On 18 April, 1943, four boys (Robert Hart, Thomas Willetts, Bob Farmer and Fred Payne) from Stourbridge were poaching in Hagley Woods near to Wychbury Hill when they came across a large Wych elm. Hagley Wood is part of the Hagley Hall estate belonging to Lord Cobham.

Believing it a good place to hunt birds’ nests, Farmer attempted to climb the tree to investigate. As he climbed, he glanced down into the hollow trunk and discovered a skull, believing it to be that of an animal. However, after seeing human hair and teeth, he realized that he had found a human skull. As they were on the land illegally, Farmer put the skull back and all four boys returned home without mentioning their discovery to anybody.

On returning home, the youngest of the boys, Tommy Willetts, felt uneasy about what he had witnessed and decided to report the find to his parents. When police checked the trunk of the tree they found an almost complete human skeleton, a shoe, a gold wedding ring, and some fragments of clothing. After further investigation, a severed hand was found buried in the ground near the tree.

The body was sent for forensic examination by Prof. James Webster. He quickly established that the skeleton was female and had been dead for at least 18 months, placing time of death around October 1941. He found taffeta in her mouth, suggesting that she had died from asphyxiation. From the measurement of the trunk he also deduced that she must have been placed there “still warm” after the killing, as she could not have fit once rigor mortis had taken hold.

Since the woman’s murder was during the midst of World War II, identification was seriously hampered. Police could tell from items found with the body what the woman had looked like, but with so many people reported missing during the war, records were too vast for a proper identification to take place. The current location of her skeleton is unknown, as is the autopsy report.

Since then graffiti with the words  Who put Bella down the Wych Elm or Who put Bella down the Witch Elm has appeared since 1944. The last know graffiti was was last sprayed onto the side of a 200 year-old obelisk on 18 August 1999, in white paint. (Pictured above)

Is This the World’s First Underwater Ghost Photo?

This image, which was taken by a group of paranormal investigators known as “The Paranormal Divers”, is being touted as the world’s first ghost photo that was captured underwater. The photo was taken at 130 feet inside a flooded underground cavern-shaft and appears to show a diver’s face mask. There were no divers in the camera’s field of view when the picture was taken.

The investigators say the photographer took the image after the sounds of screaming where heard coming from somewhere below in the pitch black waters. Reportedly, the picture was taken at the exact site were a diver was said to have perished.

Since the image is so dark, and the supposed ‘ghost’ is barely visible, it’s hard to pass judgment on this image. What do you think? Does this image show a real spirit manifesting deep underwater? Or is there a more conventional explanation for this bizarre anomaly?

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Englishman Photographs the Ghost of a Pirate?

A British businessman by the name of John Dyer believes he may have captured photographic evidence of a pirate’s ghost. The image was captured while John was visiting his parents in Polperro, Cornwall. He visited some local caves during his trip, where he took numerous pictures. Upon his return home, John began to through all the photos he captured. That’s when he noticed something astonishing in one of the images.

Standing towards the back of the cave is what appears to be a ghostly figure wearing an eye-patch. John believe the figure could be the spirit of Willy Wilcox, a notorious pirate from the 18th century. It’s said that the rising tide trapped Wilcox in a cave where he was hiding. That cave became his tomb, and his spirit is said to now haunt the area.

“I was down there for a few days visiting my parents as they were down there for a week,” John said. “we’ve visited Polperro every year since I was was born in 1981 through to 2002. It was great to see the old sights again as wed not been down there for so long, and even more so seeing possibly the pirate ghost of Willy Wilcox, a story which as a child equally fascinated me as it did scare me.”

It certainly does look as though there is a figure at the back of the cave. However, my gut is telling me it’s not an actual spirit. To me, the ghost appears to be an optical illusion. What do you think? Did this man actually photograph the spirit of a notorious pirate? Or is this merely a case of pareidolia?

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Mr. Jingles is a creepy youtube video about a narrator accounting for a reoccurring dream he had during his boyhood. The whole video is unsettling. 

You can watch it here

Found sitting against a tree on a busy street in Singapore was a blindfolded doll, dressed in a dirty, lacy outfit. Written on the blindfold was the Arabic word “bismillah”, which when translated means, “in the name of Allah.”

Photos of the doll quickly surfaced on the Internet with stories claiming that the doll was possessed, and that whoever removed her blindfold would be cursed and followed home by the devil doll. Others said that the woman who owned the doll could hear her speaking from other rooms in the house or even moving her head. That same tale goes on to say that the woman blindfolded the doll after dropping her off on the side of the road to prevent her from being able to follow her back home.

Many believe that the doll is just the root of another Internet hoax, especially after a Los Angeles-based artist came forward claiming that she made the doll.

Hoax or not, the doll’s whereabouts became unknown after her photos were posted online.

Description from Angels&Ghosts:

Zack Clements, 17, collapsed last week while running during P.E. class at Victory Life Academy in Brownwood, Texas. He was rushed to the hospital where doctors worked to revive him.

Clements was without a heartbeat for 20 minutes, according to CBS Dallas/Fort Worth. He was eventually airlifted to Cook Children’s Hospital in Fort Worth where he would not wake up until several days later.

While his quick recovery has been hard to believe, the story he is telling is equally amazing.

“When I was out those 20 minutes, I saw a man who had long ruffled hair and kind of a thick beard, and it didn’t take me long to realize that that was Jesus,” Clements said.

His family is convinced it was a miracle.

“I went up to him and he put his hand on my shoulder and he told me everything would be alright and not to worry,” he said.

The boy’s father, Billy Clements, said he knows it’s a difficult story to believe, but it’s the only thing that makes sense.