 Welcome to a special Christmas edition of Paranormality Magazine. Each week, Paranormality Magazine explores all 40 subjects, from phantoms to UFOs, and every cryptid creature in between. Each week, you're treated to a collection of well-researched and investigated stories, interviews, and reports on cutting-edge paranormal projects and topics they know you crave. And here in the podcast, I share stories from the magazine to give you just a taste of what you receive in every issue. I'm Darren Marlar and this is Paranormality Magazine, Christmas Edition. Children the world over spend Christmas Eve dreaming of gifts delivered by air of a man landing from on high spreading joy and mirth. Some even scan the skies, hoping to catch a glimpse of a flying sleigh or reindeer traversing the clouds. Gift-giving involving aerial beings is not a foreign concept for the holiday season, but flying saucer occupants receiving gifts from earthlings is alien to our expectations. AP Strange brings us a very Contactee Christmas. Such was the case one Christmas day in 1955 at the home of Contactee, Buck Nelson. A special guest was among the celebrants, Buck's flying saucer friend, Bucky the Spaceman. Bucky had taken Buck on a round-trip space journey a few months prior to Mars, the Moon, and Venus, the story of which can be found in Buck's appropriately titled book, My Trip to Mars, the Moon, and Venus. Buck was even allowed to drive the saucer at one point. He learned much about our brothers from space and their pets, notably a 385-pound dog called Bo had accompanied Bucky in the landing party. It was also revealed that Bucky was actually an expatriate earthling who was in fact related to Buck, and this Christmas he came to visit his terrestrial cousin and then his parents before heading back to Venus. A friend of Buck's, Fanny Lowry, had anticipated Bucky's return in the hope that he'd visit for the holidays. Fanny had mailed a special gift to Buck's ranch to be delivered to Bucky. At 1.30 am, we're told, on Christmas Day 1955, Bucky arrived and was presented with an envelope which contained Mrs. Lowry's gift, an advertisement for pressed-tone antifreeze. Bucky laughed like an eight-year-old kid when he saw the picture on his card, reports Buck Nelson, and had a picture of eight or nine monkeys doing all sorts of wrong things to a car. Beneath the picture, it said, don't let anyone monkey around your car. Written between the lines of the advertising was the question, does anyone monkey around saucers like this? According to Bucky, this funny little card was the first gift which had ever been knowingly sent by mail to a person from another planet from a person on earth. Quite the distinction. Bucky then proceeded to record a Christmas message to the world on tape. He began by thanking Fanny for the gift and answering her question, yes, it has happened to our ships, torn apart for souvenirs. His Christmas message continued with the wish for peace on earth, as only a space brother could deliver it. He implored humanity to give up atomic weapons and forecast certain doom for civilization if the warning went unheeded. He then hung around and mingled with Buck's other guests throughout the day, one of whom tried to sell him insurance. Later he pontificated aloud about canned pork and beans, before finally departing to visit his folks. This charming vignette is an example of the wonderful ephemera to be found in the history of ufology. These silly little moments in the stories of contactees, these slices of life are almost too mundane, too human, while at the same time too fantastic and absurd for their context to be forgotten about. So this Christmas season, know that somewhere in a museum on Venus there's probably a glass case where sits that historic first gift which Bucky treasured so much. As you put out cookies and milk for Santa, think about clipping an ad for a spaceman, and for goodness sake, give up those nukes. Tis the season for festive lights, singing carolers and holiday cheer. Yet as the winter solstice approaches, the veil between worlds grows thin. For some troubled locales around the globe, Christmas brings less tidings of joy than a yearly influx of unsettled spirits. As days grow dark and icy nights stretch long, these eight locations come alive with vivid, terrifying tales of their haunted histories. Behind their welcoming holiday decorations lurk unrestful ghosts who can't wait to come out and play. The Myrtle's Plantation in Louisiana. This antebellum estate claims to be one of America's most haunted homes year-round, but during the Christmas season, paranormal activity spikes dramatically according to terrified guests. Mysterious piano music, strange footsteps up the stairs, and blood-curdling screams disrupt the usual holiday tranquility. The Stanley Hotel in Colorado. This remote mountain lodge that inspired Stephen King's The Shining definitely earns its reputation for spookiness around Christmas. Late at night, guests report hearing the bone-chilling laughter of children echoing from the hotel's supposedly empty hedge maze. Talked about traumatizing. In Pennsylvania there is The Moore House. This revolutionary war-era house has one particularly troubled spirit that only manifests during the holidays between Christmas and New Year's Eve. The ghost of a young British officer killed on the grounds tries in vain every year to complete his journey home to celebrate Christmas with his family. There is also the RMS Queen Mary in California. The historic ocean liner permanently docked in Long Beach offers haunted holiday tours for thrill-seekers. With eerie tales of ghost children calling passers-by by name and gremlins tampering with the Christmas decorations, this ghost ship of the Pacific has no shortage of spine-tingling Christmas tales. In Louisiana there is the Bourbon Orleans Hotel. It wouldn't be Christmas in New Orleans without some ghost sightings. In this 19th century hotel, a curmudgeonly spirit named Scary Mary chases oblivious guests from her former room on the sixth floor every Christmas Eve. Her creepy cackling echoes throughout the premises all night long. In Florida there is the Don Cassar Hotel. Spending Christmas on the sunny Gulf Coast might seem pleasant enough, that is, unless you book Room 36 at this pink palace of a resort. The mischievous ghost of hotel founder Thomas Rowe plays pranks on unwary guests, switching TV channels mysteriously and rattling the closet doors all night like the ghosts of Christmas has passed. There is the Hotel del Coronado in California on the other coast around every Christmas season. This iconic beach resort is plagued by the ghost of a heartbroken young woman named Kate Morgan. She mysteriously died at the hotel in 1892 just before Christmas. These days Kate spends her lonely holiday seaside vigil switching lights on and off, breezing past guests down the hall, and riding the hotel's elevators going up and down aimlessly all night. And then we can make our way to Scotland, to Edinburgh Castle. Restless spirits roam this medieval fortress all year but become especially active around the holidays. Phantom soldiers are seen on the ramparts, unearthly cries fill the chapel, and strange glowing orbs float around the cobblestone grounds on Christmas Eve. Supposedly remnants of souls not yet at peace. Have a wonderfully creepy Christmas, haunted travel fans. RM Pinkleton contributed an interesting story titled Encounter with the Antlered One, an eerie late-night visitor. And I'm sharing it in our Christmas episode because a. It takes place in December and b. It gives you the shape of a deer's head. I just couldn't help but associate Christmas with it. Here's the story. In the mid-2000s I was living in a house on the far east side of Indianapolis. My sole companion at the time was an orange stray tabby cat I'd adopted named Karma. One early December morning, around 3 a.m., I felt Karma jolt suddenly. The first thing I remember was looking directly at her. She was standing on me, alert but not hissing, and she was focused on my open bedroom door. I twisted my body to look where her attention was. Just inside my bedroom was a dark figure with antlers, standing on two legs with its front arms slash legs raised in a praying mantis-like pose. Its mouth was a gape as it stared directly at me. The best description I can think of is it resembled a deer leaping at me frozen in midair. Looking directly into its eyes, I did not feel fear so much as what I would describe as intense apprehension and disbelief. Karma and I stayed motionless wondering what it would do next. What seemed like minutes was likely only seconds before it finally took a few steps backward into my hallway and dissolved into what I can only describe as a black swirling mist. In the days, months, and years which followed, I questioned many aspects of that experience. First, I had to ask if this was in fact a real encounter or product of my dream state superimposed onto my waking state, a hypnopompic hallucination. Fortunately, I'd had hypnopompic hallucinations in the past so I had a baseline for a comparison. One difference was that there was no sleep inertia, that deep sleepiness which is hard to wake from during this encounter. Karma had awakened me suddenly and I was very definitely awake, not in some half-sleep state. There was also no pre-waking imagery already in my head. I was surprised when I turned and saw what my little cat was looking at. If the imagery had been in my head, how was it she was looking at something also? Also, unlike past hypnopompic hallucinations, the vision did not slowly fade but instead became that black mist. So, given that I believed this was indeed a genuine encounter, what then? Where did it come from? Why did it choose me? Who would I turn to for answers? Upon relaying a description of this alien being to others, a well-read pagan friend of mine was struck by the similarity of my description to an ancient cave painting discovered in the cave of Shroifraris in France dating back to 13,000 BCE which she called Crenunos. Upon seeing the painting, known as The Sorcerer, for the first time, I was struck by the crude similarities, especially as it features the same praying mantis pose. So, if it was indeed an ancient being, I wondered, given its serbine appearance, if it inhabited a nearby wooded area. My thoughts turned to a creepy patch of old growth forest just to the east and an old schoolhouse tucked into one corner of those woods. The earliest plot map I could find, dated 1855, shows a John Hamilton owning that land, and my land, so there could have been a connection. According to the current owner of the woods, it had never gone through forestation, like so many agricultural plots in that area. The land was untouched going back to the days when native tribes roamed the area. The old schoolhouse had served as Warrentownship School number one. I had always been drawn to that house and had even considered purchasing the property at one point. The day I went to tour the vacant building, I noticed some strange symbols painted in white above each door. Later, I identified these as Palomayon Bay symbols and wondered if they were meant to serve as wards. Sometime later, it mysteriously caught fire in the middle of the night and was subsequently demolished. So what of the distinctive swirling black mist? Years later this detail would resurface while reading Shapeshifter Territory by Ryan Patrick Burns in which he describes an encounter with a wolf in Utah which vaporized into what appeared to be a black fog or a mist of swirling blackness. There it was. Someone else had seen the mist as well. Had I seen a skin-walker? What I also find striking about the Ewentah basin area of Utah where Ryan had his sighting is that nearby ancient petroglyphs depict beings with crude antlers often accompanied by spirals. Many believe those spirals to represent portals, but I can't help but wonder if they depict the distinctive swirling black mist. Were they one and the same? Most of my questions involving my encounter and that surrounding area of land remain a mystery. Like so many paranormal subjects, I'm still left with more questions than answers. Want more Paranormality? Subscribe to Paranormality Magazine and each month get it delivered digitally or via mail in our print version. Paranormality Magazine is a collaborative endeavor featuring works from people like you who have a passion for all things mysterious and unexplained. Our goal is the pursuit of knowledge, gathering captivating stories from our own team of writers, researchers and investigators, as well as from writers such as yourself. Each monthly issue also includes a list of paranormal, horror, UFO and cryptozoology events around the country, incredible paranormal-themed artwork, articles and writing sent in from our readers, suggested books and podcasts to consume and more. Visit ParanormalityMag.com and subscribe today for as little as $3.99 a month. That's ParanormalityMag.com. ParanormalityMag.com. December 25 is not just a day of joy and celebration. It also has a few spooky secrets. Brandon Grimes brings us 13 facts about December 25 that might send a few shivers down your spine. December 25 is the birthday of Alistair Crowley, an notorious British occultist who was known for his involvement in black magic and witchcraft. Christmas Day is the longest night of the year in some parts of the world, making it ideal for those seeking paranormal activity. In the UK, it's traditional to leave out mince pies on Christmas Eve so that Santa can have something to eat when he visits during the night, although this tradition may also be linked to stories of ghosts visiting people's homes. December 25 is known by some as Stir Up Sunday, a day on which people traditionally make their Christmas puddings. According to folklore, this will bring good luck for the coming year. The famous Philadelphia experiment of 1943 allegedly took place on December 25 and involved the U.S. Navy reportedly making a warship invisible and teleporting it from one location to another in a matter of seconds. In Mexico, Christmas Day has become associated with La Llorona, the weeping woman, an old story about a woman who drowned her children in a river out of grief for her lost love and now haunts those who hear her cries. December 25 has been linked to reports of UFO sightings with a particularly famous one occurring on Christmas Day in 1965, when an Australian man claimed to have seen a UFO resembling a flying saucer over his property. In some cultures, it is believed that any children born on Christmas Day will have the ability to see ghosts or predict the future when they grow up. It is also said that unmarried women who sleep with an apple beneath their pillow on Christmas Eve might dream of their future husbands that night. Some churches hold special midnight masses on December 24 and 25, which is believed by some to be more powerful than at other times due to its proximity to the solstice. December 25 was once the official date given to those believed to have died of vampirism, according to some old folklore traditions. Christmas Day is said to be a time when the veil between our world and the spirit realm is at its thinnest, making it easier for spirits to cross over into our physical space, much like Halloween. And many cultures believe that sprites and fairies come out on Christmas Eve to play in the snow and light up the night sky with their firefly-like lights. These spooky facts about December 25 are sure to add a touch of mystery and magic to your holiday season. From ancient rituals to mysterious creatures, this day has a long history of association with the supernatural, and it is still celebrated as such today. So be sure to keep an eye out for any signs of other worldly activity this year. You never know what may have crossed over from the spirit realm into our own. Piranormality magazine's Chas of the Dead brings us an interesting story of tragedy and miracles during the Christmas season. It's about the unexplained underground rescue of some trapped miners and how they recall some bizarre other worldly encounters while trapped. The day after Christmas, 1945, disaster struck in rural Kentucky. Outside of the small town of Four Mile, an explosion echoed through the hills. The source was from a coal mine that was being operated by the Kentucky Straight Creek Coal Company. At 7 o'clock, workers had started to arrive. By 8.30, smoke was pouring out of the mine. The exact cause of the mine explosion was never determined. The mine had gone through a rigorous inspection only a few months earlier in August and had passed with no issues being reported. The prime suspect was a pocket of natural gas combined with coal dust that had caused the explosion and subsequent fires as this had happened a few times before. Rescue workers, both volunteers and Red Cross professionals, showed up on the scene and immediately began the rescue effort. Thirty men were trapped underneath the mine and with fires raging all around the underground passages, few people expected these miners to survive. Progress getting to them was also slow. They estimated that it would take at least three days to reach the trapped miners. The explosion had destroyed most of the supporting beams in the main tunnel so they had to be replaced as they went to avoid a cave-in. Around here is when the official story ends. The last article published in newspapers stated that they were still trying to rescue trapped miners but the outcome for them looked grim. The rescuers did not expect them to survive. I found some online forums confirming that people's relatives had died at the site but I also found a strange tale. While the story has been published around a variety of online sources and other volumes, it is claimed that it was originally found in a magazine interview with one of the survivors of the mine collapse. This interview took place a few decades after the incident itself but the story this survivor told was bizarre enough that it is carried on. That being said, I have tried and failed to locate this original interview so its validity is still up for debate. The story claimed that one group of miners encountered something unexplainable while trapped underneath the earth. They said at some point during their ordeal the jagged rock wall of the mine gave way to a door that seemed to have appeared in an instant. From this doorway stepped out a man, a perfectly regular looking human being. He appeared to be wearing some type of blue-collar workman's as he was described variously as a lumberjack or telephone lineman. He stepped out of the doorway, the space behind him seemed well illuminated. He simply told the trapped men that they shouldn't worry and that they would be rescued soon. He then stepped back into the illuminated room and closed the door behind him, leaving the baffled miners behind. This is about all of the story that has been preserved, although since it is being told it is safe to assume the miners were indeed rescued as the man stated. The story is certainly suspect and even if it is to be believed one can write off this apparition as part of the stress or psychosis of being trapped in a mine, but what is important about this story is not whether it occurred as described, it is the fact that these types of stories are much more common than one expects and the area around the mammoth cave system seems to be a hotspot for these kinds of interactions, whatever it is that facilitates them. A similar incident occurred on August 13th of 1963 in Shepton, Pennsylvania. This mine was also a coal mine and had been operating in good condition. That was until a bungee cord responsible for hoisting up a large coal truck snapped and sent its load firing downward like a missile. As it went it destroyed support beams on either side of its tracks causing substantial key vins throughout. The damage left three men trapped deep underground surrounded by oppressive darkness. Two of the men, David Felon and Henry Hank Throne, had been keyed in together on one side of the track and the other alone on the opposite side. The two men could hear the third for some time but eventually he went quiet. This left Felon and Throne alone in frigid temperatures and surrounded by an unimaginable darkness. That is, until the darkness was broken by something entirely strange. There, trapped meters below the earth, the pair saw three men off at a distance, deeper in the mine. The men said they were wearing headlamps and what appeared to be some kind of space suit. The figures came up to them but did not speak. They presented them with a plaque that stated that they should not worry and that they would be rescued. Then they turned around and left. The two men crawled toward the figures and called out to them but they simply continued walking off deeper into the earth and leaving the men behind. After that, the two men began to see a variety of strange sightings. They saw the Holy Cross and an illuminated stairwell that they were unable to reach. At one point they even claimed to see Pope John XXIII who had died a few weeks earlier. Interestingly enough, only one of the two men were religious and recognized the Pope but when they both were interviewed independently after their rescue they described the same man and not just the Pope. Their stories were remarkably similar by most accounts of the time. Of course, over the years these small differences that are present in their stories were made into lynchpin arguments meant to discredit the entire incident. But the men who went through this ordeal feel very strongly about what they witnessed. Felon told a reporter for Fate magazine, Pope John and the Cross were there all the time. But these other things kept jumping across. First there was these men with lights and after a while the steps would come. It was real. Both of us were seeing it and we knew they were live people. We know that. As you've likely surmised, the two men did survive. They had to bring in specialized drilling equipment and it still took six days of drilling to reach the man's chamber. They finally broke through and provided the trapped men with food and water. It would be another day and a bigger drill before the men were finally freed. Skeptics claim a variety of things when it comes to this case. Miner's psychosis is a term that gets thrown around and certainly does apply. Fully adieu also gets thrown around but this one is a much weaker connection. But those familiar with my research already know that just because these two men were in an altered state of consciousness does not mean what they experienced was fake or non-physical. We must consider a few facts that this story seems to repeat itself in a similar fashion decades apart. And while this story focuses only on two examples from the area we're discussing, it's quite apparent that this experience is something that seems to be quite common in cases of minor psychosis. But the explanation that these images are simply conjured up by the subconscious to provide comfort for these people does not add up. In the previous case, in the example of the Pope, that does make sense. Logically and actually, a religious person is much more likely to see religious iconography during a near-death experience but in these stories it is not the Pope or Jesus who brings the message that they will be saved. Even in the later story the Pope was just seen, it was the spacemen who brought that message. In the story before that happened the day after Christmas, it was again a strange human wearing a weird one-piece worksuit. This is the description we hear again and again in these cases of not a familiar face but one that is alien and strange. It's also the description we hear of UFO inhabitants when contactees or abductees tell fanciful tales of seeing strange worlds. It is these types of entities that show it to them. The strange worlds are also an aspect of these cases. The bright room in Kentucky, the marble staircase in Pennsylvania, both leading off into strange, illuminated and inhabited worlds that lay somewhere between reality and our consensus. And being holidays, why not end this episode with something a bit more light-hearted. Brandon Grimes brings us a story about how you shouldn't throw your Christmas tree out, you should eat it instead. People are discarding their festive trees left and right after Christmas. However, a few have found an extraordinary way to keep the spirit of the holiday evergreens alive by devouring them. This year, folks are embracing an exciting new trend of repurposing their once-loved Christmas trees in the kitchen by using them as key ingredients and recipes. You could pretty much eat the whole thing, Julia Jorgales, author of How to Eat Your Christmas Tree, told The Guardian, you can use the needles as you would rosemary or bay leaves for flavor. Jorgales stated that pine needles can be combined much like rosemary or bay leaves to give other dishes an exquisite flavor. Alternatively, they can also be crushed and steeped into a vinegar or gin infusion for an even more robust taste. To create a unique flavor, she suggested charring small sections of the Christmas tree in a hot oven and then blending them into pine ash. This will make for an interesting addition to any dish. According to various food experts, pine needles can be used not only as a garnish but also for pickling eggs or vegetables and adding them to drinks or infusions. And it doesn't stop there either. Tiktok has been buzzing with excitement around pine needle tea, a delicious beverage made by boiling water, pre-washed pine needles, and branches to create a flavorful broth. What's more, some have even proclaimed that the Christmas tree concoction can help soothe tired muscles. Through the Internet, individuals have discovered a creative new way to utilize pine needles by boiling them with sugar and water to make an irresistible syrup. Beyond the pine needles, there are a plethora of other parts from your Christmas tree that you can enjoy. Jorgales, the visionary behind London's Supper Club featuring Christmas tree-based dishes, also noted that if you opt to replant your tree, you can savor its fresh sprouts in the spring. But she sternly advises those who desire to partake in her favorite spruce ice cream sundae to wear gloves, since the needles do tend to be quite spiky. I have so much love for the spruce, she wrote, they are regal and also taste bloody delicious. Thanks for listening to our Paranormality Magazine podcast Christmas episode. Get more information about the magazine and subscribe to our monthly publication at ParanormalityMag.com. That's ParanormalityMag.com. And if you're a researcher or investigator, send us your stories. We might feature you in our next issue. If you have a paranormal podcast, you can add it to our website so our readers can find your show. And artists, if you'd like your work to be featured in our magazine or on our back cover, contact us. Again, our website is ParanormalityMag.com. I'm Darren Marlar and I'll have more paranormal for you next time from Paranormality Magazine. Merry Christmas.