Normally I would not waste time on a juvenile delinquent. I deduce that "gang-whatever" falls into this catagory due to the childish, arrogant demeanor exhibited in his email to me accusing me of creating a hoax using a placed light source in the picture in question. His attitude virtually screamed "Notice me, notice me, I am a nobody desperate for attention." He even included a childish taunt daring me to come to this board. I still stand by my answer to him that, "My time is too precious to waste on fools." Now that a crime has been committed by "gang-whatever" he has succeeded in getting my attention.
Whether "gangprobed" is a delinquent, or an adult, no longer matters. The theft of copyrighted material, the altering of copyrighted material, and the illegal reposting of stolen copyrighted material on his site (and this one), is a crime. "Gangprobed" your illegal activities have been reported to the Fortean Times and to the internet provider hosting your website- have a nice day. I will decide later if I will choose to get "nasty" and pursue this further through the authorities and the legal system.
I started my research as a cast-iron cynic that denounced everything posted on the web as "photoshop constructs". I repeatedly told my friends to laugh at those who claimed to be posting paranormal pictures and that I could create better pics in 10 minutes with photoshop.
Then I had a trusted friend who claimed that his pets seemed to be reacting to an unseen presence. As an ex-science teacher this caused me to consider what is different in what a dog can see and what humans can see. The construction of a dogs eye, along with other modifications, can perceive what is called near-infrared (750 to 1000 nm). We have some sensitivity to this in the rod cells clustered along the perimeter of our retina. This is why we can see movement at night out-of-the-corner of our eye, but the image dissappears when we look directly at it. Anyway, that is why I chose the Sony CCD camera for its sensitivity to near-infrared wavelengths. I also decided to put myself on the line and to go out and actually INVESTIGATE to determine if paranormal phenomena actually existed, or if claimed paranormal pics were the result of mundane causes, or fraud.
Roach stated "damn we are good!" Well yes, you are good at reinforcing the mistaken perceptions of each other to the exclusion of other possibilities. I have seen a regretable tendancy among cynics to accept any harebrained mundane explanation rather than to even consider a paranormal one. note: To those of you who are only Skeptics, not Cynics- apologies are extended.
We are shaped by our experiences and we only learn what is compatable with our personal belief structure. We tend to learn at our own pace and in our own time. A cynic remains frozen in time. That is why I do not try and convince others of what I have learned, you can only convince yourself of the truth. How many of you have actually went out to investigate and seek the truth for yourselves? Not many I'll warrant. It takes a level of comfort with your own belief system to actually get out and seek the truth, no matter what you conclude it is. It is far easier to investigate a computer chair and tear apart second hand information than to take up the challenge of looking, first hand, for yourself. I understand as I have traveled the road from cynic to a skeptical believer. Do I have "the answers"? Absolutely not! Each bit if insite granted me only generates more and more questions! *LoL*
A few points for general edification about the pic in question. It is a combination of visible light and near-infrared combined. Sometimes I use a filter to produce an infrared only pic, but not on this particular pic. There is no light source were the boy is standing. There are no "glass panes" on or around the bannisters. That part of the house was under construction and the bannisters were there to keep you from stepping out into the high ceiling of the living area. Oh, it was unpainted- just bare wood. There may have been a simple "trouble light" (used for auto repair) by the front door of the house (far right and down in the pic). The electical work was not complete. So there may be some shadows caused by natural light also in the pic, but this is certainly insufficient to cause the anomaly. Remember, Sony nightvision combines visible light and near-infrared together if an infrared "pass" filter is not used. There was no "light source, or reflective surface" in the boys image that could be considered causal. There is a great deal of infrared either being emitted, or reflected from the anomaly. My research has shown that paranormal manifestations seem to either emit, or refect near-infrared well.
I encourage you to visit my site
http://www.phantomsinthedark.com to view my fieldwork. The site will remain up until December 3rd, or 4th, and then will be down as I move to a new web hosting provider. I will also be doing battle with Microsoft Frontpage, so the site will only show a "under construction" page till I master Frontpage, well at least until I am functional in it LoL.
This is my first post here, and somewhat lengthy. So bear with me if I find it necessary to break it up into several "chunks".
