We arrived in southern Virginia around 7:00 pm last Saturday, after traffic delays on I-66 (not a big surprise). The GPS did its usual less than brilliant job of finding our target destination. It’s fine on the major freeways, but back roads seem to boggle its little microprocessor mind. As Lisa says, “We need to give it an extra two hours if Jim’s going to use the GPS.” Needless to say, Jim insisted on using the GPS. After a few false starts, we found the correct house and were greeted by a crowd. Our client, her husband, their three kids, their minister, his wife, and their two kids, – oh, no, how are we going to do a serious investigation with all these onlookers!
The first step was a review of the photos that the client couldn’t send because of computer problems. I had to suppress a groan of dismay when I realized that some of them had been taken with a cell phone camera. Cell phone cameras are very low resolution and the resulting photos are basically useless in any type of paranormal investigation. Lesson Learned: Always ask the client whether any of the photos she swears show ghostly faces in the window were taken by a camera phone. If so, out they go! Our Photography Expert was able to easily explain many of the photos right off the bat, but it failed to dampen their enthusiasm. Turned out that the minister was also a medium and he offered to accompany me on the tour with the homeowner to share his experiences and feelings.
The chaos continued as we tried to combine the tour with the in-depth interviews, plus we were filming this investigation for an episode of “The R.I.P. Files.” Our talented and unflappable Director, Marianna LaFollette, was a one-woman band that evening, handling camera and sound duties with her usual amazing energy. The client and the minister were both really nice people who truly believe that this house is chock full of ghosts. The minister kept up a running commentary all during the tour, giving out names, dates, and details on the numerous entities who were allegedly observing our progress. We were minus our sensitive, Rene, that evening due to a previously scheduled family commitment so we did not have anyone to do a reality check for us. The minister/medium was very sincere in his comments and obviously felt he was accurately reporting on the unseen residents of this particular house – and perhaps he was. At one point, he felt his throat being grabbed and heroically stepped in to push Lisa out of the way as he said he saw the entity turning to attack her next. Lisa felt nothing out of the ordinary at the time of the incident.
The Symptoms: The homeowner reported a wide variety of paranormal events, including voices, banging and rattling, writing on the mirrors, full body apparitions, occasional foul odor, footsteps, a growling noise in the upstairs closet, a bucket handle flipping back and forth on its own, and the dishwasher buttons being pushed all by themselves. These activities had become so intense that the family was forced to move out and were currently living in a hotel.
The Investigation: The madness eventually subsided as we finished the tour/interviews and completed our equipment set-up with infrared cameras in the kitchen, family room, upstairs Master Bedroom, and basement. Additional video cameras that did not feed into the monitor were placed in other “active” areas. Our Photography Expert took photos of the entire house, inside and outside. We divided into teams to measure and develop a complete grid of the house, noting locations of windows, fireplaces, electrical outlets and other details, as well as taking baseline EMF readings and temperature readings. Another team was charged with looking for logical explanations of reported anomalies and almost immediately they were able to re-create the banging and rattling noises with the basement water pipes. They are very loose and any kind of movement causes reverberations throughout the house. We also noticed a type of "growling" sound in the upstairs closet as the water pipes kicked in. I took first watch at Central Command, keeping an eagle eye on the monitor. The first thing I noticed was that three out of the four cameras were blurry, although they had been sharp and clear when we tested them at home the previous evening. Odd… It was fascinating to watch the “orb show” as teams entered and exited various rooms and the dust was stirred into action. Orbs flew across the screen – big ones and little ones. As an experiment, on the off chance that orbs actually mean anything, we exited and entered several times and the results were always the same. Enter a room, stir up the dust, orbs appear; exit a room, dust settles back down, no more orbs.
We did not note any particular temperature fluctuations on the first and second floors. There were a few EMF spikes in the kitchen and in the fireplace room, but these were traced to a boombox and a wire running up inside the wall. We recorded some EMF spikes in the basement and the wiring appeared to be sub-standard, but there was no significant EMF leaking in the rest of the house. EVP sessions with props and K2 meters did not produce any results. As the night wore on, we explored the house top to bottom and continued to take readings, do sessions, and perform a thorough investigation. Then, it happened.
It was approximately 2:30 am and I was on monitoring duty again at Central Command. Central Command was set up in the dining room and the dining room had an open door to the left of where I was sitting that led directly into the kitchen, one of the “hot spots” for reported activities. I was quietly watching the monitors, noting the location of the two teams, and watching for any anomalies when I heard a distinct rustling sound to my left. It sounded as though it came from the far end of the kitchen. It was immediately followed by the sound of rapid footsteps, moving from the study across the kitchen floor and into the laundry room. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up and so did I. I watched intently for a moment before moving to the lighted kitchen to take photos and attempt EVP/K2 work. I also alerted one of the teams. After at least 45 minutes, and no additional activity, I ended the session with high hopes that I had found some good evidence.
The Evidence: We reviewed the photos, audio, and video. No evidence found. We were unable to find any logical explanations for the bucket handle moving by itself, the dishwasher buttons being pushed, the voices, or the apparitions. We discovered a possible "non paranormal" explanation for the writing on the mirrors, but have been unable to confirm our theory.
Personal Experiences: Three out of four infrared monitoring cameras were blurred out, but worked fine at home both before and after. I heard rustling and footsteps in the kitchen. The door of an armoire was closed when I checked it, but another team approximately 15 minutes later found the door ajar. We could not re-create the door opening on its own. This happened in an area where the minister/medium had reported a hostile entity. Lisa and I both independently reported a “pins and needles” sensation on the staircase.
Conclusion: Interesting and worthwhile investigation, but no solid evidence of paranormal activity found.
Upcoming Investigations: We're investigating a "hostile haunt" private residence case in Virginia this weekend - look for my report next week. Ballestone Manor (the Ballestone-Stansbury House) is still on for Halloween. On November 1st, we're investigating a private residence near Richmond that apparently has Civil War ghosts, as well as more contemporary spirits. After that, we're checking out the Samuel Mudd House. We're going to Trans-Allegheney Lunatic Aslyum for a lockdown overnight on November 15th, followed by a night with the spirit of Edgar Allen Poe at the Westminster Hall Burying Grounds and Catacombs in Baltimore on November 22nd. A brief break for Thanksgiving, then it's off to Gettysburg for a ghost hunting seminar with Mark Nesbitt, Scott Cronower, and Laine Crosby of "Ghosts of Gettysburg." I'll report on all of our activities on this blog. Let me know if you have any questions or comments. I'd love to hear from you!
Comment
RSS
Email
Print
