Jerusalem: Archeologists Discover 1,500 Year-old Byzantine Street

According to the Associated Press, Archaeologists on Wednesday have unearthed a section of a stone street in Jerusalem that provides important new evidence about the city's commercial life 1,500 years ago.

The 19-foot (5.8-meter) section of street passes from the west into the center of Jerusalem's Old City, coming to a stop at a large cistern that supplied water to the city's residents. Pottery, coins and bronze weights used to measure precious metals from Byzantine times were also found at the site.

The discovery conforms to the layout of the city depicted in a mosaic map discovered earlier in a Jordanian church, said excavation director Ofer Sion of the Israel Antiquities Authority.

Read the entire story HERE.

New Zealand: Peter Jackson Witnesses Screaming Spectre

Director Peter Jackson has reported that his home in New Zealand is haunted, and his wife Fran agrees.  Both have claimed to see the same ghostly figure in their bedroom.

"She had a scary face, like a silent scream, very accusatory. It was terrifying. She was at the end of the bed then she glided across the room and disappeared into the wall. I sat and wondered if I had really seen it. Then, Fran came in. I said, 'I think I've seen a ghost.' I swear I had never spoken to her about this before, but the first thing she said to me was, 'Was it the woman with the screaming face?'
"Fran had seen the same woman in the same room two years earlier."

Read the story HERE...

Worldwide: Children Hearing Disembodied Voices

Reuters reported on Monday, that, almost 1 in 10 seven- to eight-year-olds hears voices that aren't really there, according to a new study. But most children who hear voices don't find them troubling or disruptive to their thinking, the study team found. "These voices in general have a limited impact in daily life," Agna A. Bartels-Velthuis of University Medical Center Groningen in The Netherlands wrote in an email to Reuters Health.

And parents whose children hear voices should not be overly concerned, she added. "In most cases the voices will just disappear. I would advise them to reassure their child and to watch him or her closely."
Up to 16 percent of mentally healthy children and teens may hear voices, the researchers note in the British Journal of Psychiatry. While hearing voices can signal a heightened risk of schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders in later life, they add, the "great majority" of young people who have these experiences never become mentally ill.

To further investigate how common these "auditory vocal hallucinations" are and whether they are associated with developmental and behavioral factors, the researchers looked at 3,870 Groningen primary schoolers. All were asked whether they had heard "one or more voices that only you and no one else could hear" in the past year.

Read the entire article HERE...

Cairo: Ancient Cat Goddess Temple Discovered

The Associated Press reported on Tuesday, the discovery of a 2000 year-old Ptolemaic-era temple. The temple was thought to belong to Queen Berenice, wife of King Ptolemy III who ruled Egypt in the 3rd century B.C.

Mohammed Abdel-Maqsood, the Egyptian archaeologist who led the excavation team, reported that the discovery may be the first trace of the long-sought location of Alexandria's royal quarter. The large number of statues depicting the Goddess Bastet found in the ruins, he said, suggested that this may be the first Ptolemaic temple discovered in Alexandria to be dedicated to the cat goddess.

Read more about the discovery HERE...

Bundaberg: Australia's Most Haunted Museum

Witness reports indicate that the Bundaberg Historical Museum (Queensland, Australia) is a paranormal hotspot. According to the NewsMail, Society founder Amanda Richardson said that the museum is “very active” with psychic energy. During a recent visit, a psychic saw a little girl from the 1900s sitting on an old hospital cart, and experienced of energy hanging around some writing equipment.  In addition, witnesses in the past have seen ghostly figures, items moving around on their own, and have heard strange voices.

Richardson indicated that though although the museum is not very old, many of the items inside are.

“These energies stick to different objects,” she said.

Other haunted sites in the Bundaberg region are believed to include the Avondale Homestead Tavern and the Childers Grand Hotel. According to Richardson, the Bundaberg Brewed Drinks factory and the Bundaberg Rum Distillery are also haunted.

Read more HERE...

Florida: Aviation Museum Plagued by Apparitions

The Fantasy of Flight attraction in Polk City, Florida has invited the public to investigate a series of seemingly supernatural occurrences plaguing its history-strewn halls.  The attraction bills itself as "World's Largest Private Aircraft Collection," and most of the aircraft in the collection are reportedly airworthy and still capable of flight.

According to Newschief.com, a family that recently visited the attraction was walking through an exhibit that featured a World War II-era B-17, when the family struck up a conversation with a kind, older gentleman who seemed knowledgeable about the plane and the era it was from. They talked back and forth, the family asking questions and the man providing insightful answers. Before exiting the exhibit, the family turned to thank the man for his time and shared knowledge. However, the man who had been just behind them was nowhere to be seen - it was as if he had vanished.

Read more about this and other supernatural activity at the site HERE...

Maine: "Bigfoot" Caught on Video

An unidentified Maine couple recently posted this video on YouTube revealing a possible primate perched high up in a tree.  Is this Bigfoot?  Or is it simply a result of the lighting and camera conditions.

Portugal: Unexplained Octopus Deaths Mystify Village

In Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal 1,100 lbs. of dead octopus were found on a 1.8-mile stretch of local beach. The following day, another 110 lbs (50 kg) appeared; today there was one more dead creature.

Local biologists have ruled out pollution or contamination because no other species were affected. And although some suggest that perhaps a boat, illegally fishing the multilegged creatures, threw them overboard in a panicked attempt to avoid detection, that possibility also seems unlikely due to rough ocean conditions.

Vila Nova de Gaia's municipal government has had firefighters collect the dead animals to be sent to Lisbon's veterinary lab for testing, a process expected to take up to two weeks.

Until then, evidence points to some sort of disease: a parasite, bacteria or a powerful virus.

"It affected octopus of all ages and sizes," says Mike Weber, director of the Aguda coastal station, an aquarium and biological research institute located in Gaia. "That suggests that it wiped out the entire local population."

Read more HERE...

Belper, UK: Strange Lights in the Sky

The Belper, UK news reported that a resident has come forward to say she spotted some strange lights over Belper last week.

The Acorn Drive resident, who did not wish to be named, was out walking her dog along Green Lane and Mill Street on Monday, December 28, when she saw a very bright golden light, hovering high in the sky over the Chevin, near Farnah Green.

She said the light was around the same size and shape as a street light, but much higher – too high to be cast by a helicopter or plane.

 "The golden ball was at this time very small but still visible when it passed behind a cloud. I waited for the cloud to pass over but saw nothing more. I am sure what I saw was unusual and just wish I had been in company with someone, other than my canine friend, who could coroborate this account."

Read more HERE...

10,000 Fish Found Mysteriously Dead in British Canal

British Environment Agency officers launched an investigation on November 29 after almost 10,000 fish were found dead over a 150 foot stretch of the Grand Union Canal, at Startops End, near Tring.

The cause of the mysterious deaths is not yet known as initial tests at the scene confirmed that the water quality was normal. Further samples have been taken and submitted for more thorough laboratory analysis. Environment Officers at the scene yesterday did not observe any signs of fish in distress in the canal or nearby reservoirs.

Read the entire story HERE...

Burial Ground Found in WV Man's Garden

A West Virginia man believes that his property holds remains from a Native American Burial Ground.  Ralph Carpenter claims there are a number of American Indian burial mounds in the hills above Henry's Fork and the West Fork of the Little Kanawha in Calhoun County. One, in fact, sits in the middle of his garden, covered in trees.

"I don't have trouble sleeping at night, and I'd like to keep it that way," Carpenter said of not disturbing the mound.

Carpenter, 65, and his wife of 47 years, Nancy, live year-round at the top of a wooded hollow between Letherbark and Henry's Fork in a rustic log cabin he pieced together from secondhand wood, metal and stone. He reportedly owns 180 to 190 acres. Most of the land is wooded and open for hunting.

Read the story HERE.

Philly: 500 Animals Killed in Apparent Ritual Sacrifice

Almost 500 dead animals were found in a Philadelphia home after what appears to have been a ritual religious sacrifice, according to police.

Investigators found the remains of cats, deers, turtles and other animals strewn throughout the Feltonville house and buried in the back, The Philadelphia Daily News reports.

"There's all kinds of stuff in there. Dead animals, dead critters, wax, feces, candles. It's a nightmare," Officer Jerry Czech of the Pennsylvania Game Commission told the newspaper.

The three residents will face charges of animal cruelty.

Read more HERE.

Strange Glyphs Found in the Amazon

 New Kerala is reporting that archaeologists have discovered about 300 strange geoglyphs in the Amazon rainforest.

The geoglyphs, which are large geometric designs carved into the ground, are believed to have been sculpted by ancient people from the Amazon region around 700 years ago, though their purpose is still unknown.

According to a report in Science and Technology, so  far, nearly 300 geoglyphs have been identified.

Read more about this discovery HERE.

Photo via Diego Gurgel