Urban Legends

Are you afraid of the number 666? If you were issued an automobile license plate or a telephone number that included a string of three sixes would you ask for a different number? Do you think the number 666 is inherently evil? Do you believe any number can in and of itself be evil?The issue of FATE magazine that you are holding in your hands right at this moment is issue number 666. The 666th word in this article is "dead." Does this make you just a little bit nervous?If it does, you are not alone. There is a name for your condition - "Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia" - the fear of the number 666.Everyone has at least one or twosuperstitions that we feel somehow comfortably obliged to observe.

My father was a geologist and a high-degree Freemason. He was for the most part a very logical and scientific man. Still, he was oddly superstitious about little things like spilling salt and walking under ladders.For a lot of people the number 666 is particularly terrifying. After all, it's the devil's number, isn't it? For the better part of 2,000 years many in the Western world have certainly thought so. What is it about these three digits that makes so many of us uncomfortable?The dreaded number makes its first and only appearance in the last book of the New Testament, the Revelation of Saint John the Divine (often mistakenly called Revelations) - a book that for centuries hasbeen interpreted by theologians as a document prophesying the terrible events that will take place at the end of the world.Early Church fathers decided that John, the author of the Revelation, was the same John who wrote the Gospel According to John (the last of the Four Gospels). Modern experts from a wide range of religious and non-religious persuasions agree this is probably not the case. The style of the Greek writing and other obvious differences suggest the two books were penned by different individuals.

View: Full Article | Source: FATE Magazine

About three in four Americans profess at least one paranormal belief, according to a recent Gallup survey. The most popular is extrasensory perception (ESP), mentioned by 41%, followed closely by belief in haunted houses (37%).A special analysis of the data shows that 73% of Americans believe in at least one of the 10 items listed above, while 27% believe in none of them. A Gallup survey in 2001 provided similar results -- 76% professed belief in at least one of the 10 items.The "cumulative percent" column shows that more than one-fifth of all Americans, 22%, believe in five or more items, 32% believe in at least four items, and more than half, 57%, believein at least two paranormal items.

Only 1% believe in all 10 items.Three other items included in the survey, but which do not necessarily reflect paranormal beliefs, include beliefs in "psychic or spiritual healing or the power of the human mind to heal the body," "that people on earth are sometimes possessed by the devil," and "that extra-terrestrial beings have visited earth at some time in the past." The healing powers of the mind have been demonstrated empirically, reflected in the power of placebos, among other examples. More than half of Americans, 55%, believe in this connection. The poll shows that 42% of Americans believe that "people on this earth are sometimes possessed by the devil." However, it is unclear how many people treatthat statement literally, and how many interpret it in metaphorical terms. Thus, for purposes of this analysis, that item was excluded.Strictly speaking, visits from aliens are not part of paranormal beliefs. Although definitive scientific evidence of such visits is lacking, in principle the existence of extra-terrestrial beings and their ability to visit earth are subject to empirical verification.All of the other 10 items listed above require the belief that humans have more than the "normal" five senses.

View: Full Article | Source: Gallup.com

A Chatsworth couple returning home in the early hours of Saturday morning are still reeling from shock after their hair-raising experience with a "mysterious Indian woman dressed in black" in Havenside Drive, off Bayview. According to Nirvana Rupnarain, 30, of Moorton, they were on their way to Havenside to drop off a friend at about 2.30am when "sheeee" appeared out of the blue. Rupnarain said they were passing Protea Secondary when they spotted a tall woman, dressed in black pants and shirt, standing in the middle of the road. "My first thought was that we were going to be hijacked. She was just standingthere and looked frightening with her long black hair hanging on her shoulders and her arms outstretched, almost beckoning for us to stop." She said that as the car approached the woman, she stepped out into their path of travel and looked straight at them with her "wild, glowing, almost spooky eyes".

"By this time I was hysterical and screaming. My husband Niresh swerved the car to avoid her but she jumped out of the way." Rupnarain said they stopped the car and looked back but the woman had disappeared. "My hair was literally standing on end and I was terrified but still wanted to know what we had seen."She said they drove back on the same road but there was no sign of"Sheila"."I don't believe in ghosts but I said a prayer and have vowed never again to go out late at night."But her husband Niresh said he was convinced it was either a prostitute or a hijacker."I was driving at top speed and this woman just jumped to one side to avoid being hit. I have heard stories about Highway Sheila in the past and unless she changed her dress code from white to black, I'm not convinced she's back."Legend has it that Highway Sheila was a ghost who roamed on Higginson Highway and was often seen standing in the middle of the road, pleading for motorists to stop, or hitching a lift.According to one legend, a Chatsworth grandfather fell prey to Highway Sheila when hestopped to give her a lift....

Is it urban legend or the re-emergence of a long-since-evicted creature that hasn't roamed the woods of Massachusetts for more than 100 years? Four sightings over the past week of what witnesses believe to be a mountain lion has many neighbors here and in bordering towns in a tizzy. Time to lock up the kids and bolt the door? Probably not. The reality, say wildlife experts, is that a mountain lion in Massachusetts is a highly unlikely scenario. The cats, about 5 to 6 feet long and weighing 100 to 150 pounds were driven out of New England in the early part of the last century. They're found today in remote areas of the western part of thecountry and in Canada.

Mountain lion sightings are reported from time to time throughout New England, however. Often witnesses - even experts - can easily confuse other animals with what appears to be a mountain lion. Follow-up investigations often reveal the animal was a coyote, deer or bobcat. Bobcats are present in New England and are much smaller, weighing about 25 pounds. Furthermore, unlike the coyote, which thrives on the boarders of civilization, mountain lions prefer remote areas - they're not big fans of populated areas. Acton Police this week are taking no chances, though, warning residents to use caution. Although naysayers might think the department is overreacting, we don't think so. Police are right to assumethe reports are true and educate the public to be cautious. Although the presence of a mountain lion is unlikely, it's not impossible. In 1997 a wildlife tracker found a large pile of scat - animal excrement - along the Quabbin Reservoir. Two separate DNA tests confirmed it belonged to a mountain lion. In 2000 an experienced hunter in Monmouth, Maine reported observing a mountain lion for five minutes at about 50 yards away. His eye-witness account along with plaster casts of the tracks convinced several experts that the sighting was valid. Whether these are wild creatures moving back into a long-abandoned habitat or exotic pets escaped from owners keeping them illegally, we don't know. The last undeniable sighting of a mountainlion in. ...