While most of you doomsayers are concerned with 2012, I’m going to propel you all back one hundred years to 1912, where my needle today is currently stuck.
Why is that, you ask?
Because in the news, the unknown baby fished out of the water from the Titanic wreckage, just became identified as Sidney Leslie Goodwin, a nineteen month old infant on his way to Niagara Falls, not in a barrel, where he may have been safer, but as a passenger on the world’s largest steam powered ship, The Titanic.
On April 14, 1912, the unthinkable became sinkable when the Titanic hit an iceberg, rather decisively, and two hours and forty minutes of adrenaline pumping terror later, 1,497 passengers met their watery ends in the frigid depths of the Atlantic, both in history and in Cameron’s movie, which was, IMHO, a far superior version, mainly because it had Kate and Leo.
Why did it take so long to ID Sidney?
Well, though DNA testing hasn’t been around for all that long, we must keep in mind that Sidney Leslie Goodwin was discovered to be a 3rd class passenger and therefore, in hindsight, he doesn’t matter. Though we didn’t know that then, of course, there’s no fooling the universe!
And now that we’ve dispensed with the historical portion of our story, let’s get on with the paranormal, shall we?
Though the events of the Titanic are haunting in and of themselves, the passengers’ deaths crossover into the supernatural with the haunted traveling exhibit that has been touring the globe.
One visitor in St. Paul, MN, felt a searing cold hand on her shoulder, ran to the bathroom and found a two inch red mark there.”
In places such as New York, Las Vegas, and in the Georgia Aquarium, there have been numerous accounts of paranormal activity, reports Meghann Gibbons, a spokeswoman for the Titanic Aquarium exhibit in Georgia.
While viewing the first class quarters at the Aquarium, one lady’s four year old son grew very inquisitive. “Who is that lady,” and “What is she doing?” he asked, while observing a dress lying across a love seat, with no one visibly standing beside it.
In New York, a night watchmen for the exhibit stated at 3AM a motion detector was set off, the sounds of machinery were heard, and the entire building was vibrating like a ship. Currently, he is holding Ben Stiller responsible and plans to sue him on the grounds of life imitating art! Okay, I might’ve made that last part up, but I assure you the haunting was real–or perhaps not real, depending on your willingness to accept eyewitness testimony, or a long form of a Hawaiian birth certificate with a raised seal clearly stamped on it! But, I do digress, just a tad.
The (Ghost Hunter) team asked the spirits if they wanted them to leave. A voice clearly replied, “Now–please, wait.”
Many witnesses at the Titanic exhibits report overwhelming feelings of panic and sadness in several of the rooms, while one visitor in St. Paul, MN, felt a searing cold hand on her shoulder, ran to the bathroom and found a two inch red mark there.
These reported experiences were too tantalizing for Sci-fi’s Ghost Hunters to pass up. So, they set up shop at the Georgia Aquarium and when they’d sufficiently calmed down enough from scaring one another, they listened to the results of an EVP (electronic voice phenomena) recording. The team asked the spirits if they wanted them to leave. A voice clearly replied, “Now–please, wait.”
…And we are still waiting today, mainly because the Ghost Hunters didn’t play the recording till they were back within the safe confines of their studio.
Though typically one finds hauntings to take place in a centralized location, what we have here is a traveling caravan of spirits that have attached themselves to the artifacts of the Titanic.
So, what is it these supernatural wandering gypsies want?
Perhaps, once they bring enough pairs of clean underwear with them, the Ghost Hunters might someday risk going back to gather more answers.
So, any parting thoughts about the Titanic?
Yes, but first I want to thank the unknown inquirer for all her thought provoking questions strategically planted throughout this post.
And now, here are my parting thoughts regarding this horrible tragedy:
Too much ego and too few lifeboats were to blame for so many deaths on the Titanic’s maiden voyage. This was not man’s finest hour, but many men did bravely sacrifice their lives so that many more women and children could be spared. I rather like that noble idea, but wonder whether it would still be in play today, and if so, where RuPaul and Chaz Bono might wind up. Seems the world is too complex a place for such outdated chivalry. So instead of running around like chickens deciding who deserves to live and die, here’s an idea: How about we make it a habit to supply enough lifesaving goods for everyone on this crazy globe we inhabit?