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Does anyone have any ghost stories of Birmingham
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 19, 2004 5:22 pm    Post subject: michael pennington Reply with quote

I am gripped by your story and since being made aware of it I find myself thinking about you quite often. If you say you are aware of other ghosts operating online, why don't we have access to them, or are they just regular users who don't admit to being 'ghosts'?
do you contact them regularly, have any of them similar stories to you and how have they managed to operate a computer, surely they don't all have helpful mortal friends like you. Don't get me wrong, its not that i don't believe you when you say who (or what )you are, I'm just intrigued.
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 19, 2004 5:25 pm    Post subject: WOW!!!! Reply with quote

icon_eek.gif WOW!!!!! not sure if to believe this. There are a couple of things that dont add up, but I will keep an open mind for the next installment.
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 19, 2004 5:35 pm    Post subject: Continuation by Michael Reply with quote


Thank you Melanie and Anna for your observations and kind words. I am beginning to feel that I will be raising more questions than providing you with answers. I do hope that this is not the case. Also my thanks to Faeden. It is gratifying that you devote so much of your valuable time to our cause. To the guest that reacts as I would have reacted I can only agree with you. It is only the benefit of hindsight, and a number of long years in waiting, that has changed the way I think.

Listener – You do have access to spiritual beings online. You can’t expect them to come straight out and admit to being ghosts. The internet is full of anonymous and faceless beings, both human and spirits. Humans far outway the number of spirits that you are likely to encounter. You have no way of knowing who you are communicating with. In any event, if I were to meet you online and tell you that I was a ghost I would most certainly be dismissed as a nutcase and you would never chat to me again. There are a few cases of contacts where the spirit has confessed which have led to disbelief and ridicule. You are quite correct in your assumption that they do not have mortal friends. If they did they would find things much easier. I am so fortunate in that I have found a connection through Janet to the real world.

Guest – There are many things that do not add up. There are two Jacks mentioned in my memoirs, a lady named Janet and myself. I am the only the only one with a first name that does not begin with a J. Apart from Peter of course. Hardly mind blowing but I am sure that someone will pick up on this. It has no relevance of course.

And Pat, at last, I am so pleased to hear from you. You are the cause of my postings. You provided the inspiration for me to document my traumatic past. I am however not an actor. I think I would die of stage fright if I were to appear in front of an audience. As for being dishy I really think that you would find my remains most unappealing. I will continue with my memoirs.

When I explained to Janet what had happened she was astounded. She was convinced that a presence was haunting the building next door. This is not an unreasonable assumption. I also told her about seeing another apparition on the opposite side of the canal bank. She decided that she would leave work at the normal time and pay a visit to the company next door. After all, if she could sense my presence there was every likelyhood that she would be able to detect something at another location.

In between breaks and at every opportunity Janet and I passed each other messages and planned how we would make contact with the spirit in the next building. How would she explain to the occupants why she was calling round? How would she actually make contact with the presence? Were we leading each other up the garden path? We discussed in great detail how we would make our first approach. Much of this would be based on my own experience of how a spirit can react to its environment. Janet would have to make a good excuse as to why she was calling and discretely leave a message for whatever was present in the building next door. We decided on a message to introduce ourselves to the presence. The message was printed on an A4 piece of paper, in bold type, and read as follows:

Important – Please Read

My name is Janet. I am trying to make contact with you. Yesterday you were visited by a spirit named Michael Pennington. I have reason to believe that you are aware of a supernatural visit yesterday. That presence was Michael Pennington with whom I am in communication with. He experienced a violent death in 1971. I am not an experienced medium. I would just appear to be receptive to sensing the after life. I do not know how I can establish contact with you without the use of a computer. I do not even know if you are aware of what a computer is. I need to know if there is any way that you can meet up with Michael or find a way of communicating with him or myself. Michael is in the building next door. Can you visit this building? Are you able to leave your building? Michael has found a way of using a computer to communicate with me. I want to find out if I can help you in the same way. I hope that we are able to establish contact.

We didn’t know what else to write. The idea was to leave the note in the building next door so that the presence could read it. The difficulty would be in actually getting the occupant to reply and to establish contact. If the presence was trapped in the same way that I had been trapped and without the means or knowledge to access a computer then our plan was flawed. It was all so hit and miss.

Janet would have to be very careful how she approached the business owners and what she would say. We agreed that she would be making an enquiry about getting her brothers motorbike serviced. The scene was set. We waited with anticipation for the office to close.

Before I continue with the results of Janet’s first encounter with Jack it is only right to comment on certain myths and pre conceptions that appear to exist with regard to the supernatural. I am no expert on this but I do have the benefit of being in touch with other spirits who are all just as confused as I am as to why certain sightings and photographic evidence just adds to the confusion with regard to the supernatural.

As I see it. If spirits have had the same experience as I have had, and are desperate to make contact, without the means by which to establish a line of communication, then why would they waste time making silly ghost noises and appearing as apparitions with the sole aim of trying to frighten people. This is assuming that they are even capable of making noises and appearing to humans. I certainly seem incapable of that. I would have made myself known long ago if this was possible. If ghosts and spirits are so lost and confused as to what is happening to them they would be as desperate as I was to try and establish a sensible channel or medium of contact. The whole idea of ghostly wailings and spooky haunted houses does not appear to make any sense.

I have also contacted many spirits who you would probably class as poltergeists. These are not necessary evil people at all. Imagine the frustration of years of trying to communicate. If you found a way of moving objects or throwing them around a room to attract attention then surely this does not sound so unreasonable considering the circumstances. It merely helps you to confirm your existence. It is a way of attracting attention. My friend in Leeds would have been classed as a poltergeist. He has explained his amazing ability to actually move and project objects around his environment. This would appear to work in the same way as I am able to project letters on to a document on a computer. It must be based on some form of energy. The other interesting observation is that, the older the presence, by this I mean the time since death, the higher the ability to carry out these actions.

Is this to do with each individual spirit’s energy levels? The method of death does not appear to have any real significance with respect to each individual’s abilities. I have yet to meet any spirit that admits to making wailing noises or confirms that they are able to be seen in human form haunting a building. Janet and I are to experiment with this concept. She is going to attempt to take some photographs of me with a digital camera. We will try this on Saturday. I doubt anything will come of it. I cannot see how this will work if she cannot see me without a camera. I should be more positive about it. Everything is worth investigating.

This leads us to another interesting fact. The number of ghost sightings and paranormal activity would appear to have dropped with the advance of technology and the introduction of computers. My friend in Leeds no longer projects objects around a room and has no wish to frighten the living. He is now in communication with others and has no need of this method of attracting attention to himself. He told me of a rather humorous experience he had when he was visited by an exorcist. Some vicar from the local church. I cannot say too much or someone will delve into his situation. Suffice to say that it did not stop him creating havoc for a number of years. He does admit to a mischievous side of his personality by occasionally moving a coffee cup or a book to draw attention to his existence. That is about the extent of his activities today. I can understand this. For my part I am now capable of affecting electrical appliances. More on this later.

If it has taken me over 30 years to find out that a computer is a tool that can by used by the after life, and is being used, I can assure you, then what of the thousands of other lost souls who have yet to discover this channel of communication. The resources required to track down every spirit or ghost and train the lost souls to open a communication channel is beyond comprehension. Although there are now many of us that are communicating I feel that we have merely scratched the surface of what must be one of the most significant breakthroughs in the history of mankind. Who knows where this will all lead us and what the future holds. Are we real? We obviously exist. But what are we? Just what is our purpose. I ask myself this question over and over again. Someone has to help us. It is all so frustrating. I digress. On with the details.

The day was drawing to a close. Janet was preparing to leave the office on her mission. I typed one last message on the open word document.

Good Luck Janet. “Thank you Michael”, she said.

I watched as she left. Janet is perfectly capable of filling you in with all the details of how she went about her task but she asked me to convey this to you from my perspective and record exactly what happened when she returned. I do however feel it necessary to explain what happened to her so that you can understand what actually took place and how contact was established. Before I forget I would like to inform the people that administer the message board that at some point in the near future Janet will be providing you with more evidence and has agreed to join the message board. For the moment there is so much more to tell you before we reach this point. There is a right time and place for everything. The full details have not yet been revealed to you.

By all accounts Janet carried out her mission with military precision. This is how she explained it to me.

Janet recalls the event – I was nervous. I am not the best communicator in the world. My personality is much more suited to research and study than dealing with people. I am an administrator, a paper shuffler by trade. I prefer the company of close friends and it takes some time for me to formulate relationships with others so I was not looking forward to having to be devious and lying my way through the forthcoming encounter.

Nevertheless this was an important task and not something that I could ignore. The premises next door are operated by two individuals in their thirties. They are a struggling small business and eke a living from repairing motorbikes and stocking spares. They are friendly enough and were eager to help with my enquiry over my imaginary brothers motorbike.

The moment I entered the open doors I sensed a presence. It wasn’t something that gradually became apparent. It was strong and powerful from the start. I just knew something was watching my every move. There is no other way of explaining it. Everyone knows the feeling of being watched. This is the best way I can describe it.

I whittled on about costs and enquired about a rough price for a motorbike service. I felt completely stupid when they asked what make and model my brothers motorbike was. Bad preparation, but easily overcome by acting in true tradition like a dumb blonde that was clueless on the subject of motorcycles.

I sensed the presence was extremely close to me. I needed to leave my message in a prominent place or find some way of showing it to the spirit I knew was watching my every move. I also had to be careful that I didn’t leave it around so that it could be seen by the two mechanics. After all, I had signed it with my name and given information that I was in the building next door. At best, if they found it they would dismiss me as a lunatic or weirdo and at worst they would come calling and ask to speak to my boss.

I asked them if I could use the toilet. They were slightly embarrassed and one commented that it was not the most tidy environment and one of them escorted me down a long and dimly lit corridor to the latrine. You could see he was embarrassed about the state of the building and its grubby walls and floor were what you might expect from a working small repair centre. I have been in worse places. It wasn’t so bad.

After checking that the light worked and fussing around checking that the WC had toilet paper, the mechanic shuffled off back down the corridor to the main work area, leaving me alone standing by the toilet door on a small wooden landing with an exposed and poorly lit light bulb with which to see. I knew that the presence was close to me. I could feel that it must have been right by my side. I hastily took out the document and held it up in front of me. I prayed that I wouldn’t be visited by either of the mechanics and that they would not find me standing there under the light holding up a notice in front of me. Men in white coats sprang to mind as I contemplated the scenario.

I stood there for what seemed like an age. I particularly remember waiting twice as long that it would take for someone to read the notice in an effort to make sure that what I was trying to convey was understood. I put the notice back in my pocket, entered the toilet, flushed it and turned off the light.

As I walked back down the corridor I was aware that I was being followed. I bid a hasty farewell to the mechanics who had suspected nothing and walked out through the open door. I breathed a sigh of relief. It was only when I was half way back to my office that I felt the presence again. The feeling of being followed. I looked back but instinctively knew I would not see anything. I desperately needed to get back into the office. I needed to communicate with Michael. Was another spirit following me? Was it friendly? What would happen if it met Michael and got into my place of work. I was afraid and yet at the same time excited.

Janet has documented this encounter in more graphic detail for her own records but I have relayed the content to you so that you can understand how what happened actually took place. From my point of view the results were nothing short of spectacular.

I was waiting by the door for Janet to return. The minute the door opened I realised that her visit had been a success. That same flash of light and gut wrenching experience as an aura of something past me by and made straight down the office corridor. Jack had arrived.

There is much more to tell. How did we get Jack to contact us?. I think you already know the answer. How did he manage to leave the building so easily? This is due to Janet and is not a common trait in all humans. She is a rare individual although there are others just like her. There are some mediums who are aware of their gift and some just normal individuals who do not wish to advertise themselves. The good thing about Janet is that she has no wish to advertise her services as a medium or to profit from her experience. She is just pleased to be of assistance to us and to struggle to understand what is happening and how these things work. It is a learning curve for all of us. Nothing is set in concrete. Well, apart from my remains. I trust Janet implicitly.

Whether you are a sceptic or an interested reader, no matter. I hope that you will learn something from this. If you do not then I have wasted my time. If sometime in the future you feel that you are not alone then please, do not dismiss this feeling. Experiment. However stupid you may feel it is worth the effort. Keep your findings to yourself until you are sure that what you are experiencing has substance. When you are sure, tread carefully, understand that many would not believe you and that there is no gain in making a fool out of yourself. If you do understand, you are a gifted person. You are one of a small minority of genuine individuals that has a most wonderful gift and you are of benefit to others. Always act with respect to your contacts wishes. Confirm with them any action you may take and consider the implications from your contacts point of view. This is the best advice I can give you.

I have things to do. I will come back later. Thank you for being so understanding. I wish you nothing but good will. Enjoy your life and live it to the full. Being alive is a wonderful thing. Breath deep. Press your hand against your heart. You are alive. This is all that matters. No matter how depressed you may feel sometimes, the worries of finance or personal relationships are things that can be overcome, and, often with regard to material things, are of little relevance. Live for today. You never know what tomorrow may bring.
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Guest






PostPosted: Mon Jan 19, 2004 5:53 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Micheal,

Your story is very intresting and should be made into a book, just 1 question you type VERY quick !! which makes me think your human !! prove me wrong icon_wink.gif icon_wink.gif
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 19, 2004 5:58 pm    Post subject: Proof of typing skills Reply with quote


My dear friend. I cannot prove you wrong. I can type exceptionally quick these days. My skills have improved. Hour after hour on a computer. I can now type as fast as any human.

I will return but I have a busy schedule. I must watch the news. It has started now. Then Midlands today. I cannot possibly miss Emmerdale and Coronation Street. I will be back at 8pm. I will endeavour to answer your questions.

I must watch the film tonight. It's called Ghost and it is on Channel Five. I always make sure I watch anything to do with ghosts. It is often most amusing.

Your truly

Michael
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Emily
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 19, 2004 6:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

thanks for that Michael, that was superhuman quick !! enjoy the news, ill be waiting for your return x icon_wink.gif
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Kate76
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 19, 2004 6:10 pm    Post subject: Hi Reply with quote

Hi Michael

I must admit to being sceptical about you being a ghost, but I guess everyone has their own opinion! I have to say though that this is the best read I've ever had, you have had me sat here ages reading through your story and I cannot wait for the next instalment icon_smile.gif

Take care and keep smiling
Love and wishes
Kate xx

PS thanks for reminding me about the film Ghost, I'll get my tissues ready icon_wink.gif
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Emily
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 19, 2004 6:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I am going now, will be back tomorrow for next installment.
By the way the film Ghost is rubbish, have a great night with Jack.

Bye for now icon_biggrin.gif
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 19, 2004 6:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

too many things here just don't seem to fit. first is the wireless card on the laptop, the wireless transmission waves are passing through the air all the time if your clse to a hub, it doens't matter if the wireless card is turned on or not and the electronics in the card are no different then those in any other electronic gadget

also if that was really janet telling her story, wouldn't she have read the rest of the posts and now known where the body was? not to mention the fact that the writing styles of our Mr. Penninton and those of miss janet sound the same.

i would say the guy has a future in novels however, don't have to reveal your identity there either, gotta love penn names icon_wink.gif

Ben the skeptic
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faeden
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 19, 2004 6:51 pm    Post subject: mick Reply with quote

hi micheal i hope you enjoy your soaps you should watch eastenders thats even better icon_wink.gif

ok just for instance sake if you are a ghost may i ask the question did you believe in god when you where alive and of you did do you still believe in god now ?
if you do believe in god may i ask arnt you mad your not in heaven ?
all the best
faeden
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Badger
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 19, 2004 7:24 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I think Pat has the foundations of her book set in stone !
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 19, 2004 8:12 pm    Post subject: Michael Pennington Reply with quote


Thank you Emily. I still feel compelled to watch the film. It may contain something of interest. Jack sends his regards. Ben, there are many things that do not make sense to me as well. I have no idea how or why the wireless transmission enables me to communicate the way I do. With regard to Janet, it is not Janet telling the story. I am just relaying to everyone what she has told me. She does have her own account as I mentioned but it will be very similar to what I have written which of course is written in my own words.

Janet has no need to read the posts although she does actually read them every day. She already knows the outcome and all the details. She reads them more for the replies and the comments that you all post. She already knows where my body is buried. With regard to a future in novels this is not really of any great incentive to me. I really would not know how to spend the money apart from the fact that cashing a cheque would be most difficult.

Thank you Faeden I have watched Eastenders before. I have a passion for real life documentaries and soaps. I am sure you can understand this. The matter of believing in God is a difficult question to answer. I have to admit that if you had asked me when I was alive I would have probably said no. If however you had asked me to fill out a form which requested my religion I would automatically have completed it with ‘Church of England’. I am none the wiser in the affairs of the Church as when I was alive. I have no idea whether or not he exists. I am sceptical. Still sceptical. I have no reason to be angry with a God I have not seen or experienced. My views in this matter have not changed much since my death.

Badger – There is no book. Pat did not write my memoirs. She has also quite clearly stated that she has not written the book. If the book were to be written you can rest assured that each and every one of you would be given a free copy. Perhaps I should register my claim now to the copyright of this material in order to insure that you all get a free copy if it is ever published. Yes, I think this is a good idea. I, Michael Pennington, deceased, do hereby register my copyright and grant full rights to my friend Janet or future authorised publishers as designated by her, to provide free copies to all those that are interested in reading my memoirs. There. I have done it.
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 19, 2004 8:59 pm    Post subject: hi michael .:) Reply with quote

what was your occupation if you dont mind me asking ??and how do you fill your days and nights apart from watching tv and using the pc .?


Anna icon_smile.gif
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 19, 2004 9:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Forgive the pun but `set in stone` i thought would be a good name for her book if she decided to write one along these lines, to this goes my copyright, lol, I am interested in the fact you have mentioned your enconters or you have knowledge of many many other spirit persons. You have touched on the edges of poltergeist and there conection with naughty behavour. Please can you tell us if you have encounterd or have any veiws on a more sinister nature of spirit ( Demon). Or are you a believer that these sort of enterty are in the minds of humans and are created out of our own emagination. Please could you also tell me what your line of work was before your unfortunate events. Forgive me if you have already said. I feel your story is getting more and more interest not sure if you wanted this kind of marketing, but it has worked a gem. As the saying goes Captivate your audiance. I have many more questions for you, but as you stated there is a time and place for such things.
Badger
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 19, 2004 9:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

more importantly how did you fill your nights the 30 years before the tv and pc.

get janet to open an account and then have the money from the book you would write direct deposited to that account then have her get a debit or credit card from that account that you can then use online to buy new electronic gadgets :p

Ben
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 19, 2004 9:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi
Has any of your family visited the building, since the police have now been informed? I take it that the firm now know of your existance and would allow the family to visit.
Have the police or the firm now witnessed your typing?
Thanks Deb
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 19, 2004 9:41 pm    Post subject: jack Reply with quote

Hello Jack will you also be posting ?? i would like to hear your story ,no pressure of course icon_smile.gif
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listener
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 19, 2004 10:15 pm    Post subject: for Michael Reply with quote

Hello again Micheal.

You spoke earlier that Janet is hoping to take photographs of you, to see if there is any evidence of a presence. Those of us who are members of the Most Haunted forum regularly discuss and examine evidence of so called 'ghost' pictures. Normally the pictures seem to show one large or a number of smaller 'orbs', (round light anomalies), which, Most Haunted specialists claim to be the first indication of a spirit attempting to materialise. I would be interesrted to find out if this is what Janet finds on the pictures she takes of you. It will probably give sceptics something to think about!
Is there a chance that, if there is anything on the photo's, we will get the opportunity to see them?

Listener (aka adj)
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 19, 2004 10:18 pm    Post subject: hi michael /jack Reply with quote

Please do carry on with your story

Anna
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 19, 2004 10:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi
Was the famous carrying firm Thomas Clayton based at the building you are in?
Deb
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faeden
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 19, 2004 10:26 pm    Post subject: pics of mick Reply with quote

hi micheal thank you for your reply.
there is a ghost photo part of ghosts-uk where you can upload your photos to for everyone to see and comment on im sure everyone will be interested in seeing them fakes or not.
all th best
faeden
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 19, 2004 10:30 pm    Post subject: Michael Pennington Reply with quote


Hello again my friends. Anna, my occupation was that of manager of a small textile firm. There is little else to occupy ourselves other than watching TV and using the PC. Both Jack and I correspond with each other by type and appreciate each others company. We are very limited of course in what we can do and as we do not eat or drink and cannot travel, there is a very limited range of options available to us. That having been said, the internet provides a wide range of activities and the chance to correspond with others in a similar situation to ourselves. I am not complaining at all.

Ben is right to ask what I did for 30 years before the TV and the PC. That was a miserable existence. I couldn’t really do anything then except watch out of a window. The nights were awful. Wandering around in the dark , pacing round and round in the same timeless circles. I would never wish to return to that. I try to put those dreadful days aside and not think about them.

Badger – thank you for the title. I doubt that there will be a book but I thank you for your suggestion. I have met several poltergeists. I do not really like the term poltergeist as from my experience I only know that there are good spirits and bad spirits and that the term poltergeist is applied to spirits or ghosts that are merely trying to attract attention to themselves rather than being demons or bad people. However, as is the case in the real world, there are good and bad and the nature of the presence or spirit will very much depend on what type of a person they were in real life. I suppose that you could say, if someone was evil in real life and ended up as a spirit, it is unlikely that they will be any different. By that I mean they would still be evil. Similarly so, a good person would remain a good spirit. Much of this is indeed in the mind of humans. The human imagination manufacturers demons and bad spirits. As an example, a person will take a walk in the countryside on a hot summers day and admire their surroundings and be thankful that they are enjoying such beauty. Take that same person and place them in the same spot at 2 am at night and they will not be very happy, they will often be afraid and imagine strange and creepy happenings when in reality nothing has changed. The only difference is that the temperature is cooler and the sun has gone in.
Humans should have more fear of fellow humans and not from the supernatural.

Deb – My family has visited the building. I will tell you about this tomorrow. The managing Director of the company that Janet works for is now aware of the situation. They have been very helpful if not sceptical. The police or the firm has not actually seen my typing. This would be hard to justify. But they have information that is sufficient to convince them that Janet is telling the truth. They are just very intrigued as to how she obtained it. I will provide more information tomorrow.

Jack has no wish to post. He has no interest in posting to the living. He says he has nothing to gain by doing so and feels that I am wasting my time. He is amused by my writings. He does understand that things are different for me and that it was important for me to establish contact with my family.
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 19, 2004 10:44 pm    Post subject: Michael Pennington Reply with quote



This is a very time consuming business answering all these questions. Many of them would be answered if I just continued my story. Listener I will endeavour to provide photographs, if indeed they actually show anything. I have seen many examples on the internet but I am sure that most of them are fakes. They do not seem to be logical. The orb or images of light does seem to make more sense. We will find out after Saturday I suppose. I notice that Faeden has also requested the photographs.

Deb – I do not know is the answer to that. There are documents to show that a different firm to the one you mention was at once present in the building but revealing that would be revealing my whereabouts.

Anna, you are right, the story is getting lost in a barrage of questions. I should try and finish it. My energy levels are low tonight. Jack says the same thing. It happens like that. We have much to do. We have people calling us. We are neglecting our callers. Here is a little more information for you to digest.

When Jack arrived on the scene that evening it was certainly a memorable experience. He has become a good companion to me and a close friend of Janet’s too. He has mastered the technique of communication. His first attempts, like mine, were clumsy and incredibly slow. He has learned fast though. He is also capable of moving objects. I find this fascinating. He has no desire to move back to his old building and is quite settled and at home here.

I cannot see Jack, save for the aura that he gives off. To describe it I would say that it is very much like a shadow but with a tinge of colour. He has confirmed that he views me the same way. Our shapes are not clearly defined but barely visible to each other. It does help us avoid the unpleasant experience of colliding, although occasionally this still happens. Janet continues to feel our presence, more strongly now, but finds it impossible to distinguish between our two spirits or to know which of us is standing by her side. She has to rely on typed messages in order to know who is communicating. It is a bit like charades sometimes. We have to put our name to text each time we type her a message or she has no idea which one of us is calling her. Using ICQ does help of course. The user name quickly lets her know the identity of the caller.

The strange thing is that I have to communicate with Jack in the very same way as I do with Janet. The messages typed up on her screen each day would appear most odd to any onlooker. When you have nothing else to do except learn and chat it is amazing just how much information that you absorb and the ingenious way in which you find out about each other. I have an idea what Jack looks like. Not because I can see him but because I found an internet site with pages full of people. I scanned through them until I found one that looked similar to me. Jack did the same. It was a source of great amusement for us. Jack of course does have the benefit of already having seen me alive.

Jack finds it very amusing that I am bothering to communicate with the living at all. He is happy about Janet but he has no living family left on this earth and spends his time looking for their spirits on the internet, in the hope that they too, are somewhere out there with access to the world wide web. A long shot, but I can fully understand why he will not give up.

Before anyone asks, I am already in contact with my own family. For me the task of catching up on 30 odd years is not as difficult as Jack’s. My daughter and my wife are fully aware of my existence. They have visited me on many occasions. They are visiting me again this weekend. I have to rely on Janet’s hospitality of course, and I know this is taking up so much of her time, but she assures me that she is quite happy with the situation.

The hardest part about meeting up with your loved ones is that whilst you can see them and hear them talk you are still restricted to having to type messages in order to be understood. Janet had spent the best part of a month tracing my wife who had moved twice and also re married. My daughter now lives in Wales and she was actually easier to find than my wife. What a shock it was meeting them again. My beautiful wife was a pensioner and my lovely daughter is entering middle age. I suppose I should have known better. I don’t know what I was expecting but it was a strange re union.

The hardest part was relying on Janet and her compassion in explaining why she had brought them here to an office in Birmingham to discuss some details about me. She refused to tell them anything in any detail in advance, and insisted that they actually agreed to visit the office and listen to what she had to say. They took some convincing and I am sure that it was curiosity that got the better of them in the end.

Just where do you start to unravel such a strange and surreal tale to the living. How do you break it to them gently that you know the details of what happened to someone who disappeared some 30 years previously. You can imagine their reaction. Janet was good at giving them every minute detail in bite sized chunks. She plied them with strong coffee and delicately spent over two hours going over the whole story. They listened intently, occasionally looking at each other and then back to Janet in disbelief and dismay. At one point I thought my wife, I stand corrected, my ex wife, was going to leave and dismiss Janet as a disturbed and dangerous person, but it was down to some of the information that I had given her previously that kept their interest from wavering and assured their willingness to continue listening.

After they had been provided with all the necessary information, Janet announced to them that I was in the room with them. My ex wife was a pensioner now and this was a matter that needed some skilful explaining. As usual Janet was faultless. Her caring nature ensured that when the time was ready for me to start typing, they were prepared. That is, as well prepared as anyone can be, considering the circumstances.

I will not bore you with the full details of our conversation or the intimate details I had to reveal in order to convince my wife and daughter that the mysterious type appearing in front of them was indeed their long lost husand and father. There are things that only a family know. There are moments only a family share. This ensured that by the end of the evening they were in absolutely no doubt as to my identity. From that day forward our relationships have been re kindled and we have had a lot of catching up to do.

One of the first things that Jack was able to tell me was regarding the details of my own death. He had seen it all from the window of the building he was trapped in. He remembers every detail. He has provided a full description of the culprits. Not much use you would think after all these years. Quite the contrary, it has enabled us, with the help of Janet to build up a very detailed picture of what happened, the names of the people involved and an exact re construction of the murder. There is one final piece of evidence that needs to be recovered in order to satisfy a jury and convict the culprits of my murder.

Again, I will give you this account in my own words but based on what Jack has revealed to us. I will give you this tomorrow. Some 33 years later and we almost at the point where we can hand the details over to the police. This is an eventful period in my existence. Until soon.

Michael
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 19, 2004 11:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

thought i had heard this name before.

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Johnny Vegas (aka Michael Pennington) won the Festival Critics' Award at the 1997 Edinburgh Festival, and was the first newcomer to be nominated for the Perrier Award.
He presented The Big Breakfast during its twilight days, is a regular panellist on Shooting Stars and made a memorable guest appearance on Room 101, revealing an unhealthy obsession with chat room pubs. He also got a smile out of Anne Robinson on the The Weakest Link in 2000.
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 19, 2004 11:04 pm    Post subject: michael pennington Reply with quote

It must be very traumatic for your family to go through this.
but in another way it must also be a fascinating experience. How many grieving families would love the opportunity to make contact with a deceased loved one?

They must feel very fortunate. How does it make you feel (for yourself and for your family)?

Listener.
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