA to become a special advisor to Eastern Airlines. By December of 1975, Borman rose to the rank of CEO and spent 11 years in the position.

Borman was no stranger to UFOs.

In December 1965, while in space on board the Gemini, Borman reportedly saw a UFO during the second orbit of the record-breaking 14-day flight. Borman reported that he spotted an unidentified craft some distance from their capsule. When reported to Gemini Control at Cape Kennedy, Borman was told that he was seeing the final stage of their own Titan booster rocket. Borman confirmed that he could see the booster rocket, but he could also see something else. What that something else was has long been speculated by UFO enthusiasts.

On Christmas Day 1968, while on board the Apollo 8, Borman was again associated with a UFO. Borman’s fellow astronaut James Lovell contacted Mission Control with an exchange that had UFO enthusiasts buzzing ever since.

Apollo 8: Houston, Apollo 8. Over.
Mission Control: Hello, Apollo 8. Loud and clear.
Apollo 8: Please be informed there is a Santa Claus.
Mission Control: That’s affirmative. You’re the best ones to know.

Despite the fact that it was Christmas day, many believe that “Santa Claus” was the code word for “UFO” on this particular mission.

However, during Borman’s tenure as CEO, he was more concerned with ghosts than with UFOs.

In particular, he attempted to quash rumors of a haunting that surrounded a 1972 Eastern Airlines crash that killed 101 crew and passengers.

This haunting became known all over the world as “The Ghost of Flight 401.”

The Ghost of Flight 401

Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 left New York’s JFK airport, bound for Miami International Airport, on December 29, 1972. The Lockheed L-1011 carried 163 passengers and 13 crew members. The flight was under the command of Captain Robert Loft, 55, a veteran Eastern Airline plot. His flight crew included First Officer Albert Stockstill, 39 and Second Officer (flight engineer) Donald Repo, 51.

The flight departed at 9:20 pm and crew and passengers enjoyed a routine flight until 11:32 pm. At this time, the flight was near its destination in Florida and the crew began to prepare for landing. First Officer Stockstill noticed that the landing gear indicator did not illuminate. The other crew members assisted Stockstill, but became distracted by it. While the crew was focused on the landing gear indicator, the plane crashed.

Stockstill died on impact as the plane crashed into the swampy Florida Everglades. Captain Robert Loft and Second Officer Donald Repo survived the crash, briefly. Captain Loft died before he could be pulled from the wreckage. Officer Repo died the next day.

Of the 176 people on board, 101 died.

Frank Borman, prior to becoming CEO of Eastern Airlines, arrived at the scene after the crash to assist with rescue efforts.

Over the next several months, the employees of Eastern Airlines began to report sightings of the dead crew members Loft and Repo on board another L-1011. Parts from Flight 401 were reportedly salvaged after the Flight 401 crash investigation and refitted into another L-1011 in service. Ghostly sightings began to be reported by those who knew Loft and Repo. Eastern’s management threatened dismissal to those caught spreading “ghost stories”, it was said.

By this time, the rumours of the haunting had spread far and wide. Television and books told the stories of the ghosts. By this time, Frank Borman was the CEO of Eastern Airlines. Borman called the stories of a haunting “garbage” and considered suing the producers of the 1978 made-for-TV movie The Ghost of Flight 401 for libel.

Despite this, former Eastern Airlines employees still insist to this day that they saw the ghosts of Loft and Repo on board the other L-1011. Parts were said to have been removed from the plane. After the parts removal, there was no further mention of any more appearances by Loft and Repo.

After the 1972 crash, it was discovered that the indicator light that distracted the Flight 401 crew was caused by a burned-out light bulb. The landing gear could have been manually lowered with or without the light. The crash was due to the error of the crew. It is said that this is the reason Loft and Repo haunted Flight 401 – to keep future flights safe from human error.

Don Elkins, Eastern Airlines Pilot, UFO and Paranormal Researcher

Don Elkins held a B.S and M.S in Mechanical Engineering, and a Ph.D in philosophy. He served with distinction in the US Army during the Korean War. He was Professor of Physics and Engineering at the University of Louisville for twelve years. He was the founder and head of the University of Alaska’s mechanical engineering department. His main interest during his free time was related to researching UFOs and other areas of the paranormal.

In 1965, he left his position as tenured professor in order to devote more time to UFO and paranormal research. To better fit his research schedule, he became a pilot, then a Captain, for Eastern Airlines.

Elkins’ research would take him all over the United States, often flying in his own small plane to his research-related destinations.

Elkins committed suicide on November 7, 1984.

———–

It is unlikely that Eddie Rickenbacker and Laurance Rockefeller purchased Eastern Airlines for paranormal reasons.  Both men loved aviation and they shared a vision of being a part of the commercial passenger airline boom. Both men became believers in UFOs.

Some of the most well-known people and events associated with the paranormal will be forever associated with this airline.

Perhaps you’ve seen paranormal investigations conducted at Mary King’s Close on television’s Most Haunted or Ghost Hunters International.

If you have had the opportunity to visit, you may want to dig out those old vacation photos. The same apparition has been caught on camera on at least two separate occasions, according to a recent report by STV Scotland.

What appears to be the same blond-haired woman appears in both photos, both taken during late night tours in 2009.

The staff at Mary King’s Close is certain that the woman who appears in both photos was not a customer. The extra person in each of the photos does not correlate with tour attendance records.

Mary King's Close Ghostly Tourist / Courtesy STV Scotland

Staff at Mary King’s Close is asking anyone who sees a strange apparition in their pictures to allow them to be examined.

In the meantime, the tour hours will be extended for the month of August, with hopes that this same anomaly will reappear in photos.

We’ve long been associated with supernatural and unexplained stories. We’ve had sightings of dark shadowy figures who lurk in the myriad of passageways, rooms and corners of the Closes, and reports of lots of strange noises – these images seem to give us even more evidence. By running tours late in to the night with the last one finishing at midnight, we hope that this might make the ghostly image reappear.” – Lisa Robshaw, spokesperson for The Real Mary King’s Close

Ms Robshaw insists that images had not been doctored by staff, and hopes that by making the images public that someone might be able to help. She added, “If there are people in the images who can explain who the lady is we would love to hear from them.  We’ve tested the static camera that we use and it appears to be working normally so we really do not have an explanation.  We just want to try and understand what has happened.”

The description of the video posted earlier this week states that the footage is from a surveillance video at a gas station in Bulgaria. You be the judge whether there is probable paranormal activity caught on tape.

Fake or real, it’s pretty creepy.

Ghost in a gas station in Bulgaria on You Tube