"We accept the fact that there may be other worlds out in space,
but might there not be other worlds here?
Other worlds, in other dimensions, coexisting with this one?
 If there are other worlds parallel to ours, are all the doors closed?
Or does one, here or there, stand ajar?”

  Louis L'Amour, The Haunted Mesa 

In theory, spirit entities are energy  are energy and can be detected by electronics devices such as an Electronic Voice Phenomena recorder  recorder , for one example. Proponents of this theory consider EVP to be a form of  paranormal manifestation, often found in broadcast transmissions received by television and radio sets. In theory, "apparitions" are veiled within the static and/or other background noise emanating from the reception of the signals. Others have expounded on this idea with the theory that certain electronic devices could be inadvertent portals through which energy beings could pass to and from another dimension into the one we inhabit and/or through which spirits of the dead could call out from beyond the veil. At first glance this may seem like an eccentric idea, but there has been precedence for these ideas from such eminent scientists as Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla.

In October of 1920, Edison announced that he was working on a new machine that would allow people to talk to the dead. In 1933 an article in Modern Mechanix magazine reported on a secret demonstration in his darkened laboratory with several scientists present. According to the article, the team of scientists spent hours closely watching Edison’s demonstration for any sign of contact from beyond. But in this instance none came. Edison died in October of 1931, having never completed his spirit phone.

As was too often the case, this was another of Edison's "brillant ideas" that he appropriated from  Nikola Tesla. In 1899, while working in his Colorado Springs laboratory, Tesla began hearing strange rhythmic sounds on his radio receiver. There were multiple incidents in which Telsa had intercepted what he thought were intelligent signals from space. He believed that the simplest form of communication (such as the interchange of numbers) could represent a form of intelligible transmission from extraterrestrials. The scientific community rejected this idea, as cosmic radio signals were not even known to exist at the time. The confirmation of the existence of cosmic radiation proved Tesla was actually hearing “something” and this gave birth to the field of radio astronomy,  which is now used to detect signals from distant stars and other mysterious celestial sources. 



In the early days of analog television signals a popular form of ghost hunting was to tune the television set to a vacant channel and monitor the static display for any audio or visual apparitions that might indicate some sort of pan-dimensional contact through these  "haunted TVs". It was later discovered that this “static” was in fact primarily the electromagnetic  Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation left over from the early stage of the universe in Big Bang cosmology. This discovery should have satisfactorily explained and put an end to the discussion of television ghosts, but the unexpected has happened.

The switch from analog to digital television television broadcasting signals has resulted in  the reception of a higher-quality picture and more reliable digital signal than the old analog signal produced and with the additional effect that the change in signal no longer allows the leftover CMB radiation from the Big Bang to appear in the static on the television screen. However, although the static has gone the phenomena has not gone away. If anything, the proliferation of computers, handheld devices such as ipods or iphones, as well as television and radio sets has led to an exponential increase in this particular paranormal manifestation, which has  seemed to become “intelligently” directed and some believe intentionally manipulative and malevolently intended.

So, what are we talking about here? This is a difficult question to answer. The technical innovations and apparatuses involved in this discussion have only been around since the beginning of the 20th Century, which in terms of the human experience is yesterday afternoon. This is not much time to gather sufficient evidence from which to draw any definative conclusions. The main problem is that, unlike most of the subjects covered on this website, we do not have a history of facts and figures gathered over hundreds and even thousands of years from which to draw valid conclusions.

The public awareness of “ghosts in the machine” only came about in the middle of the 20th Century and then mostly as amusing anecdotes and comical representations of the stories told. Grandpa came home from World War II recounting his encounter with  the gremlins  afflicting his  B-17 on bombing raids over Germany and Hollywood responded by enlisting Bugs Bunny to play its gremlin exorcist.

Falling Hare (1943)

Following the end of World War II the legend of the gremlin began to fade, with only occasional references to them. In 1963 The gremlins made a dramatic return to the public consciousness in the classic “Twilight Zone” episode  "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet", in which airline passenger William Shatner) sees a “gremlin” trying to take apart the wing of the airplane he is riding in. This gremlin was not the cute little imp that Bugs took on, but a monster more akin to the ones Shatner’s Captain Kirk would later encounter.

Although the subject of gremlins and TV hauntings were not major interests to the general public at the time, these phenomena had not gone unnoticed by the paranormal community. Speculation had begun that perhaps these were modern manifestations of poltergeists, the mischievous and sometimes malevolent spirits or energies beings from old German folklore. Reports of poltergeist disturbances cite throwing objects like cups and plates, loud noises, strange lights, and other apparitions. Modern examples include “technical” antics such as light bulbs exploding in their sockets and telephones repeatedly ringing or dialing random numbers. More disturbingly, disembodied physical and sexual assaults have occurred, unusually with the victims being young girls during puberty. 

 With the increase of interest in these happenings Hollywood was more than anxious to jump on the bandwagon and in 1982 the movie “Poltergeist” was released which tells the story of a family haunted by malevolent entities who enter this realm through the family television.  The movie was a box office hit and what the movie "The Exorcist" did to bring the subject of demonic possesion into the public's awareness, the movie "Poltergeist" did to get people to report (and to investigate) poltergeist activities in a serious manner.

   

 Today the battle with these ghosts in the machine has entered a new arena with our increasing dependence on this realm of computers and the internet. Be they the result of poltergeist, gremlins, or malevolent transdimensional energy beings, these infections seem to be spreading  and morphing into forces that are inflaming people emotionally and causing thought wars across social media, that represent the real possiblity of turning from thought wars to actual wars that will plunge civilization into a new dark ages.

We have all had trouble with our computers. They freeze up or shut down at inopportune moments. They suddenly delete important data for no reason. You send off an email and it arrives at its destination with the content changed and never in a good way. Some believe our computers and our smartphones may actually be possessed by dark energy spirits. Others, that it is a result of the machinations of some shadowy government entity or a secret Satanic cabal. Whomever, or whatever the source(s) of the phenomena are, the confusion is only adding to the fear generated which these energy vampires may feed upon, whether the feeding be figurative or literal.


 

So once again, what are we talking about here? There are a number of possibilities and perhaps an equal number of probabilities.

The first theory that people are drawn to is the “conspiracy theory”.  Interestingly, the term conspiracy theory originated with the CIA who began to use it as a means of discrediting theories that they were involved in the JFK assassination by my moving the conspiracy pointing finger from one target to another. This makes conspiracy theories part of a conspiracy theory or a Catch 22.0.

This could be part of a government conspiracy (foreign or domestic) to hack into and manipulate the electronic media for the purpose of Geo-political gamesmanship and/or control of the masses. Or a plot by some  Illuminati like cabal for the purpose of establishing the New World Order. 

It could be part of an experiment devised in the dark recesses of academic think tanks and administrated with the government’s help, in order to see which way they can get the rats to run down the maze, as with Project MKUltra's LSD druggings in the 1960’s.

Most ominously, it could be a means of using modern communications technology to disseminate occult ideology. Chaos magick, a contemporary magickal practice, could be employed to summon whatever internet "demons" might be in existence, or used by “cybermancers” intent on creating their own magical manifestations (or demons) on a mass scale.

With the proliferation of the internet a new form of "Chaos magick" has been made manifest in the form of the "meme".  An internet meme is an activity, concept, catchphrase or piece of media that gains popularity and spreads rapidly via the internet, such as with the so called  MOMO scare.  An internet meme is often helped along by social networking sites and blogs that post and repost popular memes and, in doing so, reinforce the popularity and power of the memes. (see also: "Propaganda/Memes as Propaganda")



"Meme Magick" is a term used to describe thepower of sorcery and magick  derived from certain internet memes, that can transcend the realm of cyberspace and result in real life consequences. Some have compared it to the occult concept of the egregore, an autonomous psychic entity which influences the thoughts of a group of people.

If nothing else, what all these “possibilities” have in common is that they are logical. They do not need a great leap in imagination to be able to get your head around and consider.  One can imagine how some secret online agency can intercept and scramble an email or tweet or make an apparition appear on the television screen. What they cannot explain is how a document can be “altered” when a computer is not connected to the internet or an apparition appears when the TV is not plugged in. 

We are now in faced with having to consider an “improbable” answer. An answer that is difficult to consider, because it is outside our real world experience and challenges our entire perception of reality. What could be happening is that these electronic communications devices are operating as energy portals, through which energy beings from other dimensions can move into this one. 



Making a leap here, consider for the moment the paranormal apparitions of “Shadow People”.  Shadow people are generally said to be shadow like creatures of supernatural origin that appear as dark forms in the peripheries of people's vision and disintegrate, or move between walls, when noticed. Reports of shadow people are similar to ghost sightings, but differ in that shadow people are not reported as having human features or attempting to communicate and witnesses do not have the sense of being in the presence of something that 'was once human'. Their description varies from a two-dimensional shadow to a vaporous or distorted three-dimensional form. What is significant as regards this instance is thar they are often described as seemingly to be composed of pixels, suggesting perhaps that their portals of entry to this realm may be video display screens. 

 Most accounts of shadow people describe them as black humanoid silhouettes, but one type of shadow people stands out and that is the apparition described as “"Hat Man”.  Hat Man typically appears dressed in a long, black trench coat, a black three-piece suit, and a black hat, usually a fedora and seeing him produces a sense of inherent fear in the witness as if he is a manifestation of intense negative energy. Where Hat Man seems to differ from typical Shadow People is that Hat Man does not flee when observed but will menacingly appear to hold its ground.  Heidi Hollis, who coined the term "Hat Man" believes this entity may not be part of the Shadow People phenomena, but is a different and extremely malevolent presence.



What is interesting about the appearance of Hat Man is that although the phenomena of Shadow People has been around throughout the centuries Hat Man itself began to be reported in the late 1940’s and early 1950’s, around the same time as the introduction of analog television into the household. Also interesting to note I feel is that he is a sort of meme image that was being of the frightening Commie spy hiding under your bed, most popularly personified in Mad Magazine’s “Spy vs. Spy” from that period.

 It was a time of intense fear of sudden nuclear attack. Fallout shelters and children being taught to hide under their desks. One can imagine some evil entity on the other side of the 1950's TV screen looking in and seeing the fear of this holocaust on the faces of the people watching the set and recognizing what a great image it would be to scare people in order to be able to create the dark energy for thatthese entities seem to feed on. In the modern age the red caped devil with a pitchfork had become an almost comical caricature, but Hat Man was a much more real embodiment of evil and impending doom, which was exactly what these entities wanted you to feel.



see also: "The Paranormal / Hauntings"