Looking for Skeptics

[Max_mang]

I live about 20 minutes from the Rock and Roll Heaven record store.

 

[Dissolution]

I live about 20 minutes from the Rock and Roll Heaven record store.

I'm sure that a lot of people on here would appreciate it if you popped in and asked about the advert featured on that Youtube clip, MM.
Uploading a copy onto the site itself would be a superb way of showing Flaccon that she's mishearing at least one of the incidences of "spirit activity", though I'm not sure that she'd be convinced by it.

Cheers in advance if you choose to pursue this.

 

[Max_mang]

I'm sure that a lot of people on here would appreciate it if you popped in and asked about the advert featured on that Youtube clip, MM.
Uploading a copy onto the site itself would be a superb way of showing Flaccon that she's mishearing at least one of the incidences of "spirit activity", though I'm not sure that she'd be convinced by it.

Cheers in advance if you choose to pursue this.

It seems like several people here have already heard/seen the advert. Isn't it posted somewhere already?

 

[Pixel42]

It seems like several people here have already heard/seen the advert. Isn't it posted somewhere already?

It's playing in the background of the video clip flaccon posted but so quietly it's hard to make out the exact words, hence the dispute about what those words are.

Have you ever heard the advert on the radio yourself? If so, can you give us a rough transcript?

 

[Max_mang]

It's playing in the background of the video clip flaccon posted but so quietly it's hard to make out the exact words, hence the dispute about what those words are.

Have you ever heard the advert on the radio yourself? If so, can you give us a rough transcript?

Can't say that I've heard it. Is it definitely a radio ad? I can't recall how it came into being in this thread and how Flaccon said she heard it. I thought it was posted on youtube or something similar.

 

[Pixel42]

Can't say that I've heard it. Is it definitely a radio ad? I can't recall how it came into being in this thread and how Flaccon said she heard it. I thought it was posted on youtube or something similar.

Here's the youtube clip which flaccon found:



You need to turn the volume right up. You can hear the ad playing on the radio in the background right at the beginning of the clip.

 

[Max_mang]

For some reason the youtube link in your post won't open on my side. Can you post the url itself?
Also, at the risk of sounding daft, what would having a copy of the original ad do to help if this video (where the ad is playing barely audible in the background ) is the one Flaccon said spirits are talking to her?

 

[Biscuit]

For some reason the youtube link in your post won't open on my side. Can you post the url itself?
Also, at the risk of sounding daft, what would having a copy of the original ad do to help if this video (where the ad is playing barely audible in the background ) is the one Flaccon said spirits are talking to her?

She thinks the spirits in her "calibrated" computer altered the original youtube video and added a message to her. The message is actually an ad on the radio that is in the original recording. Where the ad says, "Casey" she hears, "Tracy" and as that is her name she thinks its a message from the spirits. An original version of this audio would seal the case against her spirit claim in this particular instance.

 

[Pixel42]

For some reason the youtube link in your post won't open on my side. Can you post the url itself?

It won't open for me either, even though it opens in the post I copied it from.

Scroll up to that post (post #6244) and see if you can play it there.

Also, at the risk of sounding daft, what would having a copy of the original ad do to help if this video (where the ad is playing barely audible in the background ) is the one Flaccon said spirits are talking to her?

Flaccon is convinced that the spirits change the youtube clips when she plays them, and that this one in particular has had a spirit voice added which threatens her personally. If we can listen to a copy of the ad that she hasn't yet listened to and confirm that (a) it's exactly like the one in the clip and (b) it's saying "that's right Casey, Rock'n'Roll Heaven, where you don't have to die to get there, baby" that will prove (a) that the spirits didn't change the original youtube clip and (b) that the voice isn't addressing her.

 

[Max_mang]

Got it. I remember watching the video now, I must have blocked it out as another ridiculous red herring in the thread. I'll see if there's any way to retrieve the ad.

 

[Elizabeth I]

I'm sure that a lot of people on here would appreciate it if you popped in and asked about the advert featured on that Youtube clip, MM.
Uploading a copy onto the site itself would be a superb way of showing Flaccon that she's mishearing at least one of the incidences of "spirit activity", though I'm not sure that she'd be convinced by it.

Cheers in advance if you choose to pursue this.

I'd like to know how old the clip is, since it sounds like Wolfman Jack talking to "Casey." He died in 1995, so either (a) it's a pretty old recording; (b) the Wolfman has been resurrected (woo-hoo!); or (c) somebody's doing a not-bad impression of him.

 

[Donn]

Or, you know, (d) the Wolfman is a spirit talking to Tracy from the great Awooooooooo.

 

[pakeha]

What a splendid offer, Max mang. It should be interesting to see what you come up.
Alice Shortcake? Are you still operative?

It's Friday evening and perhaps flaccon will be able to tell us what happened with the Press?

 

[Scordatura]

Before Friday evening, I'd really like to try and re rail this thread. If we could just hold back on the guess work and the medical assumptions (and sarcasm) whilst I attempt this, I'd sincerely appreciate it. I'm going to write short paragraphs and start at the beginning, detailing only my moves to how I have ended up here, and of course, the press. They are aware of this thread, I'll not allow it to go unnoticed. There is a lot to be learned by it either way.

The "moves" so far...

This haunting began positive despite scary, and it only turned nasty when I was lacerated a few months back. I'd had 7 months of warnings before that attack, and not a helping hand in sight. Hence the press.

1. Oct 2012. A bunch of spirits attached themselves. I was assurred of "Best intentions" and co operated. I fled to a Bishop of their request. During this journey (at a friend's house) I was subjected to a long intake of breath. Within hours, blood had leaked from a scar and I threw the blouse in the bin. I was told to retrieve it. Actual words; "They'll be suspicious of voices" & "We've exerted proof" They claim it isn't my blood.*

A witness has signed a statement to the above accounts, and awaits to be interviewed. Whilst it can't be anything but my blood, it deserves an investigation.*

Whilst I don't find this paragraph confusing, some may do. Apologies in advance.

2. I was not able to contact that Bishop and so travelled home and wrote him a brief letter. He kindly replied and informed me to contact the diocese of Chester. I contacted a local priest first, who suggested I should contact the Bishop myself.*

Jan/Feb 014. I contacted the local Bishop (via email) who suggested I seek medical attention. So I contacted the GP and explained that I'd stumbled on a pile of "voices" whilst trying to record the heavy creaks that were running down my walls (one voice being my late Father's voice) He asked if the evidence of this was portable, and offered to hear out what I'd been hearing. We made a second appointment where I took my PC into his surgery.

...

...I'm just trying to straighten a lot of confused minds with what has actually happened. If these moves are understood, then you can make of it what you wish.

Mmmmm, okay.... I'll donate $5 towards that journalism class for flaccon.

 

[turingtest]

Jan/Feb 014. I contacted the local Bishop (via email) who suggested I seek medical attention. So I contacted the GP and explained that I'd stumbled on a pile of "voices" whilst trying to record the heavy creaks that were running down my walls (one voice being my late Father's voice) He asked if the evidence of this was portable, and offered to hear out what I'd been hearing. We made a second appointment where I took my PC into his surgery.

What I'm getting from that highlighted part is that flaccon was hearing the walls in her house creaking, and decided she needed to record the creaks for...what purpose, exactly? Was she going to take the recording to a building contractor so he could diagnose from it how the walls might need to be repaired? Surely this isn't any more common a procedure in England than it is in the U.S.?

I haven't read this whole thread (yet- working on it), but...has anyone asked flaccon how her hearing is? I have a younger sister who has been around 75% (if not worse) deaf for many years, and who used to regularly hear (and have loud conversations with) voices nobody else could hear. She was definitively diagnosed, finally, as a paranoid/schizophrenic; but I've always wondered if at least part of her problem wasn't actually just in her imagination, but also the fact that being so hard of hearing makes it easy to transform what you can barely hear, but is actually there (a voice on the radio in the next room, people talking outside), into a voice you can understand- sort of an aural pareidolia-by-necessity. In the last couple of years, I've found myself losing my hearing (it seems to run in my family), and have had the experience of thinking (for example) that my wife is saying something to me when she's said nothing at all (or so she claims- hrumph hrumph).

Anyway, my two cents...

 

[trustbutverify]

Flaccon asserts the "evidence" for her late father's active spirit is that he changes digital audio, without actually changing the digital information. Further, once a file is altered, all copies of that file are also identically changed, including the original. Therefore, there remains no possible means of even comparing the altered version to the unchanged version, outside of an individuals subjective, short term, memory. Hard to believe an adult would have the gall to even suggest such a ridiculous, untestable claim.

 

[Alice Shortcake]

Here goes!

flaccon’s claims: a timeline

2013
1st June – flacon starts the thread and asks for the opinions of ‘good-mannered sceptics’ on evidence of the supernatural she’s gathered since last October. She’s seeking help but the ‘church hood’ won’t oblige, and is also working on her own website, Spirits in the Blood.

If you had external quality speakers, I'd love to post you a demo of how the spirit world sounds... I've done 20 years of the supernatural, most of it "running away" But this new haunting is so unlike the others. Its very positive. I was contacted, healed and given art work in miniature-form, not re-creatable by any human hand... The spirits used blood. 4 - way rotations within 5 milimeters. Produced sketch-like images and photograph-like images within a millimetre. Then they claim "We did them drawings"

Flaccon tells us that she has been in touch with her bishop in Chester, who recommended that she consult her doctor. She is asked if she’s heard of pareidolia. She hasn’t, but says she will Google it.

More from flaccon about the voices:

Their speech is entangled, some sound like they have sore throats, and some are clear. My father has been heard with his "own" voice plenty of times... They can speak, heal, draw, explain certain things, differentiate colours, join in conversation... I think there's around 3000 recordings (short 12/15 secs) Most are personal requests for a Bishop. They request people I've never heard of.

She tell us that she has had to protect her children and has moved house several times to escape the attentions of supernatural entities (these aren’t the spirits who are trying to communicate with her).

2nd June – flaccon mentions ASKE, and Pixel42 suggests a test protocol involving cards. flaccon’s response:

I doubt I'll be testing the spirits with magic acts, I'd just like the UK BASED "ASKE" organisation to come up with a plausible answer. I'll swallow anything plausible... I did read up regarding the psychological phenomena, and I would definitely agree to this explanation, if it wasn't for the recognition of certain family members within the images. If the EVP sounds exactly like my Father's voice, I have to dismiss the medical aspect side to this.

She will continue to reject pareidolia as an explanation because the images in tiny blood stains and the recorded voices are familiar.

3rd June – flaccon tells us what type of equipment she uses to record the spirit voices:

Equipment being manipulated is a Samsung laptop. A set of external Bose C2 speakers, good but requires more volume. They say there are certain electric wires/cables that enables them to channel into. They say they do not require a laptop, just certain wires/cables from the laptop. This isn't the only laptop they have channelled into, they channelled into a previous laptop.

Stray Cat asks: “If you can get this information from the voices you hear, would it be possible to ask them for more detail? It doesn't matter if you understand the level of detail, just so long as you can pass that information to someone who does understand it.”

Flaccon replies:

...trouble is, if I don't know what the word means in the first place, I can't make out that particular word. Their voices overlap, but each tone is different. At first I assumed the background noises were just twittering sounds from the internal fan. I went Curry's to upgrade to a better quality speaker, the gent informed me that "twittering noises" from recordings shouldn't happen (just the hissing) When I re-heard the recordings through Bose, the twittering was louder, turned out to be a pile of entangled speech.

We also learn that the voices of living people turn up on the recordings.

More about flaccon’s problems with the supernatural:

I raised 3 children, 1 of whom was targeted by dark forces. I left my partner due to actual evil possession, possessed twice within 2 years.

4th June – flaccon is asked what the spirits think of being investigated by sceptics:

They say "We don't belong in a circus" (that was raw EVP, electronic rather than with tone) One suggested I make flash cards for sceptics. Yes they really do express hurt, thanks for asking.

Alderbank, who lives not far away from flaccon, offers to visit her and help with a test protocol. Flaccon replies:

This is what I've waited for, for 7 months. It's only the spirits that wanted the more private route. Understandable. The spirits are not in the least shy, more desperate to communicate and start business from what I glean... I got these "voices" on playback 2 year ago, as I was trying to record heavy creaks running down the walls. I didn't record for over 2 years after that shock, but I do need to try to gather evidence to what I am up against.

This time, I listened to these voices and it was the spirit of my Father. After we spoke for 4 days, I was told to catch my breath, I was made to breathe in for 3 to 4 minutes (witnessed - followed up by dried lips/loose skin in mouth and throat, Anti-biotics for 2 weeks) After that incident, blood was released, a fantastic healing took place. The spirit with the deepest voice, explains their reason for wanting Church assistance.

5th June – flaccon tells us more about what she can hear on the recordings:

I'd like to be able to decipher the entanglement in the background, it sounds a busy place. Its like talking to my Father, and him replying back, using the same words we use. There are occasions when he speaks without sounding like he has laryngitis. One thing I find more strange (believe it or not) my Father never swore in the 42 years I knew him. He swears in the spirit-world. It's just unheard of, him swearing. I never heard him even say "flipping heck" nothing, and he raised 7 children... There is little point in me explaining in bits, of their information. To arrive at some real understanding, one has to be firmly convinced that a spirit exists, and only through solid evidence, can one begin to understand the rest... The problem with this is, they cannot see the future. It's likely that they do not use search engines. They hear bits & pieces, and lipread the rest. The can't read our thoughts either, I tested that one.

Several regular posters raised concerns about the content of flaccon’s website, which amongst other things offered prospective customers guaranteed contact with the dead and referred to demons, chemtrails, David Icke and The Da Vinci Code. From it we learn that some members of flaccon’s family are convinced by the voices and pictures but some aren’t:

Flaccon's sister Carolanne to flaccon: "How can I can help you when I don't believe you?"

Flaccon's sister Sherry to flaccon's daughter: "Your Mother has completely lost it, the voices were set-up along with the art work. Once she's handed over the Ashes, I want nothing more to do with her".

6th June – flaccon provides sound files of some of her recordings. No-one can hear the words she hears but flaccon is still convinced:

It isn't "imagination" at work, I have completely tested for that myself. I have demonstrated to private group of 4 people. a GP with a witness present (Mr Cederberg) A Priest with a witness present (Mr Roberts) and 8 further individuals. All but one confirm most definitely, a spirit-world. All 3 family member's confirm our Father's voice. The person that would not confirm, accused me of staging the voices.

She goes into more detail about her experiences with the supernatural (my bolding):

The children we're targeted, subtly but seriously.

After a house move, it became fascinating for 6 years. No one was targeted.(it was a different type of haunting) I would liken the noises to taking a TV up in to the attic and tossing it into the air. The landing TV would produce a loud thud with a sharp crack, or creak. Eliminate the thud sound. If I tossed several TV's from one end to the other, that would be the exact sound, eliminating the thuds.

During these 6 years, we underwent terrible physical problems, and unexplained altered mental states. I did not think at all, that our personal problems, were a direct involvement from the loud spirit. I got the physical attacks, my partner got the mental attacks (twice) and my eldest daughter had her senses interfered with, ie; Sounds greatly amplified, unexplained brightness, and loss of seeing with 3D (ths also happened twice) It was only when a spiritual "protection" came, a loud and disturbing battle took place (Loud ethereal noises) That night, the cracking and creaking were replaced by a more gentle "pottering" sound. It was this "protection, that took me through a series of weird visions, to have me see the answers to our personal and unexplainable suffering.

This was presumably the great revelation from the spirit world that flaccon never got around to disclosing.

She also shared some technical details about the recordings:

Due to the spirits always claiming that the electric cables/wires are more important than the computer itself, I got to wondering (as one does) I tested how they were actually getting through. Instead of asking a question, pressing record, and playback, I pressed record, then stop. Then I asked for a phrase to be repeated, and then pressed playback. It is successful every time. They are not being recorded as such.

Other posters listen to the recordings but are unable to hear what flaccon hears. She isn’t deterred:

Yet they haven't failed a single demonstration to prove their presence yet.

7th June – flaccon returns to the subject of why the spirits are unhappy with some aspects of testing:

There are over 1000 spirits, they do get stirred up and it becomes extremely difficult to hear anything, other than odd words and noise. Its like this.. they healed me, inform me of greatest mysteries, guide, encourage, and I'm to sit here with bits of coloured card, because that's how "we" do it these days. Do you see how ridiculous this sounds to them?

She continues to reject pareidolia:

My point regarding Paredolia is this, it does not account for what appears to be a super-imposed photo-like image of my eyes, and my brother's eyes. It does not account for the image of my late sister. It does not account for the magnitude of images, so refined that one can count the teeth in the mouth's of some of the images. It does not account for voice-recognition of 2 of the spirits.

8th June – there is some discussion of Alderbank’s projected visit. flaccon says:

It's likely Alderbank won't hear just singular words, they speak with full sentence, each with different pitch/tone/speed.

Unfortunately, the spirits haven’t changed their attitude to proper scientific testing. They also seem to be rather more than common or garden ghosts:

It appears to me that they do not wish to be approached by a lesser intelligent form such as man, and must perform magician-like acts to be taken serious. Such primitive testing is not necessary to prove their existence.

Biscuit drew our attention to some startling information on flaccon’s website – Reg, the spirit of flaccon’s father, revealed that cats cause cancer:

"We need to burn their orifice" Reg had said. Meaning Extinction of the Cat. As much as I adore my cats, and will continue to do so, I do believe that by returning the Cat species back into the wild, would benefit Mankind immensely, by decreasing the fight against cancer, amongst other unnecessary cat-related diseases.

flaccon tells us that a mysterious procedure called ‘calibration’ is involved in the voice-recording process. We never discover exactly what this is.

When asked how the spirits see and hear she replies:

The spirits can see yes (confirmed)
The spirits cannot hear properly. They hear bits and pieces and lipread the rest.
The spirits can read.
The spirits answer questions yes.

Alderbank posted:

There is now have an agreed outline of a protocol using playing cards in envelopes. I would appreciate it if someone could write it up in detail (who brings the cards, how any timing works, who opens the envelopes and when, what constitutes failure and success, etc.). flaccon should agree to the procedure of course, ideally after a few dry runs to assure herself that the spirits are co-operating, and must promise not to change anything once the procedure is agreed.

9th June – flaccon makes a suggestion about the forthcoming meeting:

With Alderbank present, I will ask the spirit if he has any suggestions. I am sure by the time the spirit has mulled a few ideas over with us, it will be pretty evident that the spirit is present, without further tests. Its not a white noise, or an odd sound. It's a full on voice in full sentence... I do believe that if Alderbank is on time, it will take him 10 minutes to realise the presence of spiritual voices, and after a few good tests, it is likely he will come back to this thread with some great posts.

Several protocols for a test involving cards were suggested, then flaccon dropped this bombshell:

Its evident that the card test is out, I tried it tonight. The only ability I've seen so far is, communication, conversation, art work, healing... I tested to see if they had psychic ability, and they do not.

This just left the recorded spirit voices. flaccon made the following comments about how hearers could make out the words:

The participant/s only needs to familiarise her/himself to know how different spirit voices sound. I think by the time the participant has familiarised her/himself, they will know what to expect... The difficult ones are decipherable by others also, after a little training up to it. There are plenty that are easily heard by others... once its realised, what they are saying, all fits into place.

11th June – the meeting between Alderbank and flaccon finally took place (Alderbank’s nephew was also present). Alderbank wrote (my bolding):

She played several files, carefully explaining what she hears on each one. On one file I heard what she explained is her father saying Evidence although to my ears it sounded like Embleton or Wimbledon.

I tried hard but I could not recognise any speech on any other tracks. flaccon accepted this without argument. She said she needs to listen over and over until she deciphers what the words are.

I thought the tracks all sounded similar. There was no white noise. The sound was like a ring modulator or band pass filter modulated at about 1.6 Hz. As the BPF swept through human voice formant frequencies there were brief snatches of what could be taken for vowels. I can produce similar sounds on a synth at home.

I have no idea how flacon creates these however. She has a mid-range Samsung 15.4" laptop with a pair of Bose companion 2 computer speakers. She says she makes recordings with the laptop's built-in microphone and integrated soundcard.

At my request flaccon copied several files onto a clean pen-drive I had brought. They sound the same on my equipment at home as they did on flaccon's computer and quite different from the files posted by Stray Cat. I asked permission to post these files but flaccon asked me not to do so.

flaccon hears sentences and recognises the speech cadences of her deceased father, her brother who is still living and others. My nephew who is interested in these phenomena went along with me. Neither of us could make out any words or sentences.

I asked if the spirits had left any messages for me or about me. They had not.

flaccon said the spirits want to be recognised so that they can tell their message to the world. I asked why then will they not take part in any demonstration that they exist? All flaccon could do was refer me to messages like We don't want card games...

He added:

I asked to hear the clearest samples she had. She said your ears have to become attuned to the voices. I asked for the clearest speech suitable for a beginner listener. Neither I nor my nephew could make out any consonants, words or sentences.

Speaking to Alderbank, Flaccon refers to another odd phenomenon she had mentioned earlier – the spirits seem to be able to see into the future:

There is also something we could try regarding pre recorded messages that alter. I have your name, distant but clear on a recording dating back to Nov 2012. I am continuing to have your name repeated in many older recordings.

12th June – flaccon gave Alderbank permission to share some of the sound files she gave him during his visit. He renamed them as she had named them after the words and phrases she recognised. All anyone could hear were compression artifacts and sounds picked up from the internal microphone.

13th June – flaccon was still convinced that the voices were real:

There is much gobbeldy gook (entanglement) yes, but they are able to break from the entanglement and be heard over the entanglement. Whether that be with high-pitched, deep, sluggish, watery, distorted or clear. Once one is attuned to this, it gets easier to recognise. The high-pitched and the clear tones are easier to identify as words/voices.

Adding their vocal ability to electricity, I would expect a lot of distortion. It isn't just a bunch of spirits that can be heard, its a bunch of spirits in the spirit world (Sometimes there are other unidentifiable noises)

Flaccon explains that the spirits can jump from computer to computer:

If I purchase a new system, the recordings will be silent. I can save these silent recordings and wait until the spirits are through to the new system, and fill up the silence.

Her “special fingers” may be involved in this process, but we never find out exactly what she means by this.

16th June – 25 regular posters listen to flaccon’s sound files. None of them hear what she hears.

19th June – flaccon took down her website.

27th June – flaccon’s friend Mr Roberts makes his first post under the name ‘scrappy’:

I am Mr Roberts its taken me over 3 weeks to join this site ,Tracy has not bin able to get connection to the internet.She was asked by the board to find out what the spirits were capable off.i sent her a silent recording vie email,and as she played it through her machine it altered my machine.i now have a lap top rigged with just the one voice ,yesterday Mr Bulger purchased a lap top and Tracy reapeated the procedure for a second time,with success.tracy is changing her broadband and she will be back ,she has a doctors appointment tommorowto update him of these new findings.thank you for listenint,Mr Roberts

He continues to post on the forum whilst flaccon is having internet connection problems.

28th June – tuxcat makes the following suggestion:

Any complaints that files change during transfer can be proven to happen or not happen by generating an MD5 hash checksum. Any changes to the file at all will generate in the hash being radically different between the two computers.

6th July – flaccon returns, full of indignation that she only had 90 minutes prior notice of Alderbank’s arrival on 11th June. She seems to have forgotten that the visit was discussed for days beforehand.

She also sends jsfisher a scan of a letter written by her GP – later posted in the thread - in which several sentences have been obscured. Nowhere in the visible text is it suggested that the GP himself heard the recorded voices or saw the same images in the bloodstains.

9th July – for the fourth time tuxcat asks flaccon to fill out the following form:

My claim is:

I can test my claim by doing this:

I can rule out paredolia by doing this:

I can rule out hallucinations by doing this:

I know I will have been successful because:

Flaccon’s reply:

My claim is: Seriously. I am here to figure out a proper claim. My only original claim was that I have contact with the spirit world, and I speak with my deceased Father, as well as others, including those who are still living. (or words to that effect)

The spirits claim I have mystic ability (special fingers, a gift from God) I cannot that claim such unusual claim, without knowing fully what it means. I can claim that files have been altered, as so have other machines by my playing their silence through this machine.
I can test my claim by doing this: Having a thorough investigation. I'm really not here to collect prizes or create pathetic woo moments. I can test my claim by finding members who are willing to trust a little, and co operate in the correct manner. A protocol should be discussed on the lines of 2 members here, each sending each other a silent file (WMV - Volume normal) Each member listen and report any background noises before sending me these files. I will play them through this machine and we check for differences. The files should remain as silent as Alderbanks did after his personal upload.

I can rule out paredolia by doing this: Gathering witnesses to the voices belonging to my Father and my sister, and voices of the living, my sister, myself and Mr Bulger's. However, I am informed that nothing rules out paredolia.

I can rule out hallucinations by doing this: Audio or visual? I don't and have never mentioned visual hallucinations, so I assume you mean audio. I can rule this out by searching out the witnesses in the Police dept, who heard a man chant at the top of his voice for 72 hours before breaking free of his cell. I can rule out hallucinations because I have enough evidence, documented and collected over the past 20 years.

I know I will have been successful because: I know it's not paredolia, nor am I deluded, by anything.

10th July – another round of experiments is suggested using tuxcat’s MD5 hash/checksum idea. Pixel42 outlines what a checksum is:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Checksum

It's usually used to check that a file hasn't been corrupted during transmission, i.e. to check that a file on computer A which is copied to computer B isn't damaged in the process. If the checksum generated for the copy is the same as the checksum generated for the original file then the file has been copied correctly; if it's different then the file has changed.

That makes it ideal for our purposes, as it means we don't need to rely on subjective judgement: if the checksum changes then the file has changed, no matter how many people say they can't hear the difference you say you hear; if the checksum doesn't change then the file hasn't changed, no matter how many people think they can hear a difference.

So the person who produces the file needs to generate the checksum before they send you a copy and make a note of it. You need to generate a checksum when you receive the file to check it is still identical. Then after you play the file and think you hear something new, you need to generate a checksum again to see if the file has really changed, and the person who created the file needs to generate a checksum for the original again to see if that has changed to match.

The checksum of the file in question remained unchanged, yet both flaccon and scrappy are convinced that they heard things that were not on the ‘original’ file.

11th July – Calebprime demonstrates how distortions generated by flaccon’s software could be mistaken for human voices and chirping birds. She never addresses this.

18th July – flaccon is asked to send a recording of a spirit distinctly saying “We want to end trouble” to Alderbank so he can upload it. Her reply:

There is no point in any uploads. I was informed they lose quality/sound/distort etc.

It was pointed out to her that no-one said anything of the kind, and that a copy of a digital file is identical to the original unless it has been manipulated. flaccon’s reply:

I sent a file to a friend and listened via land line, they do distort.

The distortion is of course due to the fact that any extraneous noises are from the landline itself.

31st July – flaccon returns after a brief absence:

Mobile phone; I stopped using a mobile phone back in 2000 due to being contacted by lord knows who. I started using a mobile phone again in 2010 when my youngest daughter was pregnant. They seriously are manipulating my mobile phone again, but this time I know its nothing to fear.

1st August – flaccon writes:

Alderbank admitted to me that voices are scary, and declined listening to the more serious (evil) threats that were recorded a couple of years ago.

Alderbank made no mention of this incident.

8th August – Alderbank writes about a second meeting with flaccon at which he also met scrappy:

flaccon does hear unmistakable full sentences. She is genuinely surprised (and a bit suspicious) that I don't. She has never acknowledged that others on this thread did not hear what she hears. She believes that as phonemes then words and phrases appear behind the cacophony that the recording is metaphysically changed, it becomes a different recording... flaccon also has some kind of cloth or garment which (to my eyes) is randomly stained but which she claims is an image of one of her relatives stained in blood. The blood is the blood of the historical Jesus. He put it there. She is seeking for the authorities to have this stain tested to prove its authenticity. This proof will enable her to get the spirits' message to the world.

16th August – Scordatura drew our attention to flaccon’s YouTube page:

She's been commenting on other people's videos about eerie sounds and UFO's. They note a particular time in the video - I think maybe where she "hears" voices, and sometimes she adds what they're saying. On a few she wrote "tp" - I don't know if that means she heard her name, and on one she wrote "Angels are behind this." On a video about some sort of trumpeting heard somewhere she wrote "We're almost at completion."

There are over 30 videos with these comments, all in the past 2 days.

25th August – scrappy returns with more news about the YouTube vids:

Hi, is anybody here listening to those youtube videos? The videos are altering as she plays them. We did an evening together where I would listen into a recording first, and then flacon would play it through. Every video altered. They are shouting her name, her fathers name, her families names. They are leaving messages all over!

24th September – flaccon is back:

My home isn't safe so I'm on the move. The evil has caught up. As I was trawling youtube (by request) I got the answer as to why my skin ripped open independently a few weeks back. Please check over just a couple of clips "Damaged clouds: Are they real or fake" by "Skywitness" The background radio isn't what it seems, it's not a real advert, it is a mock at my lame idea to have a certain piece of artwork (image of Mother) transferred onto a tee shirt or the likes. At 22 seconds "Welcome home honey, if this mission continues, the Langton's will --?-- their plan" (Can't get the missing word) Then the guy or whoever he is, knocks on my patio window and shouts out at 28 seconds "Thats right Tracey, God can be offended, please come out and die. God damn baby (evil laugh)" I take this very seriously considering I saw what he did to my child and partner (including myself)
The second clip (HAARP hologram in the sky. Weird looking cloud.. by Tudor520055) is about something I've avoided mentioning here, due to knowing what happens to kids. This clip is of 2 innocents chatting together. They swear, speak of the devil, bishops, demons. They use the word patronise, secret, and so on. From the mouth of babes but not from this world "We never listened now the devils unhappy... The bishops - -? I swore the bstrds will never catch us... (@11 secs "All the bishops..") A child roars "Fk off we're not daredevils... Patronise your secret (giggles) At the end (for those with low vol speakers) at 23 seconds "We play with the demons" A spirits instinct amongst the things I've already mentioned, is to save kids/babies/themselves. I have personally saved around 50 clips where names are being called out, and where my Father speaks in his own voice saying his name "Reg Fumpson"

This turned out to be Casey Kasem’s jokey radio ad for Rock and Roll Heaven, a vintage record store in Florida. Other YouTube videos with demonic messages/spirit voices in the background mentioned by flaccon were equally mundane.

Even more disturbingly:

My granddaughter is now going through what my own daughter went through as a child. I am not the one who needs the help now. Whatever attacked me and knocks on my patio window I am safe from.

16th November – scrappy reports a new development:

The spirits stepped up another gear last week, wrecked her diamond rings. Yet another claim made by the spirits, but this one cant be explained away as paredolia... I've not seen the rings yet , but seeing them wouldn't tell me much anyway. She said one of them was smashed up inside, and the other is cracked. It was after she'd posted her claim "communicating with spirits" The spirits told her to claim special fingers and break a diamond at the contest. Then they told her to check her diamonds, and they are wrecked.

23rd November – more sound files are uploaded and the regular posters have wildly different interpretations of what the spirits are supposed to be saying.

7th December – Scordatura found a post flaccon made on the David Icke forum in September:

What they tell me is pretty much what David Icke explains. They don't use the word "reptillian" however, their exact wording was "They're not even demons, they're sea creatures" What we refer to as demons, are actually sea creatures from their dimension, the dimension we enter into after death. Our role is to battle and protect the living, (amongst further important issues)

2014
10th February – flaccon returns:

It's out of my hands now anyway (but the truth isn't) Chief reporter and a professional P.I team are dealing with it. The findings will be in the news papers before long. Please deal with the truth when the penny drops, and best of luck with it, sincerely.

Update. Chief reporter is attending here this Friday evening, as the P.I team conduct a thorough investigation. After interviews and evidence, both sides understand that a full investigation is necessary. Apart from a few more miracles that is pointless mentioning, thats about it blue.

11th February – despite earlier claims that the spirits couldn’t predict future events, flaccon provides three “date-stamped” examples of the spirits...predicting future events.

Example;
Message date-stamped 30th Sept (Rob's PC)
"If you listen, - - - - - - will soon get pregnant"
Message date-stamped 12th Oct (New PC) "Tracey, - - - - - 's pregnant"
Actual announcement of pregnancy - 22nd Oct.

Example.
Message date-stamped 16th Jan -
"A bolt of lightening striking.. a brazillian statue"

Example. Message date-stamped August 2013
"They're gassing the people"

None of the alleged prophecies were made public before the events they supposedly foretell.

12th February – Tony Youens of ASKE posts on the thread:

Maybe I can clear up a few points although this thread seems all over the place.

I'm one of the founding members of ASKE (Association for Skeptical Enquiry). We are a small organisation in the UK that is affiliated to ECSO and therefore we conduct preliminary tests for the Sisyphus Prize. I wouldn't describe us as "paranormal investigators". In the distant past I have worked with Randi himself and once designed a preliminary test for a $1 million claimant. You can probably guess the outcome.

We have been approached regarding this challenge a while back and I conducted an informal test which proved negative. Personally I have found the claim itself to be confusing and so another member is going to see what I suppose is a live demonstration. Once we are clear about what is being claimed and that results can be objectively measured we will look to conduct a more controlled test as a preliminary to the Sisyphus Challenge.

I believe the claimant has been in touch with a reporter but to what degree they are involved I have no idea. I didn't know, until today, that this was being discussed on this forum.

14th February – unfortunately the meeting between flaccon and the psychic investigors/press had to be cancelled due to bad weather.

16th February – flaccon meets with the ASKE representatives but doesn’t provide any details of what took place.

18th February – flaccon posts several examples of the spirits’ bloodstain art. Regular posters see different images or no images at all.


I hope that helps!

 

[Stray Cat]

Here goes!...

Great work... From now on, for your patience you shall be known as St. Alice.

 

[Loss Leader]

Here goes!

Excellent work, Alice. Thank you very much. It's the saddest thing I've read in a long time.

 

[John Jones]

Here goes!

[...]
I hope that helps!

It does. Thanks for the effort.

This is like following another "Immortality & Bayesian Statistics" thread: http://www.internationalskeptics.com/forums/showthread.php?goto=newpost&t=248163

It goes on endlessly, and nothing really changes. I wonder if there is there some way we can receive PMs if the discussion ever moves ahead.