June 2005 - Cape and Islands Paranormal Research Society

CAIPRS QUARTERLY
July 2005, Volume 2
Cape And Islands Paranormal Research Society
Is a society of paranormal researchers and investigators who conduct investigations
of alleged paranormal activity throughout Cape Cod and New England
CAIPRS Returns from a Ghostly Town
The historic river town of Alton, Illinois is located near two great rivers - the Mississippi and the
Illinois. Founded in 1818, Alton was the last stop in a series of seven U.S. Senate debates held in
1858 between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas. A square was built at the intersection of
Broadway and Market Street to commemorate this event. Alton is also known for being the
home of Robert Wadlow, "The Gentle Giant". Born in 1918, Robert grew to a record height of 8
feet, 11.1 inches.
This town has a great history and beautiful views, but CAIPRS traveled there for an entirely different reason...ghosts! The 9th annual American Ghost Society (AGS) Conference was held once
again in Alton and, as the AGS area representatives for Massachusetts and Rhode Island,
CAIPRS was not about to miss this event. The Conference was kicked of by a short talk given by its host-author, haunted
tour director, and AGS founder Troy Taylor. The next two hours were filled with "Strange Stuff", which included
CAIPRS founder Derek Bartlett taking the podium and sharing one of his personal encounters with the
paranormal. Saturday was a day full of lectures on such topics as ghosts, vampires, and the paranormal. CAIPRS heard
from such well-known authors and speakers as Rosemary Ellen Guiley, Troy Taylor, Ursula Bielski, Stephen Graham,
Alan Brown, and John Kachuba. On Saturday night, the CAIPRS team visited various locations throughout Alton with the
“Haunted Dinner Tour”, which was hosted by Len Adams and Troy Taylor. Throughout the weekend, CAIPRS team
members met some of the most influential and well-respected teams and individuals in the paranormal and ghosts hunting
community. The team soon learned that they were not just one of the vast number of onlookers, but were actually one of
the more highly respected teams when it comes to ghost hunting. The team realized this when everyone wanted to hear
how CAIPRS handles their investigations, and when many of the
speakers and other teams asked to have their pictures taken with
the team from Massachusetts. Troy Taylor and Ursula Bielski invited CAIPRS team members to capture some “spirits” late on
Saturday night after the conclusion of the ghost tour. They led the
team downtown where many were found by all! By the end of the
night, Troy and Derek could be found out on the jetty off Flower
Island hanging their feet over the Mississippi River. They had captured the true spirit within.
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Educational Center
This section will allow you, the reader, to better understand what we research and the terminology we use.
A Little Fact About EM Radiation?
Since ancient time, philosophers, scientists and poets have wondered what our physical reality actually consists of. It turns out that
nearly all aspects of our apparent physical existence are manifestations of electromagnetic forces and energies. This electromagnetic force is what gives material objects the illusion of solidity even
though they are composed of 99.999% empty space. When a
hammer strikes a nail, the actual protons, neutrons and electrons
don’t touch each other, it is the electromagnetic force fields of the
hammer and the nail that bang together.
James Clerk Maxwell, a young Scottish mathematician, took upon himself to forge ideas of electromagnetism into a set of powerful interlocking equations which totally describe the behavior of the electromagnetic force. Maxwell quickly realized that magnetism, electricity and light were different aspects of
the same force. Maxwell's equations state that when an electric field moves, it creates a magnetic vortex, a kind of swirl or wake in space-time. Likewise, when a magnetic field moves, it creates an electric
vortex. Light, x-rays, radio waves and the like are merely ripples in our space-time continuum, where
the electric and magnetic aspects of the force travel together as electromagnetic waves which propagate at the speed of light.
The universe at large is permeated by electromagnetic energy including light, radio waves, gamma
rays, and electric and magnetic fields. You actually know more about it than you may think! The electromagnetic (EM) spectrum is just a name that scientists give a bunch of types of radiation when they
want to talk about them as a group. Radiation is energy that travels and spreads out as it goes-- visible
light that comes from a lamp in your house or radio waves that come from a radio station are two types
of electromagnetic radiation. Other examples of EM radiation are microwaves, infrared and ultraviolet
light, X-rays and gamma-rays. Hotter, more energetic objects and events create higher energy radiation
than cool objects. Only extremely hot objects or particles moving at very high velocities can create highenergy radiation like X-rays and gamma-rays.
Here are the different types of radiation in the EM spectrum, in order from lowest energy to highest:
INVESTIGATIONAL TALK
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What Is the “Mothman” and What Does Society Think of this Creature?
Among paranormal investigators, there is a story of a bird-like man that seems to have a pronounced detrimental
effect upon the lives of those who encounter it. Curious to learn more about these strange accounts, Derek
Bartlett of CAIPRS went in search of some answers. His investigation into this subject led him to many interesting websites that had information and historical research concerning this alleged creature. Derek found
www.mothmanlives.com to be an especially informative site since it contained all the commonalities that he had
found in his own examination of this topic. Taken directly from that site, the following are a list of characteristics,
common to most accounts of a "Mothman" sighting, that give us our most comprehensive picture of this mysterious creature and the events that follow an encounter with it.
The Mothman is reported to:
• Be approximately 7 feet tall
• Have a wingspan over 10 feet wide
• Have grey, scaly skin
• Have large, red, glowing, and hypnotic eyes
• Be able to take off straight up in flight
• Travel up to 100 miles an hour
• Like to mutilate or eat large dogs
• Screech or squeal like a rodent or electric motor
• Like to chase cars
• Like to "nest" in remote, unpopulated areas
• Cause radio and television interference
• Be drawn to, and protective of, small children
• Have some mind control powers
He may be a result of:
• Chief Cornstalk's 200-year curse on the town of Point Pleasant
• Chemical spills or experimentation by chemical companies or the
military
• An occult ritual that summoned him from the beyond
• A mutant strain of the "sandhill crane"
What has happened to those who reported sighting the Mothman?
• Divorce is almost inevitable.
• People are to move great distances away from the sighting
• Several suffer nervous breakdowns and some were forced to undergo long hospitalizations
• Few have committed suicide
• Those who have seen it, tend to die months after their encounter
It is highly likely that most every question we have regarding the Mothman will go forever unanswered.
Although scattered sightings are still reported, there are people today too afraid to step forward who are
seeing the Mothman. Are they afraid to come forward because of public ridicule, or is the fear deeper
than that? Could they be afraid to acknowledge the Mothman's presence in their lives because they fear
the ultimate results of that sighting? Does being a witness to it inevitably lead to their demise? Is there
actually a Mothman or is it simply a figment of their imagination? Only those who have sighted the Mothman can answer these questions and even then, can they really be sure? It is Derek's hope that the creature is not real do to the unfortunate outcome for those ill-fated enough to have seen it.
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Letter from the
Founder
As founder of CAIPRS, I can say that “I am
willing to do what is necessary to prove or
disprove the paranormal because I have nothing to loose”. I hope someday that paranormal
investigation will gain legitimacy so that scientists and paranormal investigators will be
able to join together.
Since last quarter, I
have attended two
paranormal conferences. I founded
CAIPRS over four
years ago and since
then, I have attended
numerous events of this
kind. Within this time frame, I have noticed a
change in the direction, attitude, and investigational techniques of those I have met. I have
seen some teams disappear while others have
strengthened their professionalism when investigating the paranormal. I have consistently
sought out teams like ours that have taken an
objective view in their pursuit of the truth.
Since skepticism plays a large role in any investigation, I have recently read articles in the
“Skeptical Inquirer” which is published by
the Committee for the Scientific Investigation
of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP). This
has prompted me to reevaluate our direction.
Sincerely,
Derek W. Bartlett
Founder and President
Cape And Islands Paranormal Research Society44
Meet CAIPRS member Virginia
Treworgy
Virginia joined CAIPRS in
April 2005 as our Science
Advisor. A native of New
Jersey, Virginia received
her training in environmental science and geology
at Yale University, has a
master’s degree in Government and Public Policy
from Harvard University and a Juris Doctor from
New England School of Law. Most recently, Ms.
Treworgy maintains a charitable fund she uses to
promote medical research into diabetes, and is a major supporter and a co-chair for the annual benefit at
the United Nations for STRIVE, a New York based
non-profit that provides job and life skills training for
the chronically unemployed. She sits on the New
England Regional Council for the International Fund
for Animal Welfare and has recently been appointed
to the Governing Council of the Manomet Center for
Conservation Sciences. As a skeptic, Virginia believes
she can assist CAIPRS with the critical review of data
collected during investigations and can provide an
explanation of the scientific underpinnings of observed phenomena.
Even though we are doing basically the same
things they are, none of them seem willing to
put their necks on the line and risk jeopardizing their professional titles. I am troubled by
this. How can any claims of the paranormal be
thoroughly investigated when those conducting the investigations are only willing to go so
far? I feel that I have nothing to lose when investigating the paranormal. You will not find a
doctorate or degree associated with my name.
I have no affiliations with universities, institutes, or scientific foundations to hold me
back. In this field of investigation, you cannot
have any reservations about what you are doing if your findings are to be accurate and untainted. There can be no compromises in our
search for the truth!
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SCIENTIST OF THE QUARTER
Albert Einstein (1879-1955)
100th Anniversary of his Annus Mirabilis (Miracle Year) 1905
Considered by many the greatest physicist of all time. In 1905 while
working at a German patent office, he published five physics papers
that fundamentally altered the understanding of the universe and time
and space itself including the most famous of all equations: E=MC2.
Einstein's 1905 still evokes awe. Historians call it the annus mirabilis,
the miracle year. Einstein’s work ranged from the smallest scale to the
largest, through fundamental problems about the nature of energy, matter, motion, time, and space.
Einstein's effect on the popular imagination continued throughout his life, and after it. Fearful his grave
would become a magnet for curiosity seekers, Einstein's executors secretly scattered his ashes. But they
were defeated at least in part by a pathologist who carried off his brain in hopes of learning the secrets of
his genius. Only recently Canadian researchers, probing those pickled remains, found that he had an unusually large inferior parietal lobe — a center of mathematical thought and spatial imagery — and
shorter connections between the frontal and temporal lobes. Yet he was unfathomably profound — the
genius among geniuses who discovered, merely by thinking about it, that the universe was not as it
seemed.
The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing. One cannot
help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of
reality. It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a little of this mystery every day." Albert Einstein,
May 2, 1955.
CAIPRS and E=MC2
Einstein showed us that matter and energy are interchangeable, just different forms of the same thing.
Through his theories he developed the concept of space-time, of gravity warping “the fabric of space”
and he questioned the very nature of reality. How does that relate to ghost hunting? Maybe the entities
and phenomena we observe are just different forms of energy. His theories of general and special relativity fit with the latest theories on parallel universes or altered states of reality. Also, every time we use
any electronic equipment in our daily life and in our investigations, we have to thank Einstein for his
amazing insights into physical world at a time when equipment we use routinely would have seemed
supernatural.
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CAIPRS Donates Tour to International Fund For Animal Welfare
On July 23rd, the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) held a
charity dinner and silent auction in support of its research vessel “The
Song of the Whale” that is currently conducting critical research to preserve the North Atlantic Right Whale and decrease mortality from ship
strikes and entanglement in fishing gear. Less than 350 of these whales
are left after being hunted to near extinction. CAIPRS donated a Haunted Places Tour for up to 10
guests to raise money for IFAW in keeping with our belief in giving back to the community. Virginia
Treworgy, a CAIPRS member, is on IFAW’s New England Regional Council. Derek Bartlett and Joanne
McCann accompanied Virginia on a courtesy sail on Song of the Whale in Nantucket Sound and learned
about IFAW’s research. One of the highlights was hearing recordings the scientists had made of numerous whale species and hundreds of individual whales. There is no better encouragement for whale conservation than to imagine a silent ocean without these magnificent creatures. For more information on
IFAW go to www.ifaw.org.
Suggested Reading
“THE Holographic Universe” BY MICHAEL TALBOT Harper Collins Publishers, New York, NY. 1991. This
book has become a classic in the “what is the nature of reality” genre. Published in hardcover in 1991 it is having somewhat of a revival in paperback, especially since the emergence of popular science programs on physics
and string theory came to television. Talbot discusses how David Bohm, a former student of Einstein, and Karl
Pribram, a famous and well-respected neurophysiologist, theorize that reality is a holographic projection. Talbot expands on these theories to explain paranormal events, not as oddities, but as natural in the holographic
universe. It is a fascinating and well-researched book that provides a very different perspective on how to view
the world.
Upcoming Meetings
UFO’s - August 26th 2005
CAIPRS will take a look at sightings in and around Cape Cod on August 26th 2005 at Cape Cod Community
College North Building Room N117 from 7-9PM.
T.B.A. - September 23rd 2005
CAIPRS will hold an open meeting on September 23rd 2005 at Cape Cod Community College North Building
Room N117 from 7-9PM. Please go to www.caiprs.com for more information on upcoming events.
Contact CAIPRS
CAIPRS is looking for stories, photos, and ideas for the upcoming issues of the newsletter. If you are experiencing a possible haunting. Please e-mail all information to thesociety@caiprs.com or mail to CAIPRS P.O. Box
294 W. Barnstable, MA 02668
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