The Occult Section

So this is an interesting story: A museum up in Buffalo, New York, found remains of 24 former soldiers 10 years ago in a closet. The museum, which used to be a church and then a funeral home, is not sure how the remains ended up in their possession, but fought to ensure the soldiers would receive full military funerals. The kicker? The director also claims the museum is haunted.

Most ghost stories don’t have happy endings, but that was the case Friday as the cremated remains of seven World War I, World War II and Korean War-era veterans were buried with full military honors at Bath National Cemetery.

The ashes were among 24 sets of remains discovered in a basement closet 10 years ago when the Iron Island Museum opened up at a new address, a former church and funeral home.

It’s still a mystery how the remains — labeled only with names and dates of death — ended up in the closet.

The Buffalo museum features a mix of railroad, military and other items saved by local preservationists. And it’s haunted, according to Linda Hastreiter, president of the museum.

“Strange things were happening all the time,” Hastreiter said, including volunteers seeing “shadowy” people, hearing voices, and the sound of chairs being banged around. “People were seeing things that weren’t really there.”

So a psychic was brought in to investigate the paranormal activities last year. The psychic claimed to detect the presence of a man named Edgar.

Hastreiter checked the names of the ashes, and sure enough, there was an Edward L. Zernicke.

The museum president dug deeper into Zernicke’s life, and found he served in the Marines from 1925 to 1929, fought in the Sandino Rebellion in Nicaragua in 1928 and later spent four years in the Navy before returning to Buffalo.

As a coordinator for the Patriot Guard Riders Veterans Recovery Program, Hastreiter helps find unclaimed veterans’ remains and ensure they receive their final honors.

The Zernicke discovery inspired her to look into the other remains. Once she found out who was a veteran, she then began a quest to find living relatives and secure permission for military burials.
“I’m just glad they didn’t hang up on me,” Hastreiter said.

On Friday, seven sets of the remains were back at the museum, each in a white box on a case beneath an American flag and a display of vintage military uniforms.

Members of an Army honor guard and the Patriot Guard saluted the veterans before carrying each urn from the museum and placing it into a hearse headed to Bath National Cemetery some 90 miles away.

Technorati Tags: Bath National Cemetery, buffalo, church, funeral home, haunted, haunted museum, iron island museum, korean war, new york, Nicaragua, people, Sandino Rebellion, thoughts, world war I, world war II, wwi, wwii

Great Scott! Is it possible that a radio could be haunted? According to The Scottish Sun, a radio from the World War II era plays songs and speeches from that time – even though the radio is unplugged and seemingly non-functional.

"Did the French just surrender? At least some things never change..."

A vintage wireless radio is spooking listeners by playing sounds from World War 2 – even though it has had no power for decades.

Witnesses claim they have heard Winston Churchill speeches and Glenn Miller big-band music over the SCARE-waves from the 70-year-old Pye model.
But the 1940s’ set doesn’t even have a plug attached – and its interior is full of dust and cobwebs.

Pensioner Bob Sutherland, 72, told yesterday how he got a fright when he heard the old radio crackle back into life at Montrose Air Station in Angus.

Bob said: “I was walking past when I heard the Glenn Miller song, At Last, coming out at very low volume.

“At first I thought someone was having a bit of fun with me. But when I looked in the back of the radio it was clear no one had been near it for years.

“That type of wireless needs electricity to work but this one doesn’t even have a plug.

“Since then a few others have said they’ve heard Glenn Miller, while classic Winston Churchill speeches have also been heard.”

Wartime PM Winnie died in 1965 while US swing bandleader Glenn is believed to have been killed in a plane crash in 1944.

Mr Sutherland, a former RAF radio fitter, added: “We are all a bit spooked by this.”

The radio is kept in a 1940s museum at the airbase, which is rumoured to have several ghosts – including a dog and a pilot.

Air station secretary Peter David said: “There is a weird atmosphere at the base.”

For most people, when thinking of a haunted inanimate object, dolls seem to take center stage. I think it’s mostly due to the fact that dolls (like clowns, in my opinion) can be both fun and creepy. A doll is just a human-like object with some exaggerated features. Total creepo. It’s interesting that an inconspicuous radio would be christened as “haunted.” It seems as though the radio is exhibiting what is known as a “residual” haunting. It is not an intelligent haunting (as many dolls are claimed to be) since it does not interact directly with people. Since nothing is factual about the paranormal, it certainly is possible that this radio, for whatever reason, is replaying parts of the past over and over again. World War II was one of the most traumatic periods in history, so it kind of makes sense, as much as anything in the paranormal field can.

Technorati Tags: france, france surrenders, french, ghost, ghosts, glenn miller, haunted, haunted doll, haunted dolls, haunted objects, intelligent haunting, paranormal, people, residual haunting, scotland, the french surrender, thoughts, winston churchill, world war 2, world war II, wwii