Kimberly Molto - True Tales of the Paranormal: Hauntings, Poltergeists, Near Death Experiences, and Other Mysterious Events

True Tales of the
Paranormal

Hauntings, Poltergeists,
Near-Death Experiences,
and Other Mysterious Events

Kimberly Molto

Copyright Kimberly Molto, 2002

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise (except for brief passages for purposes of review) without the prior permission of Dundurn Press. Permission to photocopy should be requested from the Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency.

Publisher: Anthony Hawke

Copy-Editor: Jennifer Bergeron

Design: Jennifer Scott

Printer: Transcontinental

National Library of Canada Cataloguing in Publication Data

Molto, Kimberly

True tales of the paranormal : hauntings, poltergeists, near-death experiences, and other mysterious events / Kimberly Molto.

ISBN 1-55002-410-8

1. Parapsychology. 2. Parapsychology and science. I. Title.

BF1031.M64 2002 130 C2002-902290-8

1 2 3 4 5 06 05 04 03 02

We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council for our publishing program. We also acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry Development Program and The Association for the Export of Canadian Books, and the Government of Ontario through the Ontario Book Publishers Tax Credit program.

Care has been taken to trace the ownership of copyright material used in this book. The author and the publisher welcome any information enabling them to rectify any references or credit in subsequent editions.

J. Kirk Howard, President

Printed and bound in Canada.

Printed on recycled paper.

www.dundurn.com

Dundurn Press

8 Market Street

Suite 200

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

M5E 1M6

Dundurn Press

73 Lime Walk

Headington, Oxford,

England

OX3 7AD

Dundurn Press

2250 Military Road

Tonawanda NY

U.S.A. 14150

This book is lovingly dedicated to my brother Robert Mitchell LeDuc. Also in the memory of my sister Sharlene Catherine and her husband, my dear lost friend, Ronald Pollard, who remain Together Forever.

Millions of spiritual creatures walk the earth

Unseen, both when we wake, and when we sleep.

Milton, Paradise Lost

The names and locations represented within this book have been changed or altered to protect the people, their survivors, and the properties involved.

The author wishes to acknowledge following sources. I am greatly indebted to these people and organizations for their valuable contributions and permissions to quote from some of their material to enhance vital points. Please refer to the list of suggested readings for further resources, many of which enhanced this book.

Thanks to: Tony Hawke and the team at Hounslow Press, one of the best little parapsychology publishers, amongst many of the other subjects they cover (I still say that with a name like Hounslow, there must be a good ghost story there); also from Dundurn, Jennifer Bergeron for her careful and exceptional editing skills, not to mention the overtime; Paul Stevens, Koelster Parapsychology Unit, University of Edinburgh; Eberhard Bauer at the Institut fr Grenzgebiete der Psychologie und Psychohygiene; Richard Shoup at the Boundary Institute; Dawn Elizabeth Hunt, RN with the Division of Personality Studies at the University of Virginia Health Science Center; Dr. Darryll Walsh at the Centre for Parapsychological Studies in Canada; Sue Darroch at the OPRC; Daniel Cumerlato at Haunted Hamilton; Matthew Didier at the Toronto Ghost Hauntings and Research Society; Heather Anderson of the British Columbia Ghost Research Society; Dale Kaczmarek of the Ghost Research Society; the Institute of Noetic Science; Sally Rhine Feather at the Rhine Research Center; Grady Hedrix at the American Society of Psychical Research; Arnold Lettieri, Ph.D. of the PEAR research team at Princeton; University of Virginia Personality Studies team; Dr. Eric Anderson; Ronald Pond, M.D.; Raymond L. Braida, M.D.; Michael A. Briggs, M.D.; and Mark Cuddy, Reference Clerk at the City of Toronto Archives.

Finally, and at the risk of this turning into an Academy Award speech, I would like to thank the following individuals for their personal support: Paul Taylor Papandreou, who has reread the manuscript so many times, he has it memorized; Terry it needs a comma Clayton, who is close to having it memorized; Kelly Zachars; Carol M. Pederson, for her excellent and patient editing assistance; Darien Papandreou for his technical support; Edgar Im not a copyright lawyer Lavour; Liz and Dave Vogt (patron saint of the Macs) for their computer (when no less than two of mine blew up the writing of this book is a book in and of itself!); Scout Vogt for her help with the typing; Dr. Deni Diejen, M.D. Ph.D.; my brother Bob for whom thanks does not begin to cover it; and Sharon Stock Feren for her artistic skills. To the books mascot, Dusty; to Brett for his piano, ghost and all, which kept me grounded; to Madeline Kinney, Jon Ainsworth, Steve Patterson, Ian Godfrey, Dr. Michelle Douglas, Chris Howard, Alex Cooper, Kim Darely, and the other occasional members of the psychic research team. It was an arduous, uncomfortable and at times even dangerous endeavour, but was it ever worth it! I owe you all big time and look forward working with you all again. Ill bring the coffee this time. Also many thanks to Tony Arpa for helping me reopen the connecting door and entering the vortex; to Wendy Connor-Darmon, a friend whose enthusiasm was uplifting during the most stressful of times; and to Kathy Pezzack, caretaker of the magical Merlin, and John Costello for their tremendous personal support.

Those who find some tales of the paranormal difficult to believe at times would find the process involved in the creation of this book even more unbelievable. It was done against incredible odds (one of the reasons I became reinvigorated by Jungs synchronicity theory). Were it not for some of the people credited herein, this book would probably not have found its way into the world.

Most of all, my heartfelt thanks to all those people who took the time and sometimes even courage to share their stories. In the majority of cases, they did so in hopes it would become a beacon of like to others as well as an assurance to those readers experiencing such phenomena, or to those who may yet share in such experiences. They are not alone or crazy. As is evident throughout this book, quite the contrary, they are in excellent company. There would be no book without their generosity of time, spirit, and conviction to, as one interviewee put it so eloquently, finally bring the boogeyman out of the closet!

The title of this book was originally going to be Rubicon: True Tales of the Paranormal. The name came to me in a flash of inspiration one day (naming a book is much harder than one would suppose). Its historical reference is to that of Caesar crossing the river Rubicon with his army. This was tantamount to a declaration of war. Once he embarked on this endeavour, there was no turning back. The experiences shared in this book are like crossing a personal Rubicon; once your life has been touched by these extraordinary events, you are changed and things will never be the same. Fortunately, in most cases these changes are for the better, enriching peoples experience and perception of life.