Phantoms and Monsters

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle 'Ghost' Painting Up For Sale
Evangelical Archaeologists Claim Discovery of 'Noah's Ark'
Steven Greer Responds to Stephen Hawking's Comments
Australian Man Claims Alien Ordered Him To Crash Car

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle 'Ghost' Painting Up For Sale

Posted: 28 Apr 2010 11:16 AM PDT

PFC - The Sherlock Holmes author bought this painting while mourning the death of his son in WW1

A painting inspired by the psychic spirits of dead soldiers and bought by a grieving Sir Arthur Conan Doyle who lost a son in WW1 will auction as part of the Owston Collection in Sydney.

Bonhams' sale will take place on June 25-26.

The painting by William Francis (Will) Longstaff (Australian, 1879-1953) titled 'The Rearguard (The spirit of ANZAC)' is a huge oil on canvas measuring 53 9/16 x 106 5/16 inches.

The piece is estimated to sell for A$20,000-40,000 (over US$37,000). Sir Arthur Conan Doyle purchased the painting directly from the artist for his own collection, 1928.

The painting is an iconic image, believed missing until now, by the Official War Artist, Will Longstaff. It is one of a series of only six paintings which represent the pinnacle of the artist's career, beginning with his best-known work, Menin Gate.

Longstaff had attended the unveiling ceremony of the Menin Gate memorial in Ypres on July 24, 1927.

He was so moved by the ceremony that, during a midnight walk along the Menin Road, he imagined a vision of steel-helmeted spirits rising from the moonlit cornfields.

It is said that, following his return to London, he painted the work in one session. Mrs Mary Horsburgh, who had worked in a British canteen during the war, may have influenced him.

She had met him during this evening walk, and told him that she could feel "her dead boys" all around her. Spiritualism was very much in vogue in the 1920s, and many who wished to communicate with relatives and friends who had died in battle found consolation in its tenets.

'The Rearguard' was reported to have been painted under similar psychic influence:

"Mr. Longstaff says that he felt an uncanny 'urge' to paint the picture, which formed itself with lightning rapidity in his brain," said Conan Doyle.

"He began at 7 o'clock in the morning, working unceasingly in the dim light. He had experienced a sensation not felt in any other work, and he was surprised and delighted. It is one of the most remarkable pictures I have seen.

"The artist worked for 11 hours with the fury of inspiration. Genius has always been on the edge of psychic influence.'"

`The Rearguard (The spirit of ANZAC)', presents a ghostly array of soldiers lining up near the beach at Gallipoli in the bleak dawn, with departing transports and warships barely visible on the misty horizon.

The subject is probably the most poignant of the series: Longstaff enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force at the outbreak of the First World War and was himself injured at Gallipoli.

The ANZAC tradition; the belief that the First World War, and the Gallipoli Campaign in particular, was a watershed in Australian history, and that those who died on foreign soil did so to create a greater Australia, gave this painting an added, almost religious, significance.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle who bought the painting claimed to have had conversations with the spirits of many great men, including Cecil Rhodes, Earl Haig, Joseph Conrad and others. In his later years Sir Arthur often expressed a wish that he should be remembered for his psychic work rather than for his novels.

When he celebrated his seventy-first birthday he confessed he was tired of hearing about his celebrated character, Sherlock Holmes. "Holmes is dead," he said. "I have done with him." Ten of Sir Arthur's 60 books are about 'spiritism'.

Bonhams, the international fine art auction house, is to sell the Owston Collection in Sydney on June 25-26.

The sale will be held at the Overseas Passenger Terminal at Circular Quay overlooking the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge. A significant number of items will be offered with 'no reserve', providing an extra interest in the sale.
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Originally posted 10/7/2009

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Ouija Board

deadlinescotland - A OUIJA board thought to have been used by the creator of Sherlock Holmes has been found in a secret compartment at a school of paranormal studies.

Staff at the Edinburgh College of Parapsychology found the occult Victorian device hidden in small cupboard built into a kitchen wall, 20 feet out of reach.

The spooky find – used to spell out messages during a Séance – is thought to have been used by mystery writer Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

The device was found with its original packaging, and was labelled as a "Telepathic Spirit Communicator."

Edinburgh-born Doyle immersed himself in the practice of spiritualism in 1906, after his wife Louisa and son Kingsley died.Doyle found solace in the practice, which believes that contact can be made with people beyond the grave.The area is even said to have influenced his writing, and his novel, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, was even banned in the Soviet Union because it was said to be occultist.

Roberta Gordon, 62, a medium and president of the college, said the Victorian device was found along with a "Dungeon Tube" with is said to use musical vibrations to relieve pain.

She said: "We were very excited to be quite honest.

"Arthur Conan Doyle was very much into spiritualism so there is every chance he would have seen some of the equipment we found."

"There is no way we will be parting with any of it though – it's part of our heritage."

Roberta's husband Richard, 66, from Gullane, East Lothian added: "We've found quite a few unusual things while we've been clearing out the building, like strange recordings.

"The college has been here for 77 years so there's a lot to find.

"I believe Doyle used to frequent the building.

"And it's well known that he was a spiritualist – it's very possible that he used the board.

"The board was made in Manchester, and we've got the packaging as well.

"We're not sure how old it is yet, but the wheels are made of bone – not plastic or wood."

Roberta and husband Richard have spent the last few months renovating the building, which is in the upmarket west end of the city.

But the ouija board is not the first unsettling discovery the couple have made.

They've also found old records containing medium sessions and red lights used during Derren Brown style séances.

Roberta said: "We had been told there was paint stored in one of the high-up cupboards, so we set about looking for it.

"But instead we discovered all of this – we couldn't believe it."

The college was founded in 1932, but followers of spiritualism existed long before then, often operating in secret for fear of persecution by the authorities.

Evangelical Archaeologists Claim Discovery of 'Noah's Ark'

Posted: 28 Apr 2010 10:58 AM PDT

thesun - The remains of Noah's Ark have been discovered 13,000ft up a Turkish mountain, it has been claimed.

A group of Chinese and Turkish evangelical explorers say they have found wooden remains on Mount Ararat in eastern Turkey.

They claim carbon dating proves the relics are 4,800 years old — around the same time the ark was said to be afloat.

Yeung Wing-Cheung, from the Noah's Ark Ministries International research team, said: "It's not 100 per cent that it is Noah's Ark, but we think it is 99.9 per cent that this is it."

He said the structure contained several compartments, some with wooden beams, that they believe were used to house animals.

The group of evangelical archaeologists ruled out an established human settlement on the grounds none have ever been found above 11,000ft in the vicinity, Yeung said.

Local Turkish officials will ask the central government in Ankara to apply for UNESCO World Heritage status so the site can be protected while a major archaeological dig is conducted.

The biblical story says that God decided to flood the Earth after seeing how corrupt it was.

He then told Noah to build an ark and fill it with two of every animal species.

After the flood waters receded, the Bible says, the ark came to rest on a mountain.

Many believe that Mount Ararat, the highest point in the region, is where the ark and her inhabitants ran aground.
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NOTE: well, here we go again. How many times has 'Noah's Ark' been discovered? The following list describes some of the more infamous 'Noah's Ark' discoveries/hoaxes...Lon:

Nicholas II and the expedition to Mount Ararat

Conspiracy theorists believe that Nicholas II of Russia sent an expedition party to Mount Ararat in 1917 to investigate reported remains of Noah's Ark.

The Russian Imperial Air Force is reputed to have sent up to 150 men up the mountain to examine an 'anomaly' after 'a Russian pilot flying over the area reported a dark structure about the size of a battleship with a rounded-over top'.

The odds are stacked against this particular tale, as Nicholas abdicated during the February Revolution of 1917, meaning it is unlikely that the expedition was ever sent.

Some investigators have claimed that the expedition actually set off in 1916 and that after finding the 'ark' a number of photographs were taken. Unfortunately, in true conspiracy-theorist style, the photographs mysteriously disappeared after Leon Trotsky discovered their existence.

Subsequent expeditions have been unable to find the colossal structure.

Professors Mud & Stoneass

In an unfortunate case of failing to check the date, a number of papers picked up on the Kölnische Illustrierte Zeitung April 1 story on Noah's Ark.

A number of pictures accompanied the 1933 article, showing a huge boat resting on a mountainside, which were duly reprinted across the globe with translations of the article.

On April 8 1933 the Cologne-based paper admitted its tomfoolery, but even though the tale was unquestionably false, that didn't stop an intrepid group of Ark-hunters in 1972 basing their search for the lost vessel on the original article.

Fernand Navarra

When French explorer Fernand Navarra announced that he had found a five-foot section of the Ark on the slopes of Mount Arat, people were, it seems, justifiably sceptical of his claims.

The Forestry Institute of Research and Experiments of the Ministry of Agriculture in Spain dated the wood at 5,000 years old, seemingly vindicating Navarra's claims. However, it was later discovered that the samples are actually only between 725 and 535 years old and that Navarra had in fact simply bought the wood from a nearby village.

George Jammal

George Jammal claimed in 1993 that he had found a section of 'sacred wood from the Ark' in a CBS documentary. The expedition, according to Jammal, was long, arduous and even claimed the life of his friend Vladimir.

In fact, the entire story was a deliberate hoax designed to fool the media, at the centre of which was a lump of timber that had actually been lifted from Californian train tracks.

Evangelical Archaeologists Claim Discovery of 'Noah's Ark'

Steven Greer Responds to Stephen Hawking's Comments

Posted: 28 Apr 2010 10:24 AM PDT

Steven Greer Response to Stephen Hawking Comments - April 26, 2010

It is unfortunate that Stephen Hawking has added his voice to a growing chorus of xenophobia and fear regarding what he terms "Aliens."

Secondly, as a scientist, he should know better: Any interstellar civilization would possess such technologies that the meager resources of Earth would be unneeded. If you can travel faster than the speed of light, you can manifest what is needed. Period. Moreover, IF they were hostile- since ETs are already visiting Earth (see www.DisclosureProject.org)- this would have been made crystal clear when we detonated the first atomic weapon in 1945. To date, no place on Earth has been invaded or attacked or colonized.

Hawking should refrain from stirring the war-mongering fear pot that attends all things "alien." And one might ask: Why would he make such statements, unless he is carrying water for the military-industrial-financial complex which profiteers off of the wars that fear breeds?

Steven M. Greer MD
April 26, 2010

NOTE: This is the same person who exclaimed to the world that he captured the 'first ever extraterrestrial' image (yeah, that image on the left!) but demands CSETI members sign nondisclosure agreements if they join him on his 'field trips'. Greer sells the information he claims to have privileged access to. He sells his alleged knowledge of how to call a UFO. He sells anything he can. He makes a mockery of ufology and real people who seek the truth. The alien presence, IMO, is the most important story in the history of this planet. Now, he wants to criticize Stephen Hawking because his opinion may interfere with his agenda. Well, Steven Greer...bite me! Lon

Steven Greer Responds to Stephen Hawking's Comments

Australian Man Claims Alien Ordered Him To Crash Car

Posted: 28 Apr 2010 08:54 AM PDT

dailytelegraph - Damian Amos says he was just following orders from a "head alien" when his car sped into another vehicle in 2004, killing a Gold Coast grandfather.

But government prosecutors said Amos was simply drunk, The Gold Coast Bulletin reports today.

During the opening day of his trial in Southport District Court Tuesday, the 32-year-old pleaded not guilty, on the grounds of insanity, to the dangerous operation of a motor vehicle, causing death.

The jury heard how Amos had a history of paranoid schizophrenia and had not taken his medication the morning of October 9, 2004, when his car, travelling at 140km/h (87mph), rear-ended the hatchback of 58-year-old Keith Evenis in Queensland.

The massive impact shunted the hatchback forward 74m (243 feet.) into a tree. It exploded in a fireball, instantly killing Evenis.

Defense barrister Angelo Vasta, QC, told the jury Amos's driving in the 70km/h (44mph) zone could only be described as "maniacal" but argued his client was not guilty.

He said Amos should not be held criminally responsible as he had suffered a psychotic episode while driving and "lacked capacity to control his actions."

A document of facts accepted by both the prosecution and defence was read to the jury stating that the traffic accident happened shortly after Amos had been ejected from a local golf club for hitting balls at other golfers.

Vasta said his client left and was driving when he had a psychotic episode and believed he heard instructions from a "head alien" to immediately return to his Broadbeach Waters home, on Australia's eastern coast. .

"The head alien told him he had to get home and he wanted to obey the command and he drove in a way that showed he was in control of the head alien," said Vasta.

The barrister told the jury Amos had been treated for mental illness since 1999 but over the years had suffered psychotic episodes in which he communicated with alien figures and believed he had a microchip implanted in his brain.

Prosecutor Mark Whitbread told the jury it was the government's position that Amos was not insane at the time of the incident, just drunk.

Results from a blood test taken from Amos an hour after the accident showed he had a blood-alcohol level of .073 percent. The legal limit for most drivers in Australia is .005 percent.

Amos is expected to give evidence when the trial resumes Wednesday.

Australian Man Claims Alien Ordered Him To Crash Car

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