Paranormal Phenomena

"This was taken a week or two ago [early 2012] in a flat in Oxford, U.K.," says Tom. "It's a friend of mine. Freaked him out when he saw it."

Many ghost researchers refer to anomalies like this in photos as "ecto" or ectoplasm, although that's probably not what it is at all. In some cases this smoky stuff turns out to be just that -- smoke, usually from a cigarette. Other times it might be caused by fog or vapor from a person's breath in chilly weather. Still other times the source or cause isn't so easy to pin down.

There's also the possibility that this is a hoax -- a digital creation or manipulation. Or do you think this is a genuine apparition? Go see it in the Gallery. Then give us your opinion in this poll:

	Mel's Hole mystery - This mystery, located somewhere in the hills of eastern Washington State, is said to be bottomless.
	Cable Guy Bigfoot - Accidentally caught in the background of a Larry the Cable Guy video might be an auburn Bigfoot.
	Does Nessie eat well? - Is there enough in the Loch Ness food chain to support a breeding population of the lake's monster?

Plus: Brown Mountain Lights remain a mystery... Paranormal exploration... Many Swedes believe in ghosts... Ghost sighting: Scared youth falls off power pole... Nicolas Cage: I'm not a vampire... Photo of car dented by possible Bigfoot collision... Why Sasquatch can easily hide from humans... Mammoth hoax verified... Daughter of missing woman turned to a psychic... Teapots that go bang in the night: Kent's strangest tales.
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"My husband Steve died on the 3rd of December last year after a long illness," reports Kathy. "He was 58. The morning after his funeral, the phone rang. No one answered, but my husband's voice was left on my answering machine! He just said my name in a raspy voice, like he did when he was ill. It really shook me, and everyone who has listened to it says it is him. The message is still on my machine, and I can't bring myself to delete it."

Thanks for that chilling report, Kathy. Perhaps if you care to, you can send us a copy of the recording. There have been many reports of these kinds of ghostly or phantom phone calls, and many cannot be just dismissed as crossed lines or other phone equipment problems. Check these out:

• Freaky Phone Calls
• More Phantom Phone Calls
• Even Phantom Phone Calls

	Will Ferrell haunted - On the set of a new movie, Farrell reportedly asked to abandon his trailer because it's haunted.
	Mount Ararat debris - An archaeologist reveals debris found in a cave on the mountain where Noah's Ark came to rest.
	Eerie face in the clouds - The family of Gerry Wells was freaked out by these clouds strongly resembling the late man.

Plus: Mum forced to flee haunted flat... Family offered haunted flat but they would rather be homeless... Toy store might be haunted... Ghost sightings reported by anglers... Physically assaulted by the unknown... Does Bigfoot live in Bexar County, Texas?... Thar be a monster in the marshes... "Mermaids" scare off workers... Secret Defense Intelligence Agency research identified psychic signals... Are pets really psychic?... Hidden energy behind the sense of being stared at... The lies of Fatima... Mystery noises reported in Hartlepool... Scientists check out egg-laying rooster.
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Here's why I'm not so quick to say that this is a bear with a fish in its mouth. The creature does not have the correct profile. The creature in the video, top, has a distinctly sloped back, just like the mammoth in the illustration at bottom. The Siberian brown bear, center, has a rather straight back. So, again -- is this a real mammoth or is it a computer generated image (cgi)?

Thought to have gone extinct 3,500-4,000 years ago, the woolly mammoth has been reported in unconfirmed sightings in recent decades in Siberia, but now a videotape has surfaced that might show a living woolly mammoth crossing a stream. The video was allegedly shot by a Russian government-employed engineer last summer. It's a pretty convincing looking video, but we have to be careful in this day of high-quality cgi. If this is real, it's an amazing video! Go look!

This month there are 34 true stories of ghosts, time slips, poltergeists, strange creatures, and more, including: "The Black-Eyed Man Who Wasn't There," "The Demon of Tullichewan Castle Woods," "Eight-Foot Creature Terrifies Dogs," "Ghost's Suicide or Murder?," "Hooded Being Possessed Our Car," "Odd, Terrifying Encounter in the Fog," "Patterson-Gimlin Bigfoot Film: A New Tall Tale," and more. Read them all and leave your comments.

In 1878, Esther Cox of Amherst, Nova Scotia became the victim in one of the most frightening poltergeist cases in Canadian history. The strange events were witnessed and documented by many people. For months the entity tormented the 19-year-old girl and her family with deafening noises, horrifying threats and unspeakable violence. Read about these eerie true events.

• More haunted places

	Iceland's lake monster - Lagarfljótsormurinn -- Iceland's answer to Nessie -- has been videotaped swimming in a river.
	Haunted mission - La Purisima Mission State Historic Park in Lompoc, Calif. is the site of several apparitions.
	Southwest's Sasquatch - These glyphs might depict the Bigfoot-like creature long seen in New Mexico's Chuska Mountains.

Plus: Phenomena and Madame H. P. Blavatsky... Mystery surrounding singer who "came back from the dead"... Voodoo priestess fought a ghostly football curse... El Paso's haunted roads... The Birmingham Poltergeist case... Rupert Sheldrake: the "heretic" at odds with scientific dogma... Book claims Pope chased demons from St. Peter's Square... Russian scientists drill to sub-glacial Antarctic lake... New Sasquatch reality show on the way.
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"This took place in Essex, United Kingdom," reports S.C. "My son was out on his swing when suddenly he came running in and he looked ever so pale. I asked him what was wrong and he said he saw someone standing at the gate at the end of the garden with a wedding dress, red curly hair, and eyes with a black rectangle over them... and then it disappeared. We went out and looked over the field at the end of the garden and we could not see the lady anywhere. Then at night, he screamed in the kitchen and he said he saw her again standing at the gate."

Some might write this off as a child's active imagination, S.C., but I'm more inclined to think there's something to this very good sighting. The child's description is quite detailed, and the fact that he saw it twice is also rather compelling.

• Also read: Children's Encounters with the Unknown.