Some of the greatest lesser known magicians.

We have all heard of the likes of Harry Houdini, Lance Burton, Penn & Teller, David Copperfield, The Amazing Jonathan & Criss Angel, but there are a few magicians that were great in their own right. And in fact most of the above mentioned magicians were inspired by such magicians that I shall name below. They were never all that famous in the likes of playing Vegas or having TV specials, but they were masters of their craft and they were just as good if not better than those of today. They didn’t have the publicity machine like the magicians of today and they didn’t really have a gimmick like some of the famous ones, but they didn’t need it. These men and women were magicians, masters of their craft and experts in illusion and slight of hand, history should never forget these people.

Harry Blackstone Jr.: A man following in the path of his father, Harry Blackstone Sr, he was a true gentleman of magic. He also had that mystique to him and his persona. His look could easily be compared to Doctor Strange or the classic villain who would tie the damsel to the train tracks, but his heart was as big as anything in the world. One of the classic tricks I remember watching him do was the bird cage that he would have members of the audience put their hands on and then make is disappear even as they were touching it.

Doug Henning: A magician who has been lost to a long list of other magicians, he did stand out amongst them in my opinion. His Zig Zag trick was his trick that he was most notably known for and when he did that trick you were in awe. You could watch it over and over again and still be entertained. He unfortunately died at an early age of 52 due to cancer, one thing he could not escape from.

The Pendragons: A husband and wife duo, these magicians are known the world over and have been entertaining people for years. They are masters at the famous Houdini trick “the metamorphosis” and do it in a much better and classy style than anyone in the world. It is such a privilege to watch them work. In fact during a rehearsal for a trick Jonathan Pendragon was shot through the chest with an arrow. He has since made a full recovery and both he and his wife are still doing magic today.

Harry Anderson: Some may know this name as his was the judge from the popular TV series Night Court. He was known as a practical joker and had a very good career as a stand-up comedian and was a part of the early years of Saturday Night Live. What some people may not know is that he is a accomplished magician. His card tricks are second to know and he makes you feel like you are a part of the trick all the time while making a fool of you.

Carl Ballantine: We know about the Amazing Jonathan, but what about the Amazing Ballantine? This man was the true and original Amazing Jonathan, now I am a huge fan of Jonathan’s, but Carl Ballantine was the forefather of comedy magic. Some may know him from the TV series McHale’s Navy with Ernest Borgnine as Lester Gruber, but he was a vaudeville man from years before. His comedic magical timing was second to none and I highly recommending you to look him up on youtube. You can still find a few clips of him out there.

Jeff Mcbride: The original Criss Angel, and by far much more entertaining and a lot less whiny. Jeff performs his magic with a dark sinister side to it, almost as if you were watching an evil warlock casting spells. He incorporates Japanese Kabuki into his act and does mask transformations better and faster than anyone else in the world. He is an accomplished teacher and master of the craft on magic, but yet so many people have never heard of him. He is truly a great magician to watch.

Now while I am sure that I am missing some, these are the ones that stand out in mind. I have been a fan of magic since as far back as I can remember. I got my first magic set when I was a young lad and I remember doing mini show for my family and friends. I would always look forward to the David Copperfield specials and watch intently as the magicians at the state fair would entertain and amaze us all. Like I said, these are the ones that got me into magic and made me a fan of the entertainment and joy that goes along with watching it. So check out these magicians and look into a few others, also check out your local magic shop, there are few left in the world, but they are worth going to and supporting.

Be safe…and pick a card any card,
John Cannon

Spirit in the skies or possibly UFOs…really?

When you look in the sky what do you see…airplanes, the sun, moon, stars, birds, superman or UFOs? Throughout history people have claimed to see things in the sky, which would explain our fascination with wanting to go where no man has gone before…space the final frontier. We don’t understand space or anything in it and our curiosity as people drive us to wanting answers of understanding. This may explain why people tend to be so nosy and rubberneck at accidents.

While there are many aspects to the whole UFOs and Ancient Aliens that we can take a look at and pick apart…and believe me in time I will…I will, I want to look at wars in the skies. The Bible, Koran, Bhagavad Gita, Native American texts, Chinese scrolls & in other forms of written text or art there are a number of events chronicling wars in the skies. Now whether these wars are considered that of divine intervention or natural phenomena, the newest approach to these occurrences are that of actual UFO wars…very star wars like. It seems that in all major religions & cultures around the world there is a story in their written text about a war in heaven, in the Bible it is the war that really starts good and evil and subsequently gives Satan power, but this isn’t a Sunday school lesson this is about UFOs. The point is that it seems there is a trend no matter the location in the world there seems to be some sort of “war in the sky” going on.

Now let’s take a look at this logically and with a clear head on our shoulders…the people back in the time of these ancient reports believed that if you were feeling ill in your stomach then there must be a little troll living in you causing you harm. So, all those times I felt ill because of the flu it was actually a small troll in my stomach? Damn, and all my mom did was had me suck on ice and snack on saltine crackers, maybe I should’ve had something a little bit stronger to take care of that problem. Do you see where I am going with this one? What people thought as being one thing back then is easily explained away by science because we now understand about viruses, diseases and immune system. I mean look at the Greeks & Romans they had a God for every little thing that happened. Now in this modern day we understand that there isn’t some maniac God throwing lightning bolts down at us because he is angry…or at least I think there isn’t, but I’ve been wrong before.

In 1561 over Nuremberg, Germany there was supposedly a war in the heavens that was seen by the entire town and was also painted in a semi-famous scene. It was reported that on the morning of April 14^th a scene of epic proportions erupted in the sky. The sky was filled with what seemed like different colored disks and crosses. The event was said to have lasted for over an hour and a half and while I research this more and more I find that the actual shapes that were reported vary in many ways and are not consistent, so that’s a red flag to me. They always say there are 3 sides to a story…yours, theirs and the truth.

Now first off when you read about these shapes in the sky couldn’t it be something as simple as sunglares? Do a google image search and check our sunglares, there are a number of different types of sunglares because the human eye sees them so differently. Plus, you know how when you first wake up you have that sand like junk in your eye and your eyes are watery then you take a look at something bright? You see different shapes and things tend to look blurry, well this event happened early in the morning when the sun was rising so wouldn’t it make sense that waking up suddenly to go take a look at something wouldn’t make you see clearly as to what is going on? Ok now why where they woken up suddenly…who knows, maybe some natural explosion, which does happen or maybe it could have been something else. The point I am making is that you can’t always believe what you see, plus as the story gets told over and over again it turns into “whisper down the lane”. You know that kids game where you tell one person one thing and by the time it reaches the 10^th person the statement is completely changed. These UFO reports are just in fact that, they are stories passed down from generation to generation…I know a guy, who knows a guy, who knows a guy, who knows a guy, who saw these things in the sky. How reliable of a source is that, it gives you a starting point to look at, but can you take it as an actual fact, I don’t think so. We have the best in picture capture technology in the world today from digital cameras to High definition video cameras and yet we still don’t believe what we see when faced with actual evidence, so why are we trusting a painting and a passed along story?

In closing I would like you to question what you see and hear. Don’t just look at something and go into some full blown wacked out idea in your mind and then claim it a truth without really looking into it. What you may be seeing may have a logical common sense explanation for it, and then once you have researched it and eliminated the junk you will then have what you really saw. Take some time to do the research and you will be rewarded well, I am sure of that.

Be safe and remember…sunglares kill, actually they don’t,
John Cannon

Bigfoot…Gotta love Harry & the Hendersons

In 1987, a movie by the name of Harry & The Hendersons was released onto the silver screen to much acclaim. The film tapped into the public’s fascination with the legend of Bigfoot and his interactions should he ever come into true contact with an all American family. The film was such a success that a spin off TV show was created as well. While the TV show did not do quite as well as the movie it helped to fuel the further interest of the Bigfoot legend. The movie was a simple concept in that a typical American family was driving along a wooded road when they struck some type of animal. As the family got out to investigate it they realized it was a bigfoot and took it home for evidence. As the Bigfoot came to they began to get to know the gentle giant and made it a part of their family. However at the end of the film he returns to the wilderness and you see Harry (the name given to the Bigfoot) walking into the woods when an entire family of Bigfoot come out to greet him.

The legend of Bigfoot has been around for many many years and similar stories of Bigfoots exist all over the world. There are many names for the Bigfoot such as Yeti, Abominable Snowman, Sasquatch, Swamp Man, Skunk Ape, and so on and so forth. It makes you begin to think that with so many stories and similarities could the legend of Bigfoot be real and exist to this modern day?

There are over hundreds of Bigfoot sightings all over the United States every year, and that’s not counting the sightings from the rest of the world. Now I am sure that some of the sightings are false, but the rest of them you have to wonder about. What are people seeing in the woods? Could it really be some sort of forgotten animal or is it the missing link so desired by scientists throughout the world? Well whatever it is, it is out there and it lives with us in the modern world supposedly.

Many skeptics say that if the Bigfoot legend is real then why have we not found any remains and as well why have we not seem them before as much as people seem to see them to this day? Let’s take on the first part of this question, why have no remains of a Bigfoot been found? Every year it seems the scientific and zoological community find an animal that was thought to be extinct for hundreds of years. In fact there have been quite a number of animals rediscovered that the scientific community is reviewing some of its past comments/decisions of previously though extinct animals. So with that bit of trivia revealed, why can’t the Bigfoot be in the same category of an animal that was thought o be extinct that’s actually still alive to this day? Ok now for the second part, which is why are there are so many more sightings now than in the past? I have two theories on this one and the first being with the development of so much land, like all the other animals such as deer and bears, we are pushing them more and more out of their natural habitat of the woods. If there aren’t many woods left then they are going to come to the suburbs and we will see them more, simple as that. The second theory of mine is that with the invention of the internet and e-mail and cell phones it is much more easier to be in contact with people who have seen a said Bigfoot. In fact there are websites dedicated to Bigfoot sightings, such as http://www.bfro.net/ , http://www.bigfootencounters.com/

OK now that I have “attacked” the skeptical now it’s time to give the believers their turn on the hot seat. My question to the believers is how come there are no clear pictures or videos of the sightings. This is why Bigfoot sightings involving video and pictures are so easy to fake, because there is no clear evidence. On the Penn & Teller Show Bull Sh*t they actually faked a Bigfoot video and people came out of the wood work believing the video to be real before any real zoologists or scientists could verify the video clip. As well, even if Penn & Teller faked scientific evidence people would buy into a believe it. Case in point, in July of 2008 2 men came forward with a supposed Bigfoot carcass, the major news networks picked it up and a press conference was going to be held on national TV for its unveiling. However, as the ice thawed around the supposed carcass it was discovered to be a fake, a plastic mask and fake fur suit. The Bigfoot community was duped and considered the laughing stock of the scientific world. I feel bad in one sense that they got duped, but in another I think they got what they deserved. They did no real research and paid an insane amount of money for the carcass without any real evidence. So in essence it would be as if you went and phoned a used car dealership and bought a car without really seeing it or checking it out to make sure it’s not a lemon. Does this make good business or scientific sense, because it doesn’t to me.

People in this world want these myths and legends to be real that they tend to lose sight of common sense and logical understanding. Don’t believe what you see or hear, investigate and research it, you wouldn’t dump your money into any stock without research so why do that with the myths and legends that you grew up hearing. It doesn’t hurt to question the evidence, and if they get upset that you’re questioning it then it probably isn’t real.

Be safe and please don’t feed the Bigfoot,
John Cannon

Now boarding all passengers going to Egypt, Mexico & Beyond.

I pose a question to you today, why couldn’t ancient man envision airplanes too? Why do we feel as a 2010 society of people that ancient man could not have the same hopes, dreams & desires as we do in this present day? Is it so farfetched that ancient man would want to soar in the sky amongst the birds just as we have the ability to do today? And is it so out there that societies/cultures across the world could have the same thought and outlook that they couldn’t create their own style of flying machines? Ok, so that was more than one question I proposed, but I think you catch my drift in what I’m aiming at.

There are some people out in the UFO community that believe the cultures of Egypt, Mexico, China and others around the world were heavily influenced by aliens from outer space. This is such an arrogant and egotistical approach to looking at our past that it drives me up a wall. Now let me state that I am fascinated by aliens and the possibility of their “existence”, but I have to look at this in an approach that makes sense logically. I would be and willing to believe that aliens exist, but let’s not try and discredit the past of advanced ancient civilizations just because we don’t understand them.

Let’s start at the beginning of recognized aviation history. The first official recognition of aviation began with Leonard Davinci and his flying models and drawings that he created around the 15^th century. We can even go back farther to 200 BC in China when they are first recognized as using kites for military purposes, and last time I checked…kites fly. After the Leonardo Davinic era, man had been pursuing to fly as the birds did till we came to a balloon created by men in France and then to the Wright Brothers. Well that’s all fine and dandy, but why can’t the thought of flight have existed before 200BC? Were the people back then only banging rocks together and making grunt noises until one day…BANG!!!...they could talk intelligently, write and exist on a higher level of existence, I highly doubt this.

In Egypt a small toy was found and it looked a lot like a plane/bird. They claim it isn’t a bird because it fits to closely to a modern day jet and no bird looked like that. I have to admit when you first look at the toy it does look like a modern day jet fighter, but was it, I don’t think so. Do I think it could be an example of a glider that may or may not have been built so man could fly like the birds…yes. They had birds in the day of the dinosaurs, so why is it that man would not want to fly in the air to satisfy their curiosity and desire? They say there is no original idea left in this world and that applies even to the theory of flight. Man probably desired to fly back then just as we do now. The difference is while we have modern machines of electronics and composite metals to give us the ability to fly, ancient man did not have this luxury. Now I do feel ancient man had some types of machines, but nothing to enable them to ability to fly long sustained flights as we do today. I do think however that they did have the materials in order to produce gliders made of light wood so they could fly for short periods of flight. Making a glider is not all that difficult if the basic understanding of flight, air currents and mass/weight ratio is understood. In Egypt these people made the pyramids out of practically nothing as they did in Mexico and in China they made gunpowder and fireworks…these were not stupid people. These were people driven by purpose, faith and desire. So the idea of them making a glider based upon the design of an already established flying machine, aka a bird, should be pretty easy to accept.

The story of the Egyptian toy glider plane found is essentially the same exact story as that of the ancient America’s, ie. Mexico with the Mayans, Aztecs, Olmecs and more. These people believed in Gods of higher powers just as the Egyptians did. They lived in a rainforest situation which was flourishing with many different animals and birds, the key word being birds. They too probably felt the same dreams and desires to fly in the sky like birds in order to be closer to their Gods that they so firmly believed in. A small intricate design was found not unlike the Egyptian glider toy, not only did they find a small glider like model they found it engraved into their walls and monuments, again just like similar carvings and hieroglyphics found in Egypt. Now I can talk about the aspect of pyramids in both cultures, but that is for another time and debate.

One of the one facts that keep coming up with people is; well if they did create such machines such as gliders then where is the evidence? Why can’t we find any trace of these gliders existing? My answer is: are you stupid? You are sitting there with these ancient little glider toys in your hand and you say there is no evidence, how dumb can you be. It’s like a little kid holding the baseball bat in his hand and saying he has no clue how the baseball broke the window. Now why aren’t there any artifacts of the big gliders themselves, well if you look at the ancient sites, very little has survived due to years of erosion and poor artifact collecting due to tomb raiders, and not the Laura Croft kind either. And who knows, maybe there are artifacts left out there and we just haven’t been able to find them yet because we aren’t looking in the right place.

It should not be hard to believe that people who lived practically in the middle of nowhere who were able to construct enormous cities and do complex math and astronomy would be able to understand the concept of flight. I feel without a shadow of a doubt that these two cultures as well as others were able to create gliders and envision themselves being able to fly like birds and be close to their Gods. To think we are the only society and culture to desire the ability to fly and work at achieving that goal is very arrogant on our part. Let’s just remember one key fact; we rely on computers and calculators to do complex match problems to do architecture and astronomy. These cultures of people did this without such modern day electronics…that is until we find they created electronics as well…which may be possible, lol.

Be safe & remember that you may not be as smart as you think you are or at least as smart as our ancient forefathers,
John Cannon

The Hands Resist Him…the temptation to strangle stupid people.

In this world we live, there are many strange things that occur. Things that go bump in the night, things that are unexplained…dogs and cats living together mass hysteria, sorry had a Ghostbusters moment there. Anyways, I am talking about haunted/cursed items and the stories connected with them. Some famous cursed/haunted items with great notoriety are the Hope Diamond, King Tut’s Tomb & the Poltergeist Movies. Some of you may remember a TV show by the name of Friday the 13^th, not to be connected to the movies in anyway what so ever, but it was a good show and the premise was that an antique dealer made a deal with the devil to sell cursed antiques. The dealer died and so his relatives and a friend went around trying to get the cursed items back that were sold in order to break the curse on them. It seems a bit farfetched, but to this day we still believe in cursed/haunted objects.

The object I am going to investigate is the painting called The Hands Resist Him, which is supposedly haunted/cursed to anyone who gazes upon it. The painting itself, when you first see it, is kind of creepy with a little boy standing in front of a door with hands all pressed upon it while standing next to a doll like little girl with jointed limbs. She stands there holding a dry cell battery, which some people think is a gun, and according to the artist she is actually the little boy’s guide through life while the hands pressed on the door behind the little boy represent paths he may choose in life, not sure how hands equal paths in life, but I’ll go with it for the sake of argument.

Some of the back story of this picture is it was sold on ebay in February of 2000 for over $1000 to an art gallery in Michigan. The gallery in which the painting was first displayed both the owner and the art critic who reviewed the painting died within the same year as one another. As well, some of the story is that the little boy and girl would come out of the painting at night and cause havoc to those in possession of the painting. And if you gaze upon the painting in real life or even a picture of it on the internet you can get a strange sensation and actually have paranormal activity occur around you.

Now my good friend Jason told me about this little urban legend the other day, as he knows I am very much into debunking these kinds of things, and I felt compelled to do some research and investigate this legend. Now let me say that I am very much into Ghost Hunting and the paranormal, but I like to approach it from a logical common sense aspect and try to debunk and whatever I can’t debunk well then who knows…there may in fact be something to the story.

So I set-up the experiment with my co-host in crime Rob Dimension and we would look at the picture on the internet while having EMF, K2, video and voice recorders going in order to see if we could catch some paranormal activity that is said to accompany the painting.

Now in the debunking of this from a research side is that the artist, from what I can find out about him, was that he wasn’t into witchcraft and did not paint this picture under a distressed fashion. So then why and how did this painting, which is becoming an urban myth, get such a story attached to it? Well as I looked into this a bit more it seems it was for money, gee what a shocker there. The painting was not selling on ebay for awhile and so the seller created such a fascinating story in which to sell the painting and got out and around the internet, and it worked too. In fact if you click this link it will take you to ebays write-up on buying haunted/cursed objects off their site: http://reviews.ebay.com/A-Guide-to-Buying-Haunted-Items_W0QQugidZ10000000000778547

Is this such a despicable thing to do to people in order to generate sales by scamming them into believing something that isn’t true…the answer to this questions is yes, yes it is wrong. However it’s been going on for centuries. During the days after the crucifixion of Christ people would claim to be selling parts of the cross or even the tip of the spear that pierced his side, which can be seen in the British museum. What I’m getting at is that the sale of fake cursed/haunted items is and will always be going on, are there real haunted/cursed items in the world, I believe there are, but you need to be aware of the fakes out there and there are a lot of them. Just do a google search and you can find tons of sites/people selling such items and I doubt there are any true cursed/haunted items because if there are would you really be selling it or just trying to get it away from you as fast as possible? If I had a cursed spatula that would make any food it touched taste burnt and it made the walls of my house bleed I am not going to post a sale for it on ebay and wait for the highest bidder, I’m either taking it to a church to get exorcised or I’m burning it & burying it in the backyard of my neighbor.

It’s amazing how we as people desperately want to believe something is haunted/cursed when nine times out of ten there is a perfectly logical explanation for the events surrounding it. As for that 1% of the time that the object really is haunted/cursed then my suggestion to you is to run…run fast and run far.

Be safe and don’t always believe what you hear.
John Cannon

UFO “Experts”…how do you get a doctorate in this stuff?

Let me first start off by saying that I am a UFO nut and would love for all these UFO conspiracys to be true as well as to get the chance to tour the real Area 51. Now with me stating that I am willing to believe in some aspect of the sense of UFOs, my concern is with these so called “experts” in the UFO community. I watch the shows on UFOs/Aliens like Ancient Aliens & UFO Hunters, heck I even own all the seasons of UFO Hunters on DVD, but how do you seriously become an “expert” on this stuff???

You watch these programs and read these books that are written by everyday normal people and people who have gotten their PHD. The every day people I am not going to look at because that’s way to easy for me to rip apart. I want to look at these people with a PHD and claiming to be experts. Now when I was going to college, and in fact I am returning back to college, at no time did I see a UFO course listed, not even as an elective. So how does one go about getting their PHD in UFOs, you don’t. I have friends who have their doctorate in real studies and sciences and they went through years of courses/classes to get that PHD title on their name and they are proud of it and can prove what they say with real science and data. These UFO “PHD Experts” can only take the words of someone who may or may not have been invovled in a “secret” government program focused around reverse engeneering of a downed UFO craft or other “secret”projects. Now while these people may have bad or good intentions with making these stories up, can you really believe them if none of their stories can be backed with actual data???

One guy in the UFO community who is considered to be an “expert” says he worked at Area 51 and had high level securiy clearance and now that he has come out with his story the government is wiping out his physical history with college, work and even his identity. I am not going to give the genteleman’s name out because if this ever got back to him I don’t feel like getting sued, but how can we believe this guy? These is no real evidence other than a simple paycheck stub that can easily be created using a computer and an imagination, in fact identiity theives do it all the time. So again ther eis nothing to back up how this guy could and should be considered an “expert”.

Now keep in mind I am not picking apart pilots, every day normal people or wackos…I am picking apart those people who claim to an “expert” in something with no real data to back what they are saying. These “experts” listen to what a person says and instead of really investigating it they let their mind wander and run away on a tangent of how it is aliean/ufo related and then it becomes fact in their mind and forced onto the public.

Now here is a thought…what if all these “experts” are actually working for the government in a misinformation campaign to keep the people of the world confused and focusing on something non-existant while they do something else behind the people’s backs. Think about that one you little conspiracy theorists. The government could be paying these people to lie about things they have seen or heard just in the same aspect as you would distract a baby with a shiny object or loud noise to attract their attention before the doctor gives them their shot so it hurts less…oh never thought about that one did you???

The study of UFOs should be based in fact and data, yes I feel that the government is hiding something in the aspect of UFO technology and yes I would love to see if this stuff was real, but I don’t think we will ever see that or know the truth for many many years. So all we can do is watch the skies and talk to those people who have the same feelings and enthusiasim, but to claim yourself an “expert” on something you can’t back up is pretty weak in my opinion.

Be safe and always have fun,
John Cannon

Thermal Cameras….Really??? Why??? (Updated)

I know I will probably get crap for this, but if you haven’t learned from this point that really doesn’t bother me too much in regards to ripping apart Ghost Hunting. This topic is apparently a sore spot for some people. I am not planning on taking apart the people who use thermal cameras, but rather the use of thermal cameras in general and a viable tool for ghost hunting.

Now, most Ghost Hunting groups feel that the holy grail of all equipment would be to get their hands on a thermal camera. Almost every group out there feels that this piece of equipment without a shadow of a doubt proves the existence of spirits as well as the ability to capture their image and ghostly form. I ask why…why do people think this is a great piece of equipment, all a thermal image camera does is to form an image using infrared radiation. It can detect hot and cold spots as well as their point of entry. A lot of plumbers, electricians and builders use them to find where pipes or buildings would need insulation or to point out faulty wiring as well as where the greatest heat loss is in a subject. The thermal image is projected in colors that directly match the subject, hot being represented by bright colors and cold being signified by dark colors.

So, now that we have established what a thermal imaging camera does and what its true intentions are, let’s get to why I am confused about all of this as it relates to Ghost Hunting. See now on an investigation people use a thermometer in order to find the infamous “cold spot” which for some reason is a sign that a “spirit” is trying to manifest itself. Ok, I guess I understand that if you are under the aspect that spirits feed off of the energy in the air and heat being an energy is an easy power source for them to get charged off of that the temperature would drop. Now that everyone is getting all excited that they found a cold spot they break out the thermal camera to take a look around the area only to find the silhouette of a person standing there. There it is in all its bright yellows, oranges and reds the form of a human/spirit; you have found the ultimate evidence that everyone looks for on an investigation. This is the greatest experience of your ghost hunting life/career to see…oh wait…did you not read what I wrote earlier? I said that heat was represented by bright colors and cold was represented by dark colors. So then what the heck are you looking at, if you found a cold spot then shouldn’t the thing be dark colors rather than bright ones?

That’s right thermal imaging is really fun toy to play with, but it doesn’t make sense. Did you ever think for a minute about the logic behind cold pots versus warm silhouettes on a thermal camera? People get so wrapped up in the great toys they see on TV that they don’t take the time to actually think about what the heck is going on with them. I have never heard of anyone going out to find “warm spots”, it’s always the “cold spots”. So what could it be? Could it be an actual spirit? Could it be a reflection off of something (which is my vote)? Could it be something much different that people don’t want to talk about? Could it in fact be a demon?

In the years we have all watched the “famous” Ghost Hunting TV show we have all heard about human and in human spirits. Now if you look at this logically and you have a belief structure which allows you to thoroughly accept the fact that there is a heaven and a hell then take a listen to this. If in fact you have seen a warm silhouette of a human/spirit and not one that is dark colors then wouldn’t it be logical to think that something that lives in the pits of hell would be warm? Based upon all accounts of the bible hell is a place of fire and pain, and last time I checked fire was hot and since demons live in the fires of hell naturally they should be hot. I don’t know if this makes sense to you, but my feelings are to not accept everything you see at face value.

People tend to use “ghost hunting” equipment without really trying to figure out what its true purpose is for. I will admit that I have tons of equipment and have used it without really looking into it, but I am willing to admit it. And the more and more I think about thermal cameras I don’t think they are really worth their weight in what type of evidence it produces.

Again if you don’t like what I say then deal with it, I am here to make you think and take a step back for a minute. As always these are my opinions of logic based upon my experimentation and investigations into the weird and bizarre.

Be safe and thanks for reading,
John Cannon

Original version posted on 1/1/2009
Copyright © 2010 Creature Cooking, Inc. All rights reserved

Ghosts: The Battle of Night & Day

Are you afraid of the dark or are you afraid of the light? I can ask that in another way, are you afraid of the day or the night? The reason I propose this question is because when you think of spooks, specters or ghosts you tend to think about the things that go bump in the night. The things that as a kid you swore lived under your bed or in your closet as you lay in bed, at night, trying to sleep while hearing creeks and groans from the house or mysterious shadows cast upon on the wall by the dim light of the moon. We tend to think about how the night is shrouded in mystery and full of evil and danger.

I have been ghost hunting for a number of years and I always asked myself the same question over and over again. I now present that question to you, why do ghosts only come out at night? I say they don’t, I say they come out at night, during the day, at dusk and even at dawn. They don’t discriminate when they come out to play, they come out when they want to. They aren’t on some type of spectral time clock that only allows them to be out between the hours of Midnight and 3AM. They talk about the witching hour and that is the time when true dark magic or ghosts come out, but why?

Many ghost groups do what they call going dark, which is when they turn off all the lights in a supposed haunted location they are investigating and then begin to hunt ghosts. You can see this technique on the TV all the time. All the paranormal shows are done “in the dark”, granted this makes for much more suspenseful television, but why does it matter, I say it doesn’t.

There are so many stories in the world about ghosts and goblins being able to be seen in the day that it just doesn’t make sense that you would only do ghost hunting at night or in the dark. Some people say you can see manifestations of spirits easier at night or you can see other possible paranormal phenomena take place in the dark as well. Yet as you watch all these shows they go back to review their recordings and see the stuff they couldn’t see because they were in complete darkness. How do they know that this stuff wouldn’t happen with the lights on? How do they know they couldn’t get EVPs (Electronic Voice Phenomena) during the day? They don’t because for far too long the standard is that only scary things can happen in the dark and at night.

I tried some of my own experiments based upon these crazy wacky ideas of mine. I conducted some EVP experiments at certain times, 10am 12 pm & 4:37pm, and you know what, I got some EVPs or things that some ghost groups would consider to be EVPS. Now whether or not they are EVPs from disembodied voices is another debate in itself to be covered at a later date.

People have been experiencing visions and sounds during the day they consider to be paranormal for years. There are no set rules in the world of the paranormal and you can’t force a ghost to come out when you want them to. Let’s say you believe in ghosts and you decided to go to a supposed haunted location. Now the hypothetical back story to this haunted location is that a woman had killed both her father and mother with an axe, while the reasons are unsure they were murder in a very violent and bloody act. Now you investigate this house at night and really investigate hard during the hours of midnight to 3AM knowing something horrible had happened in that house. You complete the investigation and go through the hours of evidence only to find nothing, no EVPs EMFs or video evidence. Well in fact this story is based on an actual story, the house and story I am talking about is Lizzy Borden and the gruesome murders happened during the day when it was bright and sunny out. Now the theory of ghosts is that they can either replay that horrible moment when their life was taken away or that the house has a ghostly presence. Now why wouldn’t you have conducted the investigation during the day when the violent event happened? It’s because ghosts are considered to be spooky and scary and that they can only come out at night in the dark.

I ask you to take a look at the logic presented before you and if you would like to make a counter point against my logic then you are welcome to. However weigh out all that has been presented and then watch all those paranormal shows on TV and you tell me when they last did an investigation during the day.

Be safe,

John Cannon

2012...Don't believe what you see or hear. (Updated Version)

2012 the world will end...or will it? In my research on this I have come to the conclusion that it has no real solid basis and is marketed by those individuals who cannot find a real cause to support. This is another myth that ranks up there with the Y2K scare, Hale-Bopp & even the Easter Bunny. So many people are getting worked up over a year and date that doesn’t mean anything to anyone, especially some space aliens or the aspect of armageddon.

I plan to look at and pick apart some of the more notarized theories associated with the 2012 theories of conspiracy.

On December 21^st or 23^rd of 2012 the world will end: This one is one of the most farfetched that I have heard and is easily explained away. First off, let’s use Christmas or New Years as a reference point since they are both recognized internationally and are easier to explain the point I am about to make. Now let’s look at this logically, my friend lives in Australia and every year I get a drunken phone call from him wishing me a happy new year at 11:00AM the day off, why you may ask, well because Australia is 13 hours ahead of the East coast of the US and in particular the east coast of the US is 4 hours ahead of the west coast. Why do I make this point, well its simple, basing the fact that the world would end on December 21^st or 23^rd, what time zone will it take place in? It can’t take place in all of them because that would mean the world would come to an end in a domino effect sort of way. And if the world is going to end I think it would do it all in one shot. As well the date and time is open for interpretation based upon who you are talking or listening too, if this was a solid date calculated by the Mayans, why the discrepancy?

This is said to happen based upon a Mayan Long Count calendar: Really? Is this who we are going to listen to as the fate of our world? If this is the case then someone has been watching Alien vs Predator way too much. I will admit that the Mayan’s were very intelligent people and were advanced for their time and geographical location, but where are they now? Their culture is all but gone and the Mayan people are all but faded out of existence. Yes, the Spanish came in and wiped them out with disease, but the fact of the matter is, if they were that advanced they would have been on the same playing level as the Spaniards, they would have created gun powder and weapons for protection rather than worshiping a number of different gods that didn’t exist. They would sacrificed and wear jackets of human flesh in order to appease the god of the land so that they would have fertile crops. Really? This is who we are taking global advice from? Heck if that’s the case then maybe we should take more stock into listening to such people as Ed Gein or Jeffery Dahmer, because they were pretty much doing the same thing.

One other point I would like to make about the Mayan calendar is that the few Mayan people who are around today don’t even put much stock into it and it was their ancestors who created it. Now if their own people aren’t worrying about the 2012 thing then why in the world are we?

Galactic Alignment: This theory is based upon the fact that the planets of the galaxy will all be in perfect alignment thus causing an end to the existence that we know of or will usher in the world of the New Age. Now the planets have aligned in the past and oh wow look we are still here, it is a very cool thing that the planets come into alignment and is an interesting fact, but nothing I would base my life on and around. As for the coming of the new age, go to Border or Barnes and Nobles because they have whole sections on new age so I hate to burst your bubble, but the new age movement has been around for years and is part of the culture of the world already, just look at Nostradamus and his fortunetelling, you don’t get anymore new age than that. However I feel that Nostradamus is a crack pot in his own rite as well, but that is for another time and debate.

Planet Nibiru: This is the theory that a giant planet called Nibiro or Planet X (very Godzilla like I might add) will collide into the earth and destroy it. I don’t know why I am going to waste my time on this one, but this is one of the most ridiculous ones I have heard yet. Now according to astrologers there will be an object called 433 Eros to pass by the earth narrowly missing us at nearly 17 million miles, yes I said 17 million miles. Oh and by the way Eros is only about 20 miles in diameter at its widest part, wow…we better watch out for that one, note sarcasm. Now if both professional and amateur astrologers are able to see this two mile rock that will pass us by 17 million miles don’t you think someone would have spotted a freakin planet hurtling towards the planet earth?

Web Bot: Ok now I know I said the Planet X thing was ridiculous, but I may have to give it to the Web Bot theory for overall stupidity. Now the web bot’s purpose is to scour the internet looking for key words with emotion and to somehow create stock trends and predictions on both natural and manmade disasters. So let’s get this straight, two mega nerds created a program to randomly search words on the internet that puts them into a calculation that the “inventors” don’t share with anyone only to sell their results via their website? In my mind they have to be some of the best con men or certifiable geek wackos walking this earth. They claim they predicted 9-11 as well as the Dick Cheney hunting accident, if you boil it all down and look it at it with a clear mind then you will see that this is nothing more than a giant electronic magic 8 ball. “Answer unclear, try again later.”

Well I think I will end this column/editorial on this note, if you take any stock in these things other than an interest to see how people think then you need to crawl under a rock and not come out till you can get along with society. There will always be end of the world theories and no one will ever know when that will take place. You need to live your life to the fullest and help make it a better place for yourself and others. If you worry about what might be, then your best bet is to get a job as a tele-marketer and never leave your house. As always, if you have an opinion with what I said then you are more than welcome to e-mail your rebuttal to me and I will gladly tell you that you’re wrong.

Be safe,
John Cannon

Original version posted on 1/1/2010

Copyright © 2010 Creature Cooking, Inc. All rights reserved