Members at a skywatch on Thustaston Hill on 9th September 2006

On 9th September 2006, a team from MARA went to Thurstaston Hill on the Wirral to undertake a skywatch.  The purpose of the skywatch was to familiarise members with the night time sky and observe satellites in orbit and aircraft on approach to John Lennon airport.  As the watch progressed, we observed several satellites using the Heavens Above website http://www.heavens-above.com/ to predict when and where the satellites would appear.  We also observed several bright meteors despite the fact that no meteor showers were due.  Two photographs of the team are shown below.  The one on the left is a normal flash picture whereas the one on the right was an experiment to see what we would look like under torch and moon light.  The shutter was left open for 30 seconds with the camera ASA setting set to 1600.  The result was surprisingly good but the moon at the top is obviously over-exposed.  Photographs courtesy of Jebby Robinson. 

Thurstaston Hill gives a 360 degree view of the horizon and allows both the Mersey and Dee estuaries to be observed.  It is also close to the flight path for aircraft landing at Liverpool John Lennon Airport.  As they approach with their landing lights on, they appear as a bright star which can appear stationary for at least 5 minutes before gradually drifting in direction as the aircraft approaches the observer.  It is our belief that many UFOs which fit the description of a star which starts to move after a fixed period of time could be the result of aircraft with landing lights on.  Equipment taken on the skywatch included a telescope, cameras with tripods and camcorders.  Aircraft were recorded on the camcorder to show the effect of the landing lights and to train members in the importance of using manual focus when recording lights in the sky.  Two snapshots from a recording are shown below taken with an optical zoom setting of 22x magnification.  The snapshot on the left shows the aircraft approaching head on just before it turns away from us and the snapshot on the right shows the same aircraft about 30 seconds later after it has turned away to show a typical triangular formation of lights. 

PARANORMAL WEEK – 10^th-14^th JULY 2006

by Ian Pickup

Halton Libraries in association with MARA presented its 5^th successful week-long event which proved to be bigger and better than ever. 

Highlights of the event included:   Talks on everything from ghosts and hauntings to ufos, Paranormal workshops,, live ESP and psychokinesis tests,, a very special live paranormal experiment, three very special guests:  Dave Sadler, James Griffiths and Lionel Fanthorpe.

Monday 10^th

Once the equipment was set up on stage and the sizeable audience had arrived, getting off to a good start was essential and that was left in the hands of MARA speaker, Mark Rosney, an experienced presenter who gives a serious talk, breaking it up with a good sense of humour.

His introductory talk, Shaping Reality, highlighted the importance given by ancient cultures to rituals which they believed could ensure a good harvest or even help them to succeed in battle.  Mark explained how the echoes of those beliefs remain to this day, but now appear to be backed up by recent scientific discoveries which suggest that not only can we shape events around us, but that we can shape reality itself. 

This talk was followed by an experiment to see if the concentration of the audience could effect the random movement of an on-screen ball.

In the final part of his talk – Science meets Spirituality – Mark explored the wisdom of the ancients, from Hindu creation beliefs to the Greeks’ ideas of matter and the working of the solar system, to show that there really is ‘nothing new under the sun’.  This talk was very interesting and a subject new to many, including myself.   

Tuesday 11^th

Bill Bimson opened day two with an ongoing investigation into a recurring aerial phenomenon known as the Halewood Lights in the Sky (LITS).  Film evidence was shown of strange balls of light seen above Halewood over a five-year period.  The phenomenon was presented objectively, leaving the audience to form its own opinions. 

A short talk followed on Project Orbituary – an experiment carried out over a number of weeks demonstrating how orbs can be created and caught on camera.  In Paranormal Week 2004 MARA members demonstrated that most, if not all, so-called ‘paranormal’ orbs that mysteriously appear on camera, are not the ‘first manifestation of a ghost or spirit’ but are, in fact, very small particles of dust, pollen, moisture or insects that are illuminated by camera flash and appear semi-transparent and much bigger than real life. 

However, one class of orb is not as easy to explain: the ‘Annular Orb’.  MARA has embarked on a research project to see if this very rare class of orb ‘apparition’ could be captured, identified, understood and, hopefully, replicated to order.  Findings to date were presented to the audience.

The final talk of the evening, Haunted Liverpool, was presented by Rob Bethall (who shouts a lot).  This was a fascinating aerial tour of Liverpool, zooming in on individual locations and their stories – a ‘magical mystery tour’ around the city’s most haunted theatres, discovering elements of Liverpool’s more sinister past - ghosts, apparitions, time-slips and foul deeds aplenty!

Wednesday 12^th

MARA members Mike Jaega and Mark Rosney started off with a Local Paranormal Update on activities in Halton which went down well with the audience as many were familiar with these mysteries.

MARA member John Hall gave a very interesing account of Mysteries of the Isle of Man , a place many people have visited at some time.

A First-Hand Evidence Workshop followed, requiring interaction with the audience.  The importance of gathering first-hand witness accounts was highlighted, showing how details are missed or changed by people giving statements. 

The night finished with an interesting talk given by guest speaker Dave Sadler, founder member of UPIA, the Unknown Phenomena Investigation Association, on the Bridestones - Cheshire ’s archaelogical and paranormal mystery.  Often described as an ‘outlier of the Neolithic monuments of the White Peak ’, the Bridestones, lying along the line of the Cheshire/Staffordshire border, is undoubtedly Cheshire ’s most impressive and well-known ancient monument.

The audience learnt more about the history, paranormal mysteries and theories for these stones and were left with much to think about following Dave’s well-researched talk.

Thursday 13^th

On Thursday the evening opened with The Sam Experiment Revisited.  Last year MARA, with the help of James Griffiths, a Widnes-based psychic medium who is the resident medium for the psychic museum in York, owned by Uri Geller and Johann Cainer, astrologer for the Daily Mail, conducted an experiment by trying to invoke paranormal phenomena via a made-up character called Sam, whose life-story was created by library staff at Halton Lea. 

With the aid of James, MARA was able to detect anomalous phenomena, such as electromagnetic fluctuations and cold spots, which occurred in front of a packed audience. 

This year James Griffiths, together with MARA members and some of the audience, tried to expand the experiment by using higher tech electronics, and readings were taken from an assortment of electrical instruments.  It went down very well creating a tangible air of anticipation.

MARA member, Peter Tiernan, then gave an excellent talk on Mysterious Disappearances of people and objects and also on timeslips, where people claim that they have momentarily been transported either back or forwards in time.

Friday 14th

Friday, known as Fright Night, was the highlight of the week.  A boxing ring was set up on stage for the debate on Who was the Real Jack the Ripper?  In one corner Rob Bethall, and in the other Mike Jaega; both arguing their cases strongly and giving excellent theories on the subjects  The audience was then allowed to vote, finding …………. ‘Guilty’.

The larger than life Lionel Fanthorpe was the very special guest of the week -  a man who should be sponsored by Duracell Batteries because he presents with such ease and keeps going and going and going on a number of subjects, ending a very fine week on a high. 

A lot of hard work was put into Paranormal week by members of both Halton Libraries and MARA, and they should be congratulated on their effort and enthusiasm. 

MARA members at the Paraquest Conference

On 14th May 2006 several members of MARA attended the Paraquest Conference at Sale Masonic Hall, Manchester, UK.  At the conference, they met up with Rendlesham Forest Incident witness Larry Warren.  Larry was a US Air Force Military Policeman at the time of the incident in 1980, but now lives in Liverpool.  If you would like to read an article that Larry wrote for MARA's magazine The Researcher then click here.  The article includes an advert for a book that Larry co-authored about the Rendlesham Forest incident entitled "Left at East Gate".   A picture of Larry (centre) with MARA members is shown below.

Rev. Lionel Fanthorpe gives a talk at Widnes Library

On 26th April 2006, MARA and Halton Libraries hosted a free public talk about the Da Vinci Code.  The talk was given by Rev. Lionel Fanthorpe of Fortean TV fame.  The musical reverend spoke to a packed auditorium at Widnes Library and later joined MARA members for a meal after the successful  event.  MARA thank Lionel and Janette Fleming of Halton Libraries for her extensive part in the arrangement of the event.  Below is a picture of Lionel and his wife Patricia on the left, after the event with MARA members at the library.

MARA 10th Anniversary Meal

On Friday 3rd March 2006, in celebration of the fact that MARA, as an organisation has been running successfully for 10 years, members old and new commemorated this momentous occasion by going out for a meal. Not many paranormal groups get to the grand old age of 10, which shows that MARA is an organisation with solid foundations with an eye on the future. Here’s to the next 10 glorious years.

Three ongoing paranormal investigations

MARA members are currently conducting three long term investigations of premises in Liverpool . Due to confidentiality issues we cannot, as yet, reveal the locations. However, we can tell you that one is in a pub, another is in a community centre and the third is above a business premises. Each venue has a history of reported paranormal activity, ranging from apparitions to strange sounds and eerie lights.

At the business premises, MARA member Maureen Kidd managed to capture a light anomaly in a deserted store room (see below, zoomed in section on the right). The light was not visible to the naked eye and, because the picture was taken without flash, is a complete mystery. The photo is currently undergoing analysis. Top marks Maureen!

Conspiracy talk at Widnes Library

As part of MARA’s ongoing programme of monthly public talks at Widnes Library, Mike Jaega teamed up with Janette Fleming to give a talk about conspiracy theories. The talk featured classic conspiracies such as ‘Was Marylin Monroe murdered?’, ‘Area 51’ and ‘Did man land on the moon?’. Arguments, both for and against were delivered and the audience were then asked if they believed or disbelieved the particular theory. Mike and Janette did a sterling job, despite an intermittent fault on the digital projector which kept going on standby at critical moments. Perhaps there was a conspiracy to stop the talk going ahead?  Who was trying to stop you hear the truth on these subjects :-)  A picture from the talk is shown below

‘Life After Death?’ talk

MARA got off to a good start on this year’s programme of talks for Halton Libraries, with Mark Rosney giving an interesting talk on the evidence for and against the existence of life after death.

Tackling the big question, Mark discussed everything from Mediumship, reincarnation, past life regressions, ghosts, out of body experiences to near death experiences, in order to show our current understanding of these phenomena, leaving the audience to ponder on the possibility of survival after death. The talk was well received.

Tennantspin broadcast

Last November MARA members John Hall, Rob Bethell and Mark Rosney were invited to take part in a discussion show about the paranormal for the Film Art and Creative Technology (FACT) funded Tennantspin project, a TV station located in high rise flats in Sefton park, Liverpool UK. The programme was broadcast into the homes of the tenants and simultaneously broadcast, via broadband, over the world wide web. John Hall, Rob Bethell and Mark Rosney talked about a wide range of phenomena from folkore, myths and legends to the recent Halewood LITS sightings on Merseyside.  A picture from the broadcast is shown below with MARA members John Hall and Mark Rosney on the left John McGuirk from Tenantspin (2nd from right) and Rob Bethell on the right.  The broadcast is archived and can be listened to by clicking on the following link. http://www.superchannel.org/Home/Channels/SPIN/paranormal_behaviour.rm/player.html (Real player required).  The sound quality is poor for the first few minutes, but don't let that put you off as the sound improves fairly quickly.

MARA thank Tenantspin and John McGuirk for the invitation to make the programme.

Halewood Skywatch

During the height of the last spate of UFO sightings over Halewood, MARA members, Rob Bethell, Peter Tiernan and Mark Rosney decided to spend an evening in Halewood in the hope of observing the LITS phenomena for themselves. Using Halewood station’s platform as a vantage point they commanded clear views of the sky in most directions, however, luck was not on their side. Within half an hour the rain began to pour and our intrepid observers were forced to call it an evening. UFOs: 1, MARA: 0.

Project ORBituary: (The death of paranormal orbs)

On the 1st March 2006, MARA initiated a new research project entitled Project ORBituary.  The purpose the project is to reliably reproduce and classify the different types of orb which are photographic anomalies and make this information available to the public.  Many members of the public send us pictures of orbs that they say were taken in allegedly haunted locations and suggest that the orb in the photograph is the first stage of a spirit manifestation.  If we can reproduce all of the different types of orb in controlled conditions, it should prove that all orbs obtained on camera but not seen by the eye are in fact nothing more than photographic anomalies and not anything to do with ghosts or spirits.  Our results will be published in their entirety along with any shortcoming in not being able to reproduce a particular type of orb.  The ORBituary experiments take place in MARA member Mark Rosney's flat and initial results look very promising.  We have used a cheap perfume spray and Johnson's baby powder as the medium for producing the orbs.  This had the unfortunate consequence of making Mark's flat smell like a tart's handbag, but he accepted that it was a sacrifice worth making in the cause of science.   We have used a variety of lighting configurations with about 6 digital cameras, a digital camcorder and an infra-red camera.  All of this was done using a black background.  We need to repeat this experiment with different coloured backgrounds and analyse the results before publication which we anticipate around June of 2006 

Why not check out MARA's list of forthcoming public events by clicking here