BY GARY MITCHELL
Paranormal experts have always claimed Leicestershire is home to some of the most bone-chilling ghost stories around.
Now, the city has been named one of the country's top "twilight zones" - where some of the strangest things happen.
In a new booklet. called Enter if You Dare, Leicester is listed as 4th among the 13 hotspots nationally.
It has been written by David Sutton, editor of Fortean Times, a magazine devoted to the supernatural, and claims to have involved research "across a wide variety of sources from the supernatural community".
One of the local examples it lists is the story of 11-year-old Jade Greenwood, who in 2002, was sitting on a sofa at her grandmother's home in Wigston when she was struck by a "glowing red ball".
When the Mercury reported the story at the time, Jade told how she had been left with a faint red mark on her head - but experts explained that it may have been the rare phenomenon of ball lighting, also known as St Elmo's Fire.
Professor David Llewellyn-Jones, an expert in atmospheric physics at Leicester University, explained at the time: "You get a build-up of electrical field around various objects, often just before a lightning strike."
However, believers in Leicester said they were not surprised the city got a mention in the book, billed as "a spotter's guide to the UK's real twilight zones".
Lee Gilbert is a medium and parapsychologist who also works for the city council's museums, many of which are reportedly haunted. He runs ghost-hunting vigils at places including the Guildhall and Belgrave Hall.
He said: "I agree with what this report is saying. We're finding more and more places in Leicester where there is paranormal activity."
He said: "All I can say to sceptics is that we have had people who come on our ghost vigils as sceptics and leave as believers.
"Some of the things that happen on these trips can be explained but others can't, unless you consider the paranormal."
One of the most haunted buildings in Leicestershire, say paranormal experts, is Aylestone Hall.
Many people have reported apparitions at the building, which dates from medieval times.
About 20 years ago, Dave Pick was a park ranger and believes he saw the ghost of an old woman during a routine nightly patrol.
He told how her face "was all white and she was dressed in black."
Mr Pick, now 70, said: "I didn't believe in anything out of the ordinary until I saw that woman that day. With what I read in newspapers and hear about ghosts, I'm not surprised they're saying this about Leicester.
"Every story I hear makes me think back to the experience I had."
The county has also had its fair share of chilling apparitions and spooky tales.
Last year, the Paranormal Database website listed 70 reports of strange activity in the whole of Leicestershire, many dating back to the early 20th century.
They include accounts of horrifying encounters with ghosts roaming hotels, churches and historic buildings.
The Harborough Theatre, for example, is reputed to have a ghost, possibly that of a murdered woman who worked in the Green Dragon pub which once occupied the site.
Dave Sutton said the guide, published by Disneyland Resort Paris to promote its new Tower of Terror ride, "throws open the door to the 4th dimension."
Birmingham was listed as the number one twilight zone. The booklet can be downloaded at the address below.
http://www.thisisleicestershire.co.uk/d ... K=20155826
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