Thursday, 28 July 2016

You Love Mysteries? The Weird? The Strange?

If you enjoy reading the posts on the AOP Blog and you have never read one of the books I've written then you are missing out of a lot!

Please support continuing research as well as meals buy buying a book -you shouldn't regret it!

For Lovers Of The Strange and weird!

I'll keep pushing these because there are decades of referenced work in them. Being a naturalist, artist and what-not does not pay a wage. These books are how I am supposed to eat and pay bills. Interesting that most sales are outside the UK though...

Some Things Strange & Sinister (2013 -up-dated)

A4 Format

B&W

Paperback

358 pages

Heavily illustrated

Price: £15.00

Ships in 3–5 business days

http://www.lulu.com/shop/terry-hooper-scharf/some-things-strange-sinister/paperback/product-14958906.html

After more than 40 years as an investigator and more than fifty as a naturalist,the author has opened some of the many files he has accumulated dealing with such things as..

The Terrifying Events At The Lamb Inn, The Ghosts Of All Saints Church, Dead Aquatic Creatures of Canvey Island, captured bigfoot like creatures in India -all exclusively presented for the first time and with new added research previously unseen.

PLUS a vastly expanded section on Spring-heeled Jack!

Photographs, maps, line drawings and up-dated to make 358 pages looking at Things truly Strange and Sinister.

Cryptozoologist,Ghost Hunter,Ufologist or Fortean:this book has something for everyone -including the just plain inquisitive!

Contents

Foreword by Travis L. Whitehurst

Introduction

de occultis non judicat ecclesia

The Bristol Rocking Horse

The Terrifying Events At The Lamb Inn

The Coonian Ghost

The Ghosts Of All Saints Church

His Luminous Chamber

The Late Reverend Dr. Blomberg

And More Ghost Stories

The Thomas B. Cumpston Case

The Chupacabra

The Strange Case Of The Gotherington Gargoyle

What’s Tall,Hairy And Vanishes?

Mystery Beasts Of Ireland

The Creature Of The Dump

The Strange Creature Of Repton Woods

The Bizarre Legends,Crimes And Truth About Spring Heeled Jack

The Black Beast Of Darmstadt

The Nameless Thing Of Berkley Square

The Terrifying Case Of The U.S. Naval Transport

The Case Of The Ghost Lear Jet

Ghost Planes,Crashes And Dead Aquatic Creatures

The Mitchison Loch Ness Monster Video

From The Deep Below To The Air Above –USOs

Aerial Encounters Over Austria

A Crashed UFO In 1790?

Angel Hair

Quimper-Corentin:Where “Thunder Fell”

Strange Aliens From Space

The Llandrillo ‘Saucer’ And Other Crash Retrievals

Transient Lunar Phenomena,Alien Structures And Moon Vegetation

Whiddon Down-Saint-Jean-du-Guard:Impossible Correlations?

The Venezuelan Horror

A Final Word.

Alleged piece of crashed UFO from Berwyn Mountains, Wales.
**************

Some More Things Strange & Sinister

Terry Hooper-Scharf

Paperback,
A4
327 Pages

Heavily illustrated

Price: £15.00

Ships in 3–5 business days

http://www.lulu.com/shop/terry-hooper-scharf/some-more-things-strange-sinister/paperback/product-18763730.html

Follow-up to the hugely successful Some Things Strange & Sinister.

For those interested in Ufology, cryptozoology, hominology, unusual natural history, ghosts and mysteries in general.

The secret history of gorillas in the UK -before they were officially 'discovered'. The history of the Wild men of Europe, the UK and US: something that in the 1800s become very "pop culture" Very pop culture and totally forgotten today!

Hominology. Sasquatch and Bigfoot -is there evidence for their existence? No sitting on the fence here -the Patterson-Gimlin film is looked at as well as other evidence. The Author's conclusions? You might be surprised.

Giant snakes. Amazons. The Giant serpent of Carthage. The Girt Dog of Ennerdale -another big cult 'creature' amongst paranormal and cryptozoological circles. The Beast of Gevaudan -what was it and were there really descendents of the creature in the 19th century -one of which was actually brought to London?

Believe it or not more than one incident of historical crocodiles cases in the UK. In fact, far more than even the Author had thought .

And, after more than a century of claims by 'researchers' that it no longer exists: The Silent City of Alaska and the near legendary 'lost' photograph taken of it.

This and much more. Updated with extra pages and photographs.

*********************

Pursuing The Strange And Weird -A Naturalist's Viewpoint (2014 up-date)

Pursuing The Strange & Weird:A Naturalists Viewpoint

Terry Hooper-Scharf
Paperback,

249 Pages

Price: £15.00

Ships in 3-5 business days.

http://www.lulu.com/shop/terry-hooper-scharf/pursuing-the-strange-weirda-naturalists-viewpoint/paperback/product-21307125.html

UP DATE -From Dead Aquatic (Humanoid) Creatures, the giant squid and yet undiscovered sea creatures; submarine and ships crews encountering true leviathans.

There is a fully expanded section which also refers to the so-called ‘Ningen’ sightings and video footage.

Extinct animals at sea that have been re-discovered. The subject of Sasquatch and other mystery Hominids around the world is dealt with including a look at the “Sasquatch-killer”, Justin Smeja.

Dr. Bryan Sykes and his DNA test results for TVs The Bigfoot Files as well as the controversial Erickson Project and Dr. Melba Ketchum’s Even more controversial Sasquatch DNA test results.

Also included are two early French UFO entity cases that still baffle. Ghosts, strange creatures and the Star-Child hoax. All dealt with by the naturalist and pursuer of the strange and weird

*******************

The Bizarre Legends, Crimes And Truth About Spring Heeled Jack (2014

Terry Hooper-Scharf

Paperback,

53 Pages

Dimensions (centimetres) 20.98 wide x 29.69 tall (A4)

fully illustrated and referenced

Price: £7.00

Ships in 3–5 business days

http://www.lulu.com/shop/terry-hooper-scharf/the-truth-about-spring-heeled-jack/paperback/product-21259526.html

The terror and mystery created by “Jack The Ripper” has been the subject of countless books, magazine articles as well as movies and TV documentaries. Ask anyone if they have ever heard of Jack The Ripper and it is doubtful anyone would respond with a “no idea.”

By that same token, ask people who “Spring-heeled Jack” was and you would be lucky to find anyone who had ever heard of him.

Spring-heeled Jack was the subject (loosely) of a film The Curse of the Wraydons (1946) and Dominic Keating also appeared as Spring Heeled Jack in the 2010 film Sherlock Holmes by The Asylum film company. The character has also featured in both American and British comic books and a number of books, for both children and adults.

But the fact that the Springald held the country –not just London– in a grip of terror much longer that the Ripper did is all but forgotten except for some half-truths and fanciful theories.

Now be prepared to read the full story of Spring Heeled Jack

Airplane-Sized Seabird with Teeth Discovered in Antarctica

From Maxanimal.com http://www.maxanimal.com/airplane-sized-seabird-with-teeth/

A relative of the giant seabird discovered, taken at the Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC by Ryan Somma

The remnants of a seabird the size of a small airplane (with teeth!) has been discovered on the Antarctic Island of Marambio.

Scientists found only a remnant of the humerus, which is the arm bone, but could still easily determine that the specimen was one of the oldest Antarctic birds known to science.

Argentine research base where fossil was found on Marambio Island, Antarctica

This particular species was known for its “pseudo-teeth.” Pseudo teeth are made from the bone of the jaw and are covered in a beak-like material.

Because the teeth weren’t serrated, researchers gather that they were used for grasping and swallowing rather than tearing and shredding prey.

According to a study by Marcos Cenizo of the Provincial Museum of Natural History, the bird is estimated to have existed between 49 and 53 million years ago in the Lower Eocene Epoch.

The ancient seabird belongs to the prehistoric family pelagornithidae, which is a cousin to the goose and duck family. Pelagornithids existed for nearly 60 million years before mysteriously going extinct 2 to 3 million years ago.

Pelagornithids were extremely large birds with wingspans over 20 feet. Given the size of the humerus, scientists estimate that this particular bird had a wingspan of 21 feet.

The lightweight bones of pelagornithids probably allowed them to fly long distances over open ocean as modern-day seabirds do today. We can only imagine what a sight that must have been!

Wednesday, 27 July 2016

Ayrshire -Ostrich With Young. Common Sense Approach To Capture -or simply kill?

BBC News and, let me tell you, there are a few ostriches out there living wild. Also, the police tend to shoot and kill them because "they are big aggressive birds". No ostrich has ever been darted or taken alive -the RSPCA and SSPCA never raise objections.

Animals living in the countryside -no one being harmed. Plenty of time and patience will catch them BUT it's far better "fun" for a game hunt.

No. I have no respect for the way police, RSPCA nor SSPCA handle any of these cases.

Ostrich family on the loose near Ayrshire village

A family of ostriches has been spotted on the loose around an East Ayrshire village.

The Scottish SPCA said there had been several sightings of the adult bird in Patna last week.

They have advised members of the public not to approach the adult ostrich which will be protective of its young and could become "extremely aggressive" if it believes it is being challenged.

It is unclear where the ostriches have escaped from.

Animal Rescue Officer Alistair Hill said: "Anyone in the area who spots the ostrich or its young should call us as soon as possible on 03000 999 999 so we can keep an eye on where these birds are.

"We are warning members of the public not to approach the adult ostrich and to especially avoid approaching its young as ostriches can be very protective and can become extremely aggressive."

Yes -An Octopus Walking...On Land.

Something I wanted to post but kept forgetting. In Some Things Strange & Sinister I wrote a chapter entitled "The Nameless Thing Of Berkley Square" -it concerned mysterious deaths and hauntings at a fashionable London home.

Now one of the theories was that the "slithering horror" might have been an octopus that had dragged itself up out of the sewers and later returned there.

Now I ridiculed the idea (I still do not believe that any octopus was involved) of a land octopus because despite tales I'd never seen such a thing. Now I have and you can also. Its odd and no hoax.
Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjQr3lRACPI

Then go here for scientific takes on this.
http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/octopus-chronicles/2011/11/24/land-walking-octopus-explained-video/

Monday, 25 July 2016

There Is A Robin In My Garden....And He KNOWS He Is The Boss!

They reckon a robin can live 1-2 years.

Ludicrous.

'Experts' -"X" =Unknown and "spurt" is a drip under pressure.

"Sparrowhawks will not chase birds in hedges!"/ "Sparrowhawks do not come back to retrieve what is left of a dead bird"/ "You will not find Jackdaws, Rooks or Crows living in close proximity to one anothers nests!" -witnessed and noted all of this. "No. It was not a Peregrine falcon on your fence!" It was 8 feet (just over 2m) away in bright sunshine and the nesting area of the Avon Gorge is not a couple minutes flight from where I lived.

"Experts" read a lot of books but seem to hardly do any observational work of their own.

*There is a cafe in Park Street, Bristol where a greying old robin comes down to tables and he was there for more than 5 years (not been there in a year so not sure if it is still there).

*The one in our garden has been here more than six years and it is the same bird.

*Someone else I know had a ringed robin (bird that had a ring put on its leg in the nest) come into her garden for over 8 years. How did she know it was the same one? Same number on the ring that also had an odd blue stain on part of it. She saw it first when her grand daughter was born and the last time after the grand daughters 8th birthday.

The one in my garden is an old grey-wing now and I wish my camera was better but...

Obituary: The 13th Earl of Haddington

This obituary in The Telegraph appeared on the 15th July. I missed it so thanks to the person who drew my attention to it.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2016/07/15/the-earl-of-haddington-landowner-and-authority-on-the-paranormal/

The 13th Earl of Haddington, who has died aged 74, was a landowner, conservationist, photographer and explorer of the paranormal.

The Earls of Haddington are a great Scottish dynasty, descending from the feudal baron Walter de Hamilton, also an ancestor of the Dukes of Hamilton and Dukes of Abercorn. The family seat of Mellerstain in Berwickshire is a lightly castellated masterpiece by Robert Adam with one of the finest views in Britain.

None of Haddington’s noble predecessors could have had more grace and originality or been held in greater affection by those who knew him, indifferent as he was to age or any sort of classification. His father, the 12th Earl, was eulogised as Chaucer’s “verray, parfit gentil knyght”. The same applied to his only son.

As a hereditary peer Haddington sat for 13 years in the House of Lords until reform deprived him of his seat in 1999. Opponents of this measure argued that it turned a uniquely varied legislature into one of mundane conformity, as if a preciously preserved bio-diverse meadow had been replaced by a pesticide-drenched mono-crop.

Haddington exemplified the loss. Among his recreations he listed beekeeping, keeping finches and “cerealogy”, by which he meant an expert knowledge of crop circles. Yet this was only the tip of the iceberg. Among his many skills were ballooning and the construction of hovercrafts, in one of which he explored an Amazonian tributary. Both activities signalled his interest in physics and mechanics.

His healing powers, assisted by the use of rock crystal, gave him a Merlin-like presence in the House. Many swore by his treatment, which he dispensed on request, at exhausting physical cost, to peers, peeresses and staff alike. When Andrew Festing painted his official group portrait of the Lords debating the 1995 Queen’s Speech, his friend Haddington jovially agreed to pose for the joke figure of “the slumbering Earl” on the government side.

John George Baillie-Hamilton was born at Mellerstain on December 21 1941. His father, a Lord Lieutenant of Berwickshire and distinguished veteran of both World Wars, was a noted horseman and forester. His mother was the Catholic Sarah Cook, who played an important part in the formation of the Edinburgh Festival. His sister, Lady Mary Russell, was a maid of honour at the Coronation.

Haddington’s marked transcendentalism first showed itself when he was two. He was terrorised by the ghost of a German pilot killed in a bomber-aircraft crash on the Mellerstain estate. His silence caused adult concern but he dared not betray its cause. At Ampleforth his japes were legend, and he broke the school record for the punishment of writing lines. Bomb-making involved one near-fatal detonation; but his release of an industrial quantity of laxatives into the school reservoir failed to achieve the desired disruption.

He survived the course thanks to Father Walter, his housemaster, a droll sympathiser with the anarchic tendencies of youth. His education was completed at the University of Tours and Trinity College, Dublin, both conducive to his adventurous spirit: he was a champion slalom skier and a ferocious opening bowler for the Oakland Raiders, Trinity’s cricket team, with whom he toured Australia.

After university he hitch-hiked the world, exercising his talent for photography, which he exploited professionally in London on his return. A lasting achievement was his photographic reflection on Sir William Keswick’s Henry Moores on the moor at Glenkiln, Dumfriesshire. Sir William was the first patron to place modern sculpture in the wild, and Moore always considered Glenkiln, which included figures by Epstein and Rodin, the best siting of his work. The collection has now been withdrawn due to vandals. Haddington’s book of photographs, Glenkiln (Canongate), is its memorial. Another inspired assignment, commissioned by Sir Jocelyn Stevens, was to instil some of the magic and mystery of Stonehenge into English Heritage’s guidebook.

In 1975 Haddington saved the world famous Border Bows company, providing premises at Mellerstain for its factory. It ensured he was the most knowledgeable member of Scotland’s Royal Company of Archers, the monarch’s official bodyguard north of the border.

His interest in the paranormal alerted him early to the corn circle phenomenon. He was a sponsor of The Cerealogist magazine, initially edited by his friend John Michell, the radical-traditionalist author and antiquarian; and he could tell at a glance whether a circle was paranormally genuine or trodden by hoaxers.

Haddington succeeded his father in 1986 and death duties forced him to sell the family’s East Lothian home, Tyninghame, and part of its estate. In the best tradition of such sporting naturalists as Lord Grey of Fallodon, Major the Hon Henry Douglas-Home (BBC Scotland’s “Bird Man”) , and the great conservationist Sir Peter Scott, Haddington, a first-rate shot and fly fisherman, in 1997 founded the charity Save Our Songbirds (SOS) with its accompanying magazine The Bird Table.

SOS later merged with Songbird Survival, of which he was a director. In all these exploits he was hugely supported by his second wife, Jane Heyworth, whose father, John Heyworth, created the Cotswold Wildlife Park at Burford. Together they shouldered the increasingly heavy responsibilities of managing Mellerstain, a house open to the public, and the remainder of the Tyninghame estate, and both played a full part in Border affairs. Among several public offices Haddington was Vice President of the Border Union Agricultural Society, Honorary President of the East Lothian Angling Association and Patron of Kelso Rugby Club.

His son, George Edmund Baldred, succeeds him as 14th Earl. Haddington married first, in 1975, Prudence Hayles (dissolved 1977); and, secondly, in 1984, Jane Heyworth, who survives him with their son and two daughters.

The 13th Earl of Haddington, born December 21 1941, died July 5 2016

You Hear "EVP" Recordings.....But WHAT Do You Hear?

This may interest some out there so if you are in the area and can spend the time to help....

"If you are aged over 18 I would like to invite you to take part in a research project which I am currently undertaking as part of a Psychology PhD at the University of Central Lancashire.

The study will investigate what people report hearing when listening to sound clips where it is unclear what is being heard. It will look at connections between a number of different personality measures and characteristics and see if these affect what people report hearing.

The questionnaires used in the study cover a broad range of topics, which include attitudes and belief in the paranormal and life after death, religion, loneliness, mood, drug use, and other possibly sensitive subjects.

You should be aware that this study does focus on themes concerning the paranormal and life after death, and if you think this may upset you, you may not wish to participate.

If you are interested in taking part, or would just like to know more, please email arwinsper@uclan.ac.uk for further information."

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Thursday, 28 July 2016

You Love Mysteries? The Weird? The Strange?

For Lovers Of The Strange and weird!

Some Things Strange & Sinister (2013 -up-dated)

Some More Things Strange & Sinister

Pursuing The Strange And Weird -A Naturalist's Viewpoint (2014 up-date)

The Bizarre Legends, Crimes And Truth About Spring Heeled Jack (2014

Airplane-Sized Seabird with Teeth Discovered in Antarctica

Wednesday, 27 July 2016

Ayrshire -Ostrich With Young. Common Sense Approach To Capture -or simply kill?

Ostrich family on the loose near Ayrshire village

Yes -An Octopus Walking...On Land.

Monday, 25 July 2016

There Is A Robin In My Garden....And He KNOWS He Is The Boss!

Obituary: The 13th Earl of Haddington

You Hear "EVP" Recordings.....But WHAT Do You Hear?

Exotic Animals Register f. 1977