back Ghosts or Guilty Consciences?  Nexus; New Times; Vol. 6, No. 3; April-May, 1999 The Twilight Zone, page 60   Haunted Headquarters Spooks British Spies!   The UK Ministry of Defense (MoD) has a problem on its hands with claims that the new headquarters for the Intelligence and Security Centre (ISC), the 850-year-old Chicksands Priory near Bedford, is haunted by at least nine spirits, including a nun called Rosata who was entombed after being forced to watch her lover's execution. (The ISC is an all-servicesagency, established in 1996 to coordinate covert intelligence operations.) After several sightings, unexplained laughter and moving lights in unoccupied rooms, the MoD deployed surveillance equipment and seismic sensors, but nothing conclusive was records. Brigadier Chris Holten, head of the ISC, appreciates the irony of an intelligence agency being haunted by spooks. He believes the apparitions are recordings of "traumatic events imprinted in the fabric of the building." Permission has been obtained for a new investigation - involving ISC personnel using high-tech pressure sensors, night vision recorders, infrared video, temperature and movement sensors - to prove Brig. Holten's conviction that there is a "spiritual element to the intelligence business." The Priory was used as a covert radio interception station from 1936, and was taken over by the US Air Force from 1950 to 1995. The following year, the ISC moved in . . . and the ghosts made their presence known. (Source: Intelligence, no. 92, 25 Jan 1999) *********************************************************** back