Missing Thunderbird Photo Link?

"The original live War Eagle from 1931. Shown with cheerleaders DeWitt "Bull" Stiers and Harry Davis.
" via friend Neal Robertson on FB

Missing Thunderbird Photo Finally Solved?

"Here's a fascinating email that I received from a ShukerNature reader on 16 December 2014 (in response to my blog post re the supposed missing thunderbird photo), who very kindly gave me full permission to quote it here. I have this person's full name on file but they asked me to refer to them only by their initials here. Here is the email, which offers a very interesting potential new source for the thunderbird photo, if the photo in the programme concerned is indeed the real thunderbird photo (always assuming of course that there is one!):

"Hi there! Reading your article on the thunderbird and thought I would pass along something of interest. I also remember seeing the thunderbird photo in a book, but in the early 80s. It was something I picked up from the local library and the pic was just like the one somebody described in your comments section. Since I have always followed this story, I was really interested in an old photo shown on an episode of Wild West Tech of all places, a show hosted by David Carradine before he died. This photo showed what looked like a pteradactyl, but it was held by KNEELING civil war soldiers, not nailed to a barn. I was fascinated because it looked real so I paid attention. The episode was not about pteradactyls - ha but the photo was stuck in strangely. I cant remember which episode now, sorry, but I did look for a photo credit at the end, there was none. I googled the show to try to see it online and learn more but it was unavailable. I would love to see that pic again and learn of its origin and possible authenticity. The soldiers might also be muddying the waters for others that saw it in contrast to the barn photo. If you look into it and find any info, please share!!!! Thanks, C.F."

 Has anyone seen this episode or knows where it can be viewed? Would be excellent to check it out!" Friend and author Dr. Karl Shuker via The Journal of Cryptozoology on Facebook

Conducting Bigfoot Field Investigations

Investigation should not be just a jaunt into the wooded area looking for Sasquatch signs.
Determination of merit is what we need, if an account is to be considered real. First travel their route and time it. Using the sample time line above, if they left the party at 10:00 PM. On Main St., what if the gas station is only around the corner? Unaccounted time.
What if the area of the sighting is actually an hour from the area of the gas station? If you have a good feeling about a witness, remember, “Trust but Verify.” You may have to retrace steps on a trail to verify times, but do it! It can be the determination between “a good story” versus a legitimized account.
Here is a basic list of equipment that you should always have on hand when you are in the field:
◾Plastic/Rubber/Nitrile gloves  – Preventing evidence contamination – keeping hands clean while casting, etc.
◾Measuring tape –  Measuring prints, track ways, etc.
◾Note pad  – Taking notes, drawing maps, etc.
◾Pen or pencil  – Self explanatory (can be used as a photographic scale reference in a pinch)
◾Ziploc bags  – Evidence storage as well as protecting equipment.
◾Paper bags or envelopes –  Evidence storage
◾Garbage bags  – Protecting tracks until they can be cast – expedient raingear or shelter
◾Tweezers (sterile) –  Evidence collection


Cont. on Cryptomundo and The Examiner

The Short Bigfoot Flap of Waterford in 1981

"I first learned of this, almost thirty years after the incident happend in 2010 while examining one of my heroes of the Bigfoot mystery, author John Green's database. There was a reference to the Troy Record reporting on a rash of Sasquatch sightings in Waterford. HUH?


So my first step was to visit the Troy Public Library, where they have a robust microfilm library of newspapapers dating back to the early 1800's. Sure enough there was an article written by Staff Reporter Jonathan Hodges, detailing several sighting reports dating back to early August 1981.


Well this kicked my interest up so I filed a Freedom of Information Act on the Waterford Police Department and sure enough, I got a phone call, saying my documents were ready. I hastily rushed down to the station where I was politely given my documents for a nominal fee.
Back in August 1981, there was a series of Bigfoot sightings that occurred in the town of Waterford that made the local papers.


The first report was on August 4th, 1981 in which at 12:38 A.M. the Waterford police had received a report of a woman seeing the creature in the village and had growled at her.
The officers did not seem awfully convinced and added a bit of sarcasm and humor by fininshing their report with, "At 00:48 hours the Officers stated that the subject is GOA (gone on arrival) and that he must have gone back to his cave."


However before the story hit the press several children had a sightings in the Prospect Hill section of Waterford. On August 5th, the matter was handled a bit more seriously when calls were received at 2:03 P.M. to report a sighting earlier in the week at the power station on Middletown Rd. and again later at 3:30 P.M. about a sighting behind St. Mary's Cemetery.


Whether it was a bear, moose or Bigfoot, none of the above was tracked down in Waterford, so such remains a mystery. What exactly did occur that summer in 1981 is anyone's guess at the moment." Via the Examiner and Cryptonundo

Did Lee Harvey Oswald Kill JFK? Yes.

Confession: I am a JFK assassination buff. I never much liked the term, but it describes me well. I've read just about every book ever published on the assassination, watched every documentary, mock trial, and dramatization. And for a long time, until about 14 years ago, I was a conspiracy theory believer. Too many loose ends. Too many coincidences of propinquity. And since I had no understanding of physics, or ballistics, or medicine, or of the world, really, I was fascinated with Oliver Stone's enormously influential JFK. I remember writing somewhere, and bear in mind I was 14 at the time, that the third act scene with "Mr. X" was one of the most dramatic moments in modern film history. That might have been true to a kid who hadn't seen many movies and who had no idea how awful New Orleans prosecutor Jim Garrison actually was, or how utterly absurd his theories were.



A year later, the day that Gerald Posner's Case Closed came out, I remember sitting in my high school library waiting for my chance to page through U.S. News and World Report, which was serializing the chapter on the "single bullet." I was nervous. Part of me didn't want to read a book that concluded something that was precisely the opposite of what I believed. But, clearly, I wasn't totally convinced, because I wanted to read it in the first place.
 I took the magazine and began to read. I can pinpoint the moment when my blinders came off, when my childhood assassination conspiracy fantasies dissolved. Posner pointed out that (a) the president's row of seats inside the presidential limousine were built to be higher than the row of seats where Gov. John Connally and his wife, Nellie, would sit; and (b) all the photographs of the motorcade entering Dealey Plaza showed Connally sitting closer to Nellie, away from the edge of the car.


 And suddenly, the single bullet theory made absolute sense. The trajectory of a bullet fired from the Texas School Book Depository absolutely could have entered JFK's upper back, exited his throat, and tumbled through the governor, lodging, finally, in his leg. The two men were perfectly aligned. It was just true. No "in mid-air, mind you, the bullet changed direction." None of that was necessary. If the single bullet theory had to be true — and it did, because no one was capable of firing two bullets at precisely the same "x," one of them hitting Kennedy and the other missing Kennedy and hitting Connally on an angle that passed through JFK's torso — then everything else I thought I knew had to be questioned.




"Keep in mind: I was 15. This was a seminal intellectual experience for me. It was my first exposure to the powers of skepticism and reasoned argument.




 Reason triumphed over magical thinking. If Lee Harvey Oswald was part of a conspiracy, then Ruth Paine, a friend of his family's in Dallas, had to be, too, because she alerted Oswald to the open job at the Texas School Book Depository about a month and a half before the assassination. Come to think of it, Roy Truly, the building superintendent, also had to be part of the conspiracy, because he hired Oswald and assigned him to the fifth and sixth floors of the building. In other words, if Oswald was long-slated to be the patsy, unless a conspiracy fomented somehow REALLY fast in the last six weeks before Kennedy's death, those two HAD to be in on it. Had to be. But clearly, they weren't. Not only was their no evidence of their connection to anyone bad, save Oswald, but no one ever tried to silence them. Their stories checked out. And they were paragons of the community. They just weren't part of the conspiracy because there was no conspiracy.




What about... what about enigmatic David Ferrie, who was mob boss Carlos Marcello's pilot, and who also knew Lee Harvey Oswald from childhood? Well, turns out that Ferrie was never Marcello's pilot — he was a contract employee at one point, but that's about it, and there's no evidence he ever knew Oswald.


 What about the famous horrific snapping back of the president's head right after a bullet tore through his skull? Actually, his head gets pushed forward, violently, before it snaps back, both of which are entirely consistent with a shot entering the occiput and existing above the right ear, blowing out brain tissue.


 None of it hung together. The evidence of Oswald's guilt was, and is, overwhelming. The evidence for a conspiracy is thin to non-existent, and is almost always predicated on assumptions that themselves are very sketchy.


I do understand the sociological significance of the conspiracy theories. JFK's death was incredibly traumatic; how could a figure of such enormous historical importance be felled by a puny, angry, disturbed ex-Marine? But he was. That's kind of amazing." How I Figured Out That Lee Harvey Oswald Killed JFK, The Week



Some notes:



1."Death of a President November 1963" by William Manchester and "Reclaiming America" at over 1,000 pages are great books on the JFK assassination and the life and actions of Lee Harvey Oswald as well, besides The Warren and other Commission



2. Oswald was an ex-Marine, Communist/Marxist whom the FBI already had a file on



3. Oswald was a crack shot, good at shooting, high marks at shooting range



4. Witness's first reported only 2 shots fired, later due to mass confusion and journalistic error/misreporting, people had thought 3 shots had been fired from the Book Depository (though 3 shells we re found, one might have been a misfire)



5. Oswald spent over 30 months in Russia, may have had training from Russian Red Army snipers from Stalingrad, other battles



6. Two police officers ran into the Book Depository after the 2nd, fatal shot was fired. They encountered LHO on the 2nd floor staircase, very nervous but his boss was close by and vouched for him. Ballistic and fiber plus handprint evidence links him to the gun that killed JFK and the 6th floor of the TSBD. Science does not lie



7. Oswald killed Officer Tippet apx. an hour later, firing 4 shots into him from a .38, he then fled into a movie theater nearby. 9 witnesses witnessed Officer Tippet's brutal.murder



8. Oswald may have had Asperger Syndrome combined with some LD's and psychological disorders



9. Motives for killing JFK: Fame, acceptance from Dallas anti-Kennedy crowd, impress wife, hated someone more successful then him, Communist beliefs, anarchist beliefs, etc




10. Saying he was a patsy may have been a clever psychological ploy and attempt to claim innocence rather then serve life in prison or be executed by the state, feds

48th Anniversary of Mothman

Date: November 15 1966 Time: midnight
Two young married couples, Steve Mallette, Mary Mallette and Roger and Linda Scarberry on a cold, clear and crisp night were out on a lark in the desolate TNT area, located on the Ohio River off Route 62 about six miles north of town. In 1966 was a favorite with couples who liked to park and neck. On this night they were looking for friends and “chasing parkers,” as Linda Scarberry related later. They made the rounds through the ghostly igloos without success and headed back to the unlocked gate at the old generator plant. They went over a small rise in the road, and the car headlights caught something that made Roger slam on the brakes. Illuminated in front of them was a slender but muscular man-like creature, six to seven feet tall, with huge round red eyes, wings, and large hands. It had no definable head. The circular eyes looked more like they sprouted from the shoulders. The eyes about 2 inches in diameter and about six to eight inches apart, stared at them with hypnotic intensity. The creature was gray, or as Linda described much later, flesh colored with ashen wings. One of its wings appeared to be caught in a guide wire near the road, and it pulled at the wing with its hands. Later, Linda thought the creature was frightened, but in the heat of the moment it was the occupants of the car who erupted in fear and panic. While they screamed, the creature wiggled its wing free and wobbled with an odd shuffling gait into the generator plant through an open, broken door.




Roger hit the gas and tore out of the gate onto the road, heading for Route 62 back to town. Suddenly, the creature was in sight again, standing on a little hill, as though it had instantly teleported itself. The car headlights struck it again, and it spread its ten foot wings and took off straight into the air. It began following the car, matching its speed. Roger pressed the gas pedal down harder and harder until they were flying along Route 62 at 100 to 105 miles per hour. The creature effortlessly kept up, banging down on the roof of the car two or three times as they fled. It made a high-pitched squeaking noise like a mouse.


Then they careened down the road and its dangerous curves without mishap. As they grew closer to the bright night lights of town, the creature peeled off. They saw it once again crouched on the Ohio River floodwall, its legs and wings tucked in. Roger drove to the Dairyland and they tried to calm down and decided what to do. They could not agree on whether or not to report the creature to police and they argued over whether or not they would be labeled crazy or drunk or both. A decision was made to return to the TNT area, but partway back they decided against it. When they turned back around they saw the body of a large dead dog by the side of the road. According to one of the witnesses, the winged creature jumped out at them as they passed the dog, went over the top of the car, and went through the field on the other side.
Back in town, the couples decided to notify the police and told their story to Deputy Millard Halstead. Seeing their genuine fright, Halstead took them seriously. He got in his patrol car and the two vehicles went back to the TNT area. The body of the dog was missing. There was no sign of the red-eyed monster, but when Millard turned on his police radio a strange garbled sound screeched out at high volume, as though someone were playing a tape recorder at fast-forward speed.




Source: John A. Keel. Cryptomundo

Excerpt: "Deliver Us from Evil: A New York City Cop Investigates the Supernatural"

An excerpt via Amazon, demonologists, ghost hunters and parapsychologists please take note!

"Despite “Virginia’s” reassuring remark, Joe and I already recognized her for what she was—a demon operating under an alias. But there was one mistake in this masquerade that revealed the supposed human spirit was literally blowing smoke: It took the form of a woman only from the waist up. That’s typical of the demonic; they always give themselves away with some abnormality of appearance when they try to manifest themselves as human beings.

Also characteristic of an infernal force was the demon’s divide-and-conquer strategy. By showing itself to only one person, it sowed the seeds of panic, confusion, and self-doubt. Is this really happening—or am I just imagining it? victims in such cases will ask themselves. Often they are reluctant to tell their friends or family what’s happening to them, fearing that people will think they’ve lost their mind. Instead, they withdraw into themselves, feeling more and more alone in their bizarre ordeal. This, of course, is the goal of the demonic, since self-doubt and emotional turmoil eat away at their prey’s will, paving the way for possession.

So far, this is all standard operating procedure for the demonic—but there was an unusual twist in this case. Rather than wear at Gabby’s nerves with the unsettling ploys of infestation—the first stage of diabolical activity in most cases, marked by such unnerving events as midnight knockings, peculiar phone calls, or tormented animal cries—the satanic spirit was hell-bent on full-blown oppression from the start. Oppression is the second stage of diabolical activity, and involves terrifying mental and physical attacks on the victim. The way it behaved in Gabby’s bedroom reminded me a little of police calls I’ve responded to where people are actually held prisoner in their own home, because they invited someone to stay with them for a short time, then had their guest take over their house.

This “guest” was quite charming at first. The next day, according to Gabby, the spirit returned in broad daylight, while she was down in the basement. “My attention was directed to a large mirror we have hanging there, and in it I saw Virginia,” she reported. “Again she said, ‘Parents, help,’ then told me she’d been in finishing school abroad and had followed her parents here. In quaint, old-fashioned speech, she said, ‘What manner of place is this?’ Upon looking around the room and at me, she asked, ‘What manner of dress is this?’ I answered that this is how we dress in the 1990s, but she insisted that the year was 1901. I felt no fear of her, and we had a lengthy conversation.”

Link:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1250059496/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1250059496&linkCode=as2&tag=phantomsandmonsters-20&linkId=3IE55QBOS6EBGGLZ

Paranormal Research Notes - Noises In The Attic And Other Notes

Paranormal research notes: thermal expansion and contraction; old pipes; water heaters; other housing problems.

Mistaken for: Tree's falling on houses, doors and windows slamming shut, animal and human intruders, ghosts, hauntings, paranormal activity, etc.

Still not researched yet: footsteps, voices, shadow people, moving/falling/stacking objects, dolls moving on their own, various smells, electrical/electronics problems, feelings and sensations of being watched/touched, coming down with medical problems, including dreams and nightmares, cold spots, etc.

Note: Research over period of 1 year or more; take notes, ask questions to experts in many areas; further research must be done in these areas.

Possible causes: Human/animal, building related (including, but not limited to, mold, mildew, asbestos, carbon monoxide, natural gas, other causes, etc.), auditory hallucinations/problems, wind carrying sound, sleep paralysis, night terrors, human brain functions recalling memory's/playing tricks, faulty electric wiring, pranks, hoaxes, medical/psychological related, stress, depression, medications, drug use, alcohol and other known and unknown factors.

Percentage these events worldwide are of a genuine paranormal nature:

15-25% in my estimate.

Noises In The Attic - Trained Eye Home Inspection

UFO Sighting Photos In Chile Confirmed By Government - inquisitr.com

"A UFO sighting in Chile has been officially confirmed by a department of the government as not being produced by meteorological phenomena or any other known human-made object.

In a related report by The Inquisitr, a Mississippi hunting camera took a video of a UFO beaming down lights onto deer way out in the middle of the nowhere. The owners of the infrared were not exclaiming conspiracy theories about little green men, but they also couldn’t figure out the strange light projected by the UFO could possibly be. Since then the number of UFO sightings in 2014 have gone up significantly, with strange objects being caught on video in the United States (including a recent one in Texas), Canada, England, and the Netherlands.

These particular high quality UFO photos were taken above the Collahuasi copper mine, which is located in the northern regions of Chile. In April of 2013 four engineers say they witnessed a disc-shaped object hover 2000 feet above them for about an hour without making a sound before disappearing to the east. They described the unidentified flying object as a “a flattened disc, of brilliant color, with a diameter of 5 to 10 meters [16 to 32 feet]. It performed ascending, descending and horizontal movements in short lengths, about 600 meters above the ground.” Unfortunately, the four witnesses do not want to be associated with the UFO sighting and they have refused to talk about it further."

For more info, see here:

UFO Sighting In Chile Confirmed By Government

UFO on Mars? Daily Mail

"This latest ‘discovery’ was taking by the two cameras on the mast of the rover, its head and neck, known as Navcam Left and Navcam Right.

The images were taken by the rover on 20 June, 665 Martian days since Curiosity first landed on Mars in August 2011."

For more info, see this article here from The Daily Mail:

UFO on Mars? Daily Mail

Discovery of Hammer of Thor - Epoch Times

"The discovery of a 10th century Viking artifact resembling the Hammer of Thor has solved a long-running mystery surrounding more than 1,000 ancient amulets found across Northern Europe, according to a report in Discovery News.

The relics, known as the Mjöllnir amulets, appear to depict hammers, which historians have linked to the Norse god Thor. However, this could not be concluded with certainty as their shapes are not conclusive, and none of them contained inscriptions revealing their identity.

However, another similar pendant has been found in Købelev, on the Danish island of Lolland, which is the first one to be discovered with an inscription. The runic text reads “Hmar x is”, which translates to “this is a hammer”.  Cast in bronze, and likely plated with silver, tin and gold, the 1,100-year-old pendant shows that Thor’s myth deeply influenced Viking jewellery."

Also:

"According to Norse mythology, Thor is a hammer-wielding god associated with thunder, lightning, storms, oak trees, strength, the protection of mankind, and also hallowing, healing and fertility. Thor is a prominently mentioned god throughout the recorded history of the Germanic peoples, from the Roman occupation of regions of Germania, to the tribal expansions of the Migration Period, to his high popularity during the Viking Age, when, in the face of the process of the Christianization of Scandinavia, the Mjölnir amulets were worn in defiance and Norse pagan personal names containing the name of the god bear witness to his popularity."

Discovery of Hammer of Thor

My Own Paranormal Experiences...

I've always been into the paranormal, ghosts, UFO's and cryptozoology (Think of actor Dan Aykroyd  from Ghostbusters and I'm an Aspie like him as well) etc. since childhood and I've had strange things happen not only to me but in my family as well, such as the following and some of it relates to my mother and family, not just me:

1. My mother has always had premonitions and dreams of airplanes crashing or earthquakes and
sometimes they would come true the nest day or even just hours after she had them when watching
the news on TV.

2. My father died when my mother was 4 months pregnant with me. When I was only a year old,
maybe younger, I would tell my mom something about my dad, even though I never knew him
like "I saw dad the other day" and "I talked with daddy" similar stuff. A psychic on the radio
also told my mother one time that I was the reincarnation of my father! (I do have a memory
of wandering around these empty, silent, somewhat dark and creepy halls in a hospital, like near a morgue area, this memory may have taken place after my dad died and before I was born, I remember it starting
from a young age and I feel the hospital is either Little Company of Mary in Evergreen Park, IL
or Christ Hospital in Oaklawn, IL).

3. When my mother was sitting alone one evening or night at a park the swing next to her started swinging
by itself. No one else was present (I was several feet away playing I think) no wind, nothing. It was Summer
I think as well.

4. My mother whom is very religious once had a dream about The Virgin Mary and she was surrounded by
pure gold and she also spoke to my mother as well. This took place in my step-grandpa Ed's house in
Mt. Greenwood at the time in his basement I think where my mom was sleeping.

5. Some of my other family members (they were from Scotland/Ireland/Lithuanian on my mom's side
and German on my father's side and in terms of ancestry as well) would pass away with people
present like friends and other family members witnessing a vapor of some sort come out of their
chest and going upward then vanishing.

6. I remember as a child running in the dark at night through where I lived at, just for fun, but it always
seemed that I was chasing something, maybe imaginary, maybe not. I have to wonder  if I was chasing
ghosts or demons or if it was just my young mind at work?

7. I was living with my mother at my step-grandpa Ed's & grandma's house in Chicago's beautuil Mt. Greenwood  area (a few blocks away from St. Xavier University) and in the middle of the night one time looked out into Ed's small backyard through a bedroom window and I swear I saw or at least thought I saw 3 dead dogs, all white in color. I told woke up my mom, told her but she didn't see anything.

8. Strange faces in tree's at my Godparents house (Peggy and Martin) in Palos Hill's, IL in their average to moderate sized backyard and it was behind this house (accross their backyard) where a woman neighbor was murdered one Summer in 1995 by her husband. Being Catholic, Martin put up a cross in  his yard to protect against evil spirits. Still... Strange. Maybe my own imagination and mind at work. Then again, maybe
not. Who knows?

9. One time in the middle of the night when I was living in Midlothian, IL our microwave which a Pastor friend brought us (it was used but almost like new, as our old one had broke so she donated it) read 666
on it. I quiackly erased it, unplugged it and maybe said a prayer or two. I was kinda freaked out for a
few weeks after that. It was dark in the kitchen and that was the only light on besides the moonlight
illuminating the small kitchen area through a window.

10. In the same Midlothian apartment I saw a shadow, a man in orange one night walking through my room
then vanishing into a wall. I ran so fast out of my bedroom I hurt my shoulder by banging it into a wall!

11. A strange whistliling sound (maybe an auditiry hallucination?) that I've heard for many years throughout my life of a man whistling. Sometimes it loud, sometimes it's soft. It really creeps me out when I hear it sometimes though.

12. Feelings of being touched, tickled, patted on the back, hair touched and sometimes screaming when I wake up (see my thoughts on #11 above) that I had for a while. I don't exp. them anymnore which is good.

I've got more stories but those are mainly non-paranormal in nature (including dreams and nightmares but excluding dreams of dead relatives) like what you'd see on Reddit assorted along stories of the paranormal.

Also: I did see a UFO once over Midlothian, IL and one through a window at a Walgreens in
Oaklawn (maybe Chicago Ridge?) during the 90's. They looked like round metallic objects just floating there in the air. These sightings occurred during the daytime btw (and one time in Midlothian I also saw a fighter jet pass close to my apt. building window as I lived on the 3rd floor which was cool!)

So there you have it! These are my stories.... -Rob

p.s. It is important to be aware of medical conditions (I havee Type 1 Diabetes myself since age 12 now almost 30) and know the basics of psychology, general science, building construction, logic, critical thinking, forensics, CSI, investigation and other areas when dealing with any typr of paranormal event in order to rule it out.

NASA’s “Flying Saucer” Successfully Passes Flight Test -technobuffalo

"High over the Pacific Ocean on Saturday, NASA’s LDSD “flying saucer” spacecraft traveled at almost four times the speed of sound as it raced upwards toward the heavens. At approximately 180,000 feet, NASA successfully performed the craft’s first crucial test imperative for a possible future Mars mission. But not everything went according to plan.

After deploying the craft’s doughnut-shaped inflatable device, dubbed Supersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator (SIAD), NASA was able to slow the saucer’s descent to a more manageable 2.5x the speed of sound. But upon deploying the LDSD’s giant parachute—the second and most crucial part of NASA’s test launch—the chute became tangled, and the spacecraft eventually splashed down into the Pacific Ocean. It was supposed to land gently.

If there was payload on that craft—or worse, humans—the mission would have been an unmitigated disaster. But luckily this was just a test, and NASA can use that data to improve upon the LDSD’s systems. The agency is using a parachute system that dates back to the 1970s, but with heavier payloads and a larger overall chute—about 36 meters in diameter.

Stating the obvious, Dan Coatta, one of the mission specialists, said it appeared as though the chute didn’t “deploy that well.” NASA tested the LDSD technology at extremely high altitudes because they’re most similar to the upper atmosphere of Mars."

-Read more here:

NASA’s “Flying Saucer” Flight Test

Ghost-Hunting Mistakes: Science and Pseudoscience in Ghost Investigations - Skeptical Inquirer

"Ghost investigations can be deceptively tricky endeavors. Very ordinary events can be-and indeed have been-mistaken for extraordinary ones, and the main challenge for any ghost investigator is separating the facts from a jumble of myths, mistakes, and misunderstandings. It can be very easy to accidentally create or misinterpret evidence: Is that flash of light on the wall a flashlight reflection-or a ghost? Are the faint sounds recorded in an empty house spirit voices-or a neighbor's radio? It's not always clear, and investigators must be careful to weed out the red herrings and focus on the verified information".

Later the article states after talking in length about many subjects related to this, even the hit TV show
Ghost Hunters (i.e.The Atlantic Paranormal Society TAPS, I think):

"However, in a stakeout the ghost hunter cannot control all, or even most, of the variables and conditions in the experiment he's conducting. It's important to remember that nearly anything that anyone thinks is odd for any reason can be offered as evidence of a ghost. There is an impossibly broad spectrum of phenomena that have been claimed as signs of ghosts, including lights, shadows, noises, silence, heat, cold, moving objects, smells, uneasiness, and so on. If the presence of a ghost could be narrowed down to a specific phenomenon-for example, if everyone agreed (or it had been somehow proven) that ghosts give off red light or a certain high-pitched sound-then the problem of not having a controlled location would be greatly reduced. An investigator wouldn't need to rule out every possible source of sound, smell, light, etc., but instead would need to rule out merely any sources of red light or high-pitched sounds. But because just about any phenomenon can be attributed to ghosts, there is no way to rule out or control for the conditions. A ghost stakeout or lockdown is a completely unscientific waste of time.

Ultimately, of course, whether ghost hunters choose to use scientific methods and strategies is up to them. I personally don't care either way; it's not my time, effort, and money that's being wasted by doing fundamentally flawed investigation. But over the years I have gotten results and solved many cases using scientific techniques."

This is interesting and true from what an intelligent, well educated and a bit eccentric U.S. Chaplain named Joe once told me regarding hauntings on the paranormal in general:

"1. Assuming that no specialized knowledge or expertise is needed to effectively investigate ghosts.

One of the most common assumptions among ghost investigators is that in the paranormal field “there are no experts.” If there are no experts, then of course anyone can effectively investigate ghosts. Almost all ghost hunters are amateur, part-time hobbyists, and they come from all walks of life. On Ghost Hunters, two ordinary guys who work as plumbers during the day are touted as experts on ghost investigations, although none of the team members has any background or training in science, investigation, forensics, or any other field that might help solve mysteries.

Why it's a mistake: Paranormal investigation requires no certificate; anyone can do it with no training, knowledge, or expertise whatsoever. Whether they are effective or not-actually able to solve mysteries-is another matter entirely. Effectively investigating claims and solving mysteries does require some experience and expertise-specifically in investigation, logic, critical thinking, psychology, science, forensics, and other areas."

The article then states before it closes:

"If ghost hunters don't care about performing scientifically valid investigations and are happy with the level of evidence they are getting, they are welcome to ignore this information. But they can't complain that no one offered a science-based paradigm for paranormal investigation. I believe that if ghosts exist, they are important and deserve to be taken seriously. Most of the efforts to investigate ghosts so far have been badly flawed and unscientific-and, not surprisingly, fruitless. If investigation is to be done, it should be done right."

Note: Really good article from The Skeptical Inquirer and I will look for more of these articles that take a more open minded and scientific approach to not only the paranormal but also UFO's, Cryptoxoology, etc. and are not afraid to point out mistakes people in these fields make but also other issues as well.-Rob 

Ghost-Hunting Mistakes: Science and Pseudoscience in Ghost Investigations - Skeptical Inquirer

http://www.csicop.org/si/show/ghost-hunting_mistakes_science_and_pseudoscience_in_ghost_investigations

Advice for any paranormal researcher/ghost hunter/parapsychologist

Advice for any paranormal researcher/ghost hunter/parapsychologist and anyone else into related topics (e.g. Cryptozoology, UFO's, etc.) would be to:

1. Always investigate and evaluate all claims, story's and eyewitness testimony

2. Use investigative techniques that police/detectives use if applicable

3. Be familiar with what constitutes as evidence and how to treat and examine it, also be familiar with any equipment you use, how use it properly and repair it

4. Having at least a general education helps greatly esp.in the fields of basic science/related fields, zoology, aircraft, old building hazards and building construction, geology, weather/meteorology, CSI techniques, psychology, medical conditions, interviewing techniques, doing research, taking evidence and notes, how to tell when someone is lying by eye movement/body language, logical fallacies, critical thinking, knowing first aid, local history of area you are investigating, etc.

5. Conducting basic/general research, asking questions, doing interviews, taking notes on paper/tape recorder, writing computer reports, etc.