What are your thoughts on Animals and paranormal activity? Can pets see spirits or ghosts?

Earlier this week my pug Brunson stared at something (nothing I could see) and barked and uncurled his tail. He acted generally unsettled, and I got an erie feeling. This has happened twice since then. Thoughts?

[Rana] I've seen some fairly compelling evidence to suggest this is possible. Back in the Little Town the people who live next to Mother have a home that had been owned by an eccentric and cranky elderly couple. When the new owners began to renovate the home, strange things started to happen. For instance, Earl was repeatedly locked out of the front door no matter what he did to make it impossible for that door to lock.

Jean, the wife in the equation, has that recurring polio syndrome, and has an assistance dog. The animal at the time, Copper, was scary smart. He used to sit in the front hall looking up at nothing -- a nothing about the exact height of the old man who used to live there -- and wag his tail and "talk."

[Shanna] Yesterday, my husbad and I decided to leave the video camera setup just to document what Brunson does when we're gone. We could only get the first hour, but the results were surprising. About 25 minutes in, a piece of mail from NetFlix flys off the DVD player and hits him! He put his tail down, and 35 minutes in, starts howling a sad, low howl. He also looks around the room and acts generally uncomfortable. As soon as I find my DV cord, I'll upload it to YouTube and link it. Hopefully I can get it done this weekend.

[Rana] Okay, just to confirm, the piece of mail flies off of its own accord? Brunson didn't bump the DVD player? No breeze or draft? It just independently moves? If so, you may have something really significant there. I'm dying to see it.

[Shanna] I'll get it uploaded ASAP. He was laying in the floor. The AC was off since we were going to be gone for a couple of hours (trying to save on the power :-D). It just flies off! Crazy.

[Shanna] I am uploading the videos to google now. The shorter one just shows him lying there and the paper flying off.

The second one is the money shot- luckily, my husband forgot to turn off the air. 18 minutes into the 2nd one, you can hear the sound of the AC clicking on, so we can discount that theory if there was a doubt! Also, I need to rewatch it to catch the time, but their is a weird noise.. kind of lke a "ooooohhhhh" and he looks around the room. I didn't hear it when we watched it on the TV. It's after he lies down on the floor. LOL, he's such a bad pug. He jumps on the kitchen table almost as soon as we leave. I'll post the links as they are done.

[Rana] I really am looking forward to seeing your video and the fact that you can verify that the air conditioner was off is excellent.



[Rana] What is to the left off camera? I see light and shadow playing on Brunson's fur before the piece of mail flies off.



Okay, look at Brunson's left shoulder blade (as we are looking at him.)



Here the left shoulder is darker and a shadow has fallen over the room.

Watch the video, pause it, and use the forward and reverse controls over the part before the piece of mail flies and look for the changes in light and shadow. There's one point, just seconds before the piece of mail flies, when a pronounced shadow appears on that side of Brunson's body.

[Shanna] It's the TV. We leave Animal Planet on for him (or did, I see now he doesn't even watch it). When I look at it frame by frame, he seems to be jumping up before the paper comes down. Creepy.

[Rana] I thought it might be the set but when I didn't hear any sound I wasn't sure. I have absolutely no explanation for the flying mail. Is he still acting strange?

[Shanna] Sidenote: I just uploaded the 26 min. vid to google, and for some reason its only 5 mins long when I look at it! It took all night. Any hints? Where else can I upload a huge vid- or better yet, how do I compact it to upload it to youtube or google?
Here is the link to the first five mins.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-9193877377972141236&hl=en

[Rana] Okay, first off, I'm loving the getting on the table part. I would say Brunson is busted on that one. Does he always make those little growly, talking noises?

I don't know about big videos. Is there a way you can actually time compress it on your end? You know, one of those time elapsed effects? Would probably be a function within your video software, I'm guessing.

Have you considered trying to get evidence of EVPs (electronic voice phenomenon)? I'm sure you've seen this done on TV. You need to get an audio recorder and spend some time "evoking" the potential spirit. Most material I've read suggests you should begin by saying, "We mean you no harm. This device is just a tool to record your voice. We'd like to ask you some questions and if you feel like answering, we'd appreciate it."

From there I'd probably ask things like, "Do you like Brunson? Does Brunson bother you? Are you trying to play with him?" You won't hear anything until you play the tape back. Potentially there could be something there. You probably need to spend a good half hour on this to have any chance of catching a response.

[By the way, my favorite grad school professor was a Dr. Brunson who has since passed on. If your pug has an insatiable desire to have two Hershey bars and black coffee for lunch, I may have the answer to the whole issue. ;-) ]