Posts Tagged ‘ghosts’

James Brown body stolen from cemetery

Saturday, March 13th, 2010
james brown dead body missing from it's crypt grave

James Brown

The late James Brown — the Godfather of Soul who passed away in December of 2006 — is apparently missing! According to his daughter LaRhonda Pettit, Brown’s body has not been entombed in his crypt as he should because, she believes, there are people trying to keep his cause of death a secret. Now, I’m not sure how Pettit knows that her father’s body is missing from his crypt but she seems pretty sure that his body has been stolen away.

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Saudi ‘genie’ sued for harassment

Saturday, July 11th, 2009

A family in Saudi Arabia is taking a “genie” to court, accusing it of theft and harassment, reports say.

They accuse the spirit of threatening them, throwing stones and stealing mobile phones, Al Watan newspaper said.

The family have lived in the same house near the city of Medina for 15 years but say they only recently became aware of the spirit. They have now moved out.

A local court is investigating. In Islamic theology, genies are spirits that can harass or possess humans.

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Too many espressos will make you see ghosts

Wednesday, January 28th, 2009

Research suggests people who drink more than seven cups of instant coffee a day have an increased tendency to hallucinate.

High caffeine users may even think they sense non-existent people, according to researchers from the University of Durham. They studied 200 students who were asked about their typical intake of caffeine products. Those who had a high caffeine intake were three times more likely to have the heard voice of someone non-existent than “low” users who consumed less than one cup of instant coffee or its equivalent. Seeing things that were not there, hearing voices and sensing the presence of dead people were among the experiences reported.

Caffeine may stimulate cortisol

Besides coffee, caffeine can be obtained from sources such as tea, chocolate, “pep” pills and energy drinks. However, the hallucinations are not necessarily a sign of mental illness. Around 3% of people regularly hear voices, the research said. The ability of caffeine to exacerbate the effects of stress may be behind the study’s findings, scientists believe.

When under stress the body releases the hormone cortisol which is produced in greater quantities after consuming caffeine, possibly leading to hallucinations. Dr Charles Fernyhough, the co-author of the study, pointed out that the research only showed an association between caffeine intake and hallucination proneness, not a causal link. “One interpretation may be that those students who were more prone to hallucinations used caffeine to help cope with their experiences,” he said.