Nottinghamshire Paranormal Activity

Let me tell you, I wish that the American Freedom of Information Act worked like the British one does. In the United Kingdom you apparently can now request information from all levels of government and they'll provide it, no matter how silly the request may seem. Freedom of Information requests revealed a few weeks back that the English city of Leicester was unprepared for a zombie attack, and earlier this spring shed light on paranormal activity in the Welsh county of Powys. A similar request was recently filed in Nottinghamshire, revealing police reports of paranormal activity there over the course of the last six years.

The force revealed there were 46 reports of witchcraft, three UFO sightings and 34 incidents involving ghosts.

Ch Insp Ted Antill said there were calls where officers did attend the scene of "ghost sightings".

He confirmed the UFO sightings were "exclusively" Chinese lanterns.

Paul Stevenson, from Haunted Magazine based in Sutton-in-Ashfield, submitted the Freedom of Information request to the police which led to the disclosure of the figures.

He said he was "very surprised" by the amount the police had received.

Ch Insp Antill said there are calls which at first appear to be "serious incidents", like intruders in the property, but turn out "to be of the ghost nature."

I guess that means the real UFO's are landing in Powys county, though ghosts and witches appear to be active everywhere. Maybe Wales just has better landing sites or something.

The problem with doing research like this in the United States is not that the information is considered secret but rather that it's so decentralized. Years ago my mother was involved with the Neighborhood Watch in her area and received a list of all the police reports that were filed there each month, so they do give it out. I read through a few of the lists back then and don't remember anything about ghosts or UFO's, but I do recall the reported theft of thirty Koosh balls and the men suspiciously dressed as Catholic priests who turned out to in fact be Catholic priests and I'm sure there are paranormal reports from time to time. What I wouldn't give for access to a searchable database that covered the whole metro area!