An Article By: Matt Bartos

Introduction

My last article on paranormal phenomena will probably be half or a quarter as long as this one, with probably three times the amount of information. Plus I’ve had time to study up on the paranormal so my knowledge in this field is greater than it was before. I’ll begin with the basics. Paranormal Phenomena is something that cannot be explained scientifically or explained at all. If there’s no theory or explanation to something, it’s supposedly paranormal. In parapsychology, it is used to describe the potentially psychic phenomena of telepathy, extra-sensory perception (ESP), psycho kinesis, ghosts, and hauntings. Now, some people are beleivers of this type of phenomena, which means they believe that there is another dimension in which we don’t understand such as ghosts, spirits of the dead, etc. Skeptics are the opposite. They believe that there is a scientific explanation for every thing that happens, or most of what happens. In my own opinion, I think it takes a personal experience to become a believer. But that’s not with everybody. Some people could naturally be beleivers. In my opinion there are more skeptics around. But that’s just me.

My Beliefs (De-bunkable Instances)

            And ME, well I’m somewhat both. I’m both a believer and a skeptic. For one, there IS a scientific or logical explanation for most of what happens in a so called haunted house. For instance you can explain footsteps, you can explain shadows, etc, etc. I’ll talk about the theories for these phenomena later, but some, or most instances or noises are logically explainable. On the other hand, you have some things you can’t explain. Here’s an example.

Unexplained Phenomena

            If anybody is familiar with TAPS (The Atlantic Paranormal Society), they do paranormal investigations and so on. During an investigation in the Ogden’s house (Season 2, part 1 disc 4), Jason (The founder of TAPS) was sitting on a chair with a mini-mag lite (left) in his hand. He was gripping the light with both hands, with his hands over the light. His hands were in his lap. The light suddenly escaped his powerful grip and flew 8 feet away. If anybody owns a mini-mag, it’s considerably heavy, and takes on heck of a twitch to toss one that far. It was seen on the video camera the light jumping out of his hand. This is one case where there’s no explanation for this type of phenomena.

Another example of something unexplainable is the Race Rock lighthouse. A picture of this appears as the background for the TAPS’ logo. (Left) This is where they actually captured a chair moving on its own. As soon as Grant (The Co-founder of TAPS) got up from a chair, he went back through the only entrance in the loft of the lighthouse. You can see the cameraman follow him out past the doorway. The camera auto-focuses once or twice, then the chair skids 7-8 inches to the right, or left from the camera’s point of view. There was nobody in the room, no vibrations, no wind, no wire or string, and nobody to get caught on the chair. It moved completely on it’s own. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GjcrQVxawE&feature=related)

Another example is Eastern State Penitentiary. Some of you may have heard of this investigation or even seen the video. But on one of the infara-red cameras in cell-block 12, the camera caught something in which Jason believes to be some genuine paranormal evidence. During evidence analysis, they came across a piece of footage that showed something rising from the floor and running away very quickly. It happens fast, but not so fast that you can’t see it. To me it looks as if something’s running to the camera, and then running away. This object is classified as a shadow. A part of it shows for one frame that looks white, and then it runs away. The white part is shown at the closest point. Any who, they tried to re-create this phenomenon by putting a black blanket over somebody and having them run to and from the camera. Same conditions, lights off, same camera in the same spot. There was absolutely no way to run in between the railing and the cells, because there is not enough room. Plus there’s no way to see without running into something. The speed the object was moving at was impossible for the surroundings.

            The TAPS team re-visited eastern State Penitentiary. This re-investigation turned up nothing, with no EVP (Electronic Voice Phenomena), or any type of audio, or video. No thermal hits either. The team also investigated areas of Eastern State that they didn’t investigate before such as the infirmary where many people actually died. Still they turned up nothing. They still have no idea what they caught on the camera. This is the same video of Top Ten TAPS moments, this clip is #1. (9:13 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ciHf4WXKY4E)

            One more perfect example of unexplained phenomena would be the TAPS team investigating Fort Delaware. This was a recent investigation which happened to be the 2008 Halloween special. They visited the place earlier, and I do remember some details of what happened on the investigation and it definitely was interesting. But I’d have to say I’ve never seen anything like I saw in this episode. I personally believe Fort Delaware is very haunted, and has lots of activity there. The history of the fort is that it used to be a prisoner of war camp that housed about 33,000 confederate soldiers, and probably many hundreds or more that have died there. Now moving onto the activity that turned up. During the investigation, as they began doing thermal and EMF sweeps of the dungeon, Jason (Lead Investigator) heard a voice. Then Grant (Co-founder) hear it again, except louder, saying “Your not supposed to be here” and it was audible on the TV camera as well, clear as day. Grant asks, “Are we not supposed to be here?” and again the voice replies more insistently, “Your not supposed to be here!”. This voice can be described as a slightly garbled, and yet very loud whisper. But still audible. Now realize that they are in dungeons with people everywhere. Ranging from sound production crew to cameramen and fellow investigators. Nobody, no prankster, could have possibly gotten into Fort Delaware which happens to be on Pea Patch Island, could have infiltrated the fort to contaminate evidence. It wasn’t the sound of wind either because of the same fact that it’s a dungeon. And there were audible words and syllables.

            There was another incident involving Grant himself. Him and 2 other investigators one of them being Jason were trying to make contact with whatever may have been in the room with them. As Grant was moving to another area in the room, he felt a tug on the hood of his jacket. The disturbing part about this is that you can see his hood being pulled backwards. He goes back, and then tries it again. The same result. He is tugged on his hood, and it is visibly going backwards and down. It happens a third time and all three times the TV camera catches it happening. It’s also caught on the thermal camera, and as the hood is being pulled back the temperature decrease on the part of the hood that was moving. Now of course everybody tried different explanations to de-bunk this incident. They looked inside of his hood to see it anything was catching like a microphone wire, but of course there was nothing in the hood. His microphone was in the front going beneath his sweater so there’s no way it was involved with his hood. Also there’s nothing hanging from the ceiling that would possibly catch on his hood and even more perplexing, nothing could have possibly pulled the hood backwards and the down. Along with the thermal imaging camera catching the temperature drop, this is what I call genuine paranormal phenomena. 

My Own Experiences

            I’ll start off by saying I’ve never seen a full-bodied apparition. I can say thought I’ve seen things out of the corner or tops of my eyes that I can’t explain. One instance was me sitting in geometry class (this was recent) and I saw something fly across the ceiling in my direction. It was too big to be a bug. It was ultra-fast but I saw it go by. I asked a friend of mine if he saw anything but the answer was no.

Personally, I think my eyes play tricks on me all the time. When you shift in and out of focus, it’s possible to mistake something within your eye for a shadow, or something moving. Especially if you move your eyes quickly from far left to far right, everything is a blur for a fraction of a second. You can’t tell what’s there in that tiny fraction so it’s always a possibility most shadows are imagined. Plus, your eyes only have a small area of complete focus. Everything else around that area of focus is blurry or incomplete; your brain just fills in the other areas, if that makes sense. So your peripheral vision is technically incomplete, and a shadow could look like something else. It’s just something to consider, I’m not saying that this is what people are seeing, but it’s a theory of mine.

The Possum Incident

Another experience of mine was very late, out in my backyard. I go outside every night, and check things around the house and yard. One night I was outside without my mag-lite (which is rare) and I actually heard what sounded like human footsteps through the leaves. This is in the fall by the way. It was one step right after another. Step.. step… step, etc. An even pace. Anywho, I asked who was there, and then they stopped for a moment. A few seconds later they continued. I went back into the house for my mag-light, and searched the yard. I heard the footsteps scurry away, and I pursued them into the back fence. This is where I discovered a possum behind the fence. Apparently it was looking for food, and rummaging through the leaves carefully looking. This made is sound like even footsteps in leaves. This was an instance where I could easily de-bunk something I thought to be paranormal which happens a lot. And there a re probably many instances where this happens.

One situation in which I could not debunk was a photograph I took. I’m a stickler on orbs and things of that nature. I believe there’s an explanation for every orb in a photograph or video clip. Anyways, I did a small investigation of my own in some abandoned mills in our area, which have been empty for about 3-4 decades. I took a photo around the corner of a doorway into a storage room. In this photograph which was accidentally deleted, it showed orbs all throughout the room. It showed them small and far away, middle, close-up, etc. The lights were on at this time. I understand completely that it could have easily been dust or something of that nature, but since no one has been in there for so long, how could dust be stirred up? It’s impossible. And no there were no animals in the room. It’s sealed off except for the door. There was no wind either since it is an interior room. I wouldn’t say it’s completely paranormal, but I’d say it’s unusual. Some people also believe that orbs are gathered energy in a room, that being either electromagnetic or something of that nature. Anyhow, it’s something to look into.

Methods of Investigation

            When something happens to somebody that they can’t explain, they try to find out what it is or what caused it. People may try to re-create something to compare it to what they experienced, and they used special tools & equipment to do so. There are many ways to investigate something paranormal and in this next section I’ll discuss those ways. I’ll also go into the theories behind the methods used for finding paranormal activity.

 Electronic Voice Phenomena

            One method of hunting paranormal activity is using a digital voice recorder or digital audio recorder device. These capture what are called “EVP’s” which stands for electronic voice phenomena. This is either an unheard sound by the human ear or something heard by the human ear and also caught on audio. There are many cases from TAPS (The Atlantic Paranormal Society) in which this has happened. The team or investigator will hear a noise or a voice that is either in the distance or it’s simply there, and they will usually find it on digital audio. There have been cases in which an investigator will hear something and it does not turn up on audio. Then it’s also the same inversely. Say you do an EVP session with a digital recorder going, and you don’t hear a thing but the sound or voice appears on the recorder. This is an EVP.

            There was an episode in Ghost hunters (TAPS) [The Boy in the Brothel, Season 4] in which Jason & Grant were investigating a restaurant which used to be a brothel house. This is where I think someone was hung, I’m not sure on details so leave me a comment after if you know about it. Anyhow, they heard a voice of a little boy, clear as day, from behind a counter. I heard it from the TV camera and when they analyzed the evidence. I can’t remember exactly what was said but I know it was very clear.

            Overall, using EVP’s to catch paranormal activity is probably the best and most well-known methods. Sometimes though audio evidence can be contaminated which is it’s only downside. If say someone is moving a lot it makes rattling noises on the audio. Or say you might be accidentally covering the microphone or there’s dogs barking in the background; stuff that can be mistaken for something paranormal when it’s something completely explainable and logical. When doing an EVP you first off have to know what other sounds there are – so you do not mistake these for something else. Also you’ve got to hold it right. If you hold a digital audio recorder sideways you’ll probably be covering the microphone or hitting buttons. Another thing that easily contaminates audio – wind. When the wind is high, you can’t hear anything else. You may feel a very slight breeze at the time, but sometimes the audio picks up on that type of stuff very sensitively. It can get loud too. But overall you can say that most conditions are ideal for an EVP sessions, but there are special cases sometimes. I’m referring mostly to outdoor cases. But the same applies to indoors, because wind can be inside, and noises from outside can possibly be heard as well such as cars. I’d still say that EVP’s are a standard method in an investigation.

K2 – EMF (Electromagnetic Field Detector)

            The K2 meter also known as an EMF Detector (electromagnetic Fields) is another common tool used in investigations. This tool is mainly used by electricians but it is said that when a spirit or entity passes near it will show readings of an electromagnetic field nearby. Now, electricity emits a field around it; and electromagnetic field. Certain exposed wires, or if there are many electronics in a room with several cords about they emit high levels of EMF. I have a personal theory on this and it somewhat correlates with the theory that’s already out there. I believe that if the EMF in a room is too high, that they will affect your brain in a way that you actually hallucinate and see things that aren’t really there. I believe that EMF’s may also cause fatigue and slow you down, and that they could even cause skin irritation. A way to prevent these fields is to cover exposed wire, move electronics, etc. Later on I will discuss EMFs in connection with seeing apparitions, sort of what I just covered except with more details.

            Night Cameras (Infrared)

            Another common type of equipment used is a night camera, or DVR. (Digital Video Recorder). These are commonly used by practically everyone, and with investigators, with the hopes of catching a full-bodied apparition like the night cam did in eastern State Penitentiary. There’s actually not much to say about DVR’s here, but I’ll say that they are very common and can be very helpful since they double as audio (EVPs) as well as video. Anyhow, night cameras are specially made to see better in no-light conditions. Since entities like cold dark places the lights have to be out. That’s all I’ve got for night cams so far.

            Thermal Imaging

            I went to a career fair at Delta College, which is our local college around here. And at it they had a thermal imaging camera. Already knowing what it was and seeing it, I sought out more information on it. Thermal imaging cameras detect heat and temperatures and display them as colors on a screen. It helps visualize temperature changes. These devices are mainly used by electricians to spot electrical problems such as a short in a wire, etc. They are also used in the medical field. They can detect swelling or temperature changes in the body. But these have a special function on the paranormal world. These are used to spot out what could be spirits and full-bodied entities. There have been cases where something has been seen on a thermal imaging camera that is not explainable. For example; they are looking down a hallway, and they see nothing but there’s something on the thermal camera that looks like a person. In most cases, these entities will quickly run or move out of view, with an investigator chasing it. One case of this happening would be on the USS Hornet, with the TAPS team. During their investigation, they picked up something peering around a corner. The object disappeared. As they followed it, they heard noises, shuffling, footsteps, etc. There was nobody ahead of them. They followed it into a large room, and into a catwalk above the room. They heard the object running away at an incredible speed. I can explain the footsteps running away like this: BOOM Boom boom, etc. One step its’ close, second, its 50 feet away, and another 50 feet. Of course they followed the phenomena to a door leading to a catwalk on the outside of the aircraft carrier. The door hadn’t been opened in years and was almost completely rusted shut. This was the only way out for the direction it was heading. There is no way something, weather it be a prankster or person, could have escaped the investigators. There were no areas to hide either.

            Now there are certain explanations to happenings on thermal cameras. There have been several recorded cases in which a thermal hit was de-bunked. Most of the time they are solved rather quickly. Thermal beams reflect off of certain types of surfaces, and say that they see something on the screen they think is paranormal when it’s actually just themselves reflecting off of something. Also, sometimes air vents can change temps in a room or area. Say you think there’s some mysterious mist appearing when it’s actually just cold air from an air duct. Another thing: When conducting and outdoor investigation, sometimes you may chase an animal around thinking it’s an energy orb or something or apparition. There are animals, breeze’s, all sorts of things that can contaminate a thermal cam outside, so you do have to keep your mind open to all possibilities.

            Photography

            I have a small selection of photos included on this page of certain photos believed to be paranormal. I post these within the article so I can get opinions and comments about them. So have a look-see at those. Anyways, one other method, probably the oldest and has been around forever is photography. People have caught extraordinary things on film photos. For some reason, film can catch things a video camera or human eye never could. I don’t know why this may be, but that’s how it is. I do think however that there’s a difference between digital photos and film photos. When it’s digital it’s not being developed on film paper within the camera. So there’s a different result there. I believe that photos should be taken with a film camera during investigations. It just seems more logical when attempting to catch something paranormal.

Theories

Shadows and Lights – Explanations

            These have a habit of creeping people out probably on a daily basis. There’s an explanation for just about every shadow there is and I’ll talk about the ones where there’s no explanation too, but for now let’s just talk about how shadows can be proven non-paranormal. Okay. Now, say you’re inside your house. You’re sitting in your living room and all of a sudden a shadow walks along the wall, left to right. Now your thinking, “Holy crap it’s a ghost!” but when really you can easily explain this. If you have any windows of any kind, light can pass through them. If a car drives by with it’s headlights on, it can cast an objects shadow moving on a path because the car’s moving. If a car has its high-beams on, it can make some shadows clear as well. Also say your inside at night and you don’t realize there’s a full moon outside. Now there’s most likely enough light especially if the moon is close enough to the earth, it gives off a decent amount of light. Moonlight naturally has a creepy look to it. Most of the time you look outside and see everything lit up when it’s supposed to be pitch black, it can get your imagination going. But it also plays in with the light factor. It can cast shadows but non-moving ones unless there’s a car or some other moving light. Basically, the point I’m getting at is that when there’s a shadow, there’s a source to that shadow. An object is casting it, and it is being cast by light. It’s actually very simple logic. Where there’s a shadow there’s a source to it.

            Now I know what you’re thinking. You’re saying that sometimes there is not an explanation for shadows and you’re very right. There have been many, many recorded cases in which there have been shadows sighted but there are no light sources anywhere nearby. You can practically take any TAPS investigation and find a shadow in which they can’t explain. Some of course are debunked, but I’m talking about something truly paranormal. For instance; a night vision camera is set up in a room with no windows. This is an infrared night vision camera so it can see in pitch black conditions. Then a shadow moves to the center of the camera, and back off the camera. A situation like this is probably something supernatural. If you have any instances of unproven phenomena being shadows in this case write about it in a comment or reply to this article.

            Creaking and Footsteps De-bunked

            These are common noises in a house. All homes have their own noises, weather it be creaking, footsteps, or even loud bangs. These can be explained. I believe that 95% of the time, footsteps or creaking noises can easily be explained. There are just endless possibilities to these types of noises and sounds. If you read my section where I talked about chasing the possum “footsteps”, that would be a perfect example of debunking this type of phenomena.

            I’ll use one personal example here. There is a strange noise in my household. It moans, it gurgles, it cracks, bangs, and even has some audible words sometimes. This noise comes from…. my refrigerator. I have no idea what’s wrong with it, but it’s old and makes so many strange noises, that my mother thought I was calling her name once. Every noise I hear I practically blame on the refrigerator unless it’s from the basement or outside. Then again, if it’s a noise in the basement, I can say it’s the sump pump or maybe one of our three cats knocked something over. It probably depends on who lives in what house, and what they deem as an unusual sound. Sounds aren’t paranormal unless the source is completely unknown, but something somewhere caused that noise. In my opinion you can probably debunk every single noise you hear unless it’s an EVP because EVP’s are a completely different topic. Say you’re inside your house and there’s a bang or noise outside. Some explanations could be along the lines that it’s an animal. Maybe it’s a car door clamming, or a dog barking. There are endless possibilities. So if your somebody who says that their house is haunted just because there’s strange noises, stop right in your tracks and think logically. Try to re-create the sounds. Look around. Find the cause. That’s my advice to those people.

            A theory on creaking and banging noises in household is expansion & contraction. It’s pretty simple science actually. At night, temps go down, because there’s less sunlight obviously. When temperatures decrease, an object will contract (get smaller) but very slightly. Now if it’s boards or wood contracting, the boards rubbing against each other will create a creaking noise. Sometimes the wood beams in a household will move in very tiny jumps, but so fast over such a small space it sounds like a bang. The colder it get’s the more a house has a tendency to create these noises. The same goes for warm temperatures. When an object is warmer, it expands. This will definitely make some noise, and probably more noise than it it’s cold. First off, the wood beams under or in a house will be pushing out since they are expanding. So that might get noisy.

            The thing about this theory is it’s more common in older houses. The way that new houses are built these days it is more unlikely that it will happen. But it’s not impossible for this to be happening in your house. This could happen anywhere, it just depends on how it’s constructed.

            Orbs – “Balls of Energy”

             These can almost be common in any photo, but more in photos taken with a flash at night. These orbs are a reflection of light off of the lens of a camera. They can also be dust hovering in a room. Some people believe that they are balls of energy just accumulated in a space. I don’t know exactly what kind of energy, but that’s what people believe. To be completely honest, I hate orbs because they cause lots of controversy. People see an orb and right away they go, “Omagosh, it’s a ghost!” My response: “No it’s not!!” It can be easily explained. It doesn’t help that the shape of the reflection is a circle because it’s also the shape of the lens, which is where the reflection comes from. Orbs are not paranormal. There’s no way to capture a ball of energy in an area on camera, because it can’t reflect light off of it, or generate light from it in a photograph. If you do catch one, it’s like a collection of either electromagnetic energy or something, I don’t know.

            These are some photographs of photos believed to have orbs in them. Are these paranormal? You decide. I think their baloney, but tell me what you think. I’m always open to opinions.  

Cold Spots

            This is an almost common happening either during an investigation or anywhere. It is believed that cold spots are formed when an entity is trying to manifest itself (appear or settle in). Another reason is that sometimes it will draw away energy from anything it can in order to do something. In this case it being thermal energy. Heat from the room is drawn from the entity. In some cases even energy from camera batteries are taken, draining the battery sometimes temporarily allowing the camera to turn back on, and sometimes it drains the battery completely dead. Say you have 200 minutes of recording time. You may enter an area with a cold spot and your camera may die and then turn back on with only 120 minutes left or something. Temperatures can drop anywhere from 20-30 degrees, maybe even 40 in some cases. Now there are special circumstances around these cold spots. They have to be in an ideal location for them to be paranormal. A breeze could blow in from anywhere causing a significant drop in temperature in the air around. Also, heating/cooling vents may also cause changes in the air especially in a direct draft. Other explanations range from open windows to cars driving by or just plain gusts of wind. There are plenty of ways to de-bunk cold spots, but sometimes there are unexplained circumstances.

            Say for example its summertime and its 100 degrees outside. Even when there is a breeze it’s a very warm breeze. There’s no cool air outside at all. All of a sudden there’s a ice cold chill in the air and the temp goes into the 40’s. This is an example of an unexplained circumstance because there are no freezers outside or anything to cause something like that. Sold spots in the summer are usually more credible because there aren’t many cold things in 90 degree heat.

            When a cold spot occurs, you can almost expect some type of activity. Weather it be an object moving, a banging noise, or something falling. Usually when there’s a cold spot an event occurs with it. Most of the cases TAPS has been on when they experience a cold spot something happens. One case they were on they were investigating an Army base or armory I’m not sure completely, but Steve began getting a cold spot on the temp gauge. All of a sudden the sound production man, who happened to be holding a bag of equipment and a microphone boom, was knocked right on his back with the equipment falling on top of him. On the DVR it shows his bag lifting up and hitting him in the jaw. Now keep in mind that there is some decently heavy equipment in this bag. Plus on top of that he is holding a microphone boom which is a considerable weight. All of his hands were taken and there’s no possible way that he could’ve lifted up his bag and have it hit him in the jaw the way it did. On the thermal camera he was showing signs of bruising so the bag was literally thrown towards his head. The bag could not catch on his arm and move at that speed. This is a good example of what can happen during a cold spot. Granted, that this is a worst case scenario, because most of the time people do not get injured on an investigation unless it’s a negative entity. But it’s a good example.

Exposure to EMF’s (ElectroMagnetic Fields)

            If you are exposed to high levels of EMF’s (Electromagnetic fields) it does actually affect you, in more ways than you think. If the levels are high enough, it can affect you physically, and mentally. One of my personal theories with EMF’s is that if you are exposed to high enough levels of it, it can actually affect your normal brain functions causing certain types of hallucinations, or creating a feeling of paranoia or fear. When certain chemicals become off balance in your brain (the chemicals being affected by the high EMF’s) it creates certain feelings. Some people say they feel sadness, or emptiness in a certain area, of which might have EMF’s. Sometimes the circumstances show that there are no EMF’s in an area, but that’s a different topic. They can also affect you physically. Sometimes you may experience skin irritations, which may explain some people having the feeling of being touched, or feeling a hand or a tug on your pant leg. Any case where someone is touched where there are high EMF’s, that’s a possible explanation for that. I’m not saying that’s what people are experiencing; I’m saying it’s a possibility to consider.

            It’s also possible the some people are just creeped out by the area. The area may have a gloomy or dark look about it and people may feel spooked. Take a dungeon or basement for instance. It’s a dark area, and usually has lots of tight spaces. This can create an uncomfortable feeling, especially if someone is more claustrophobic. Someone may feel paranoia, etc. The feeling of sadness can be explained as: your investigating an area where a tragedy may have occurred. Just the thought of knowing what went on there could create that feeling. Going through a place where people may have died – just you knowing that can create that feeling, and seeing certain objects may trigger an emotion. That’s my personal theory regarding EMF’s in relation with feeling things.

EMF’s and Cold Spots

I believe there are some cases in which EMF’s may cause a change in the environment. I

Personally believe that if the EMF’s in an area are high enough, they can actually effect the atmosphere in a room. Say for instance that you’re experiencing cold spots, or seeing flashes of light. If your in an area with several exposed wires, or an area with a very large power source (these being special circumstances) it may actually cause the temperature to decrease, since the air is being so manipulated.

            There have been cases in which flashes of light have been seen. I don’t have a clue what really causes this, but this could be one possible theory. Along with exposed wires and a large power source, you get high EMF’s of course. Now I believe that these high EMF’s may react with exposed wires somehow, creating a flash of light. It’s possible that the electromagnetic field is reacting with the open wires, creating a shock resulting in a flash. That’s my own theory on flashes of light.

            One more thing people experience in a high EMF area is the feeling f the hair standing up on your skin, weather it is on the back of your neck or your arm. Some people say the feel what is like a static charge or the hair is standing up on their skin. A high EMF may explain this. The feeling of static is probably resulting n the electromagnetic field in a certain spot in a room that is higher than anywhere else at that particular moment. It’s kind of awkward to put it into words and explain it, but at one moment the EMF may be higher in one spot, and you may be in that one spot and feel it spike, resulting in something like a static charge feeling. Just a reminder – most of what has been written above are my own personal theories on EMF’s. These are nto proven by any means.

Real Hauntings

            There are several cases that have been believed to be paranormal by all kinds of paranormal groups everywhere. There are lots of cases of un-proven or non-debunked situations that are believed to be supernatural. I discussed a few of these above, which include Fort Delaware on pea Patch Island, Eastern State Penitentiary, Race Rock Lighthouse, etc. Ask yourself: how is it possible that a chair moves after everybody leaves the room? How does a hanger lift up and fly across the room on its own – with 4 eye witnesses? How does a glass cup break itself while just sitting on a table? Another recent case I just watched was where an electrical cord was wrapped around an old fashioned bell, wrapped on the interior, twice around. They caught the following footage on DVR – the cord lifts up and around, unwrapping itself and falls. These are all cases of actual hauntings and/or a spirit present in an area. Nobody fully understands how after someone dies they stay attached to an area, but there are some cases in which I believe this really happens. Some things you just can’t debunk.

            “History of Resurrection Cemetery”

            Resurrection Cemetery in Chicago, Illinois is one of the more well-known ghost tales. If you’ve watched Unsolved Mysteries: Scariest Ghost Stories, you might have heard this one. The story goes that a blond-hair, blue eyed girl would go to at the O’Henry Ballroom some nights. One night she had an argument with her boyfriend and had to hitch-hick along Archer Avenue – now what is Resurrection Cemetery. She was hit by a driver in a hit & run and died there. I’m somewhat unfamiliar with the story, so here’s an article that better describes the story.

            "Resurrection Mary" is undoubtedly Chicago's most famous ghost. This blonde-hair, blue-eyed beauty has been seen since the latter 1930s. According to legend, she had gone to a dance at the O'Henry Ballroom which is now called the Willowbrook, 8900 Archer Avenue and apparently got into an argument with her boyfriend. She then began to hitchhike down Archer Ave. and somewhere between the Willowbrook and the main gates of Resurrection Cemetery, 7600 Archer Ave. she was struck and killed by a hit and run driver. Soon after this, people began to see a girl in a long white dress and blond hair hitchhiking for rides along Archer Ave.

The very first, first-person account came from Jerry Palus, a south-side man who recently died. He picked up a girl at the Liberty Grove and Hall near 47th and Mozart and danced with her the entire evening. The only strange thing is that she was very cold to the touch. Later she asked for a ride home which was somewhere in the Bridgeport area of Chicago but decided she'd like to go for a ride past the large Catholic cemetery along Archer Avenue, Resurrection. As they began to approach the main gates, she began to act very strangely. She told Jerry to pull the car off the road and, for some reason, she had to run toward the cemetery and that Jerry could not follow. Before he knew what was happening, she darted from the car, ran towards the main gates but disappeared before reaching those gates in plain view of Jerry. He then began to put all of this together and surmised that he had been with a ghost that evening. On a later visit to the home of Mary, he was greeted by a woman who told him that her daughter had been dead for sometime. He even saw a picture of her sitting on a table and was convinced that she was the same girl he had been with. However, that was impossible!________
Cited from: Ghost Research Society (www.ghostresearch.org)
© 1998 Dale Kaczmarek. All rights reserved.
Web site created by Dale Kaczmarek and Matt Hucke.

Myrtles Plantation
            Personally one of my favorite cases to study. Myrtles used to be a slave plantation back in the 1800’s. One of the people that worked as a slave there was named Chloe. Rumor has it that she was caught listening in on her master, I believe it happened more than once so the slave master had her ear cut off. She got revenge on him and his family by putting Oleander leafs ground up in their meals. She thought she would just put enough in to make them very sick so she could nurse them back to health. But the poison was too strong and killed the wife and children. She was supposedly beaten, whipped, and hung. She is believed to still walk the paths she did 200 years ago.
            Another incident recorded – and the only proven murder at the house was William Winter. He responded to someone shouting outside for him. He goes to the door and opens it where he was shot twice in the chest. HE staggers back into the house and up the stairs to the 17^th step. He died in his wife’s arms, on that 17^th step. People hear steps coming up slowly, like someone crawling up, and usually they stop on the 17^th step. It’s more of residual type haunting.

            Here’s some more information, cited from en.wikipedia.org

There are a variety of other legends surrounding the Myrtles. The house is reputedly built over an Indian burial ground, and the ghost of a young Indian woman has been reported.^[4] During the Civil War, the house was ransacked by Union soldiers, and legend claims that three were killed in the house. Supposedly, there is (or was) a blood stain in a doorway, roughly the size of a human body, that will not (or would not) come clean. Other legends say that cleaners have been unable to push their mop or broom into that space. However, there is no record of any Union soldiers having been shot on the Myrtles property.^[2]

A mirror located in the house supposedly holds the spirits of Sara Woodruff and two of her children. According to custom, mirrors are covered after a death, but legend says that after the poisoning of some of the Woodruffs, this particular mirror was overlooked. The uncovered mirror reportedly trapped the spirits of Sara and her children, who are occasionally seen or leave handprints in the mirror. These handprints may have been left by workers replacing the glass or resilvering the mirror.^[6]

The plantation is also reportedly haunted by a young girl who died in 1868, despite being treated by a local voodoo practitioner. She supposedly appears in the room in which she died, and has been reported to practice voodoo on people sleeping in the room.^[7] There is also a ghost who reportedly walks, staggers, or crawls up the stairs and stops on the 17th step. Some have said that this is William Winter, the victim of the only reported murder in the house. Alternate versions of his murder claim he managed to walk or crawl up the stairs, and collapsed in his wife's arms on the 17th step. However, this version of the story is contested.^[2] There have been other reports of odd sounds, but they generally do not have legends attached to them.

There is also a legend involving the mirror of a young girl with blond hair who was skipping down the stairs to the house singing a song. She looked in the mirror and was shot by an unknown someone and her spirit stayed within the mirror to this day in hopes of seeing the face of her killer again and taking revenge. There have been sightings in the mirror of a young girls about nine years of age crawling or slowly walking up and down the stairs humming a tune. There have even been sightings in the mirror of the same girl kneeling on the stairs and crying. These sightings have only been made in the mirror. Whenever someone turns around to look at the stairwell, all is normal. Someone even caught a picture with a cell phone of the girl. Though, very few people got to see it before it was mysteriously erased.

Cited From WIKIPEDIA

            St.Augustine Lighthouse

            Once I saw this lighthouse I was completely convinced it was haunted. There was in-disputable evidence on DVR, audio, etc that there was paranormal activity in the area. You could actually see a dark object peeking over the railing 2 flights up, and then 2 seconds later it will peek over the railing 10 flights up. Plus, there is a motion sensitive light at the top where the entity was seen and recorded, but the light was never activated. An object was seen going up to the top and outside the lighthouse where the automatic light is.

            On a follow-up investigation by TAPS, (The Atlantic Paranormal Society), there was a new form of activity found on the thermal imaging cam. Balls of energy (orbs) or some kind of humanoid form was darting across the top of the lighthouse. The camera was at the bottom pointing up and you could clearly see things shooting across from one side of the stairs to another. This is physically impossible for a human without making noise or falling. You can’t jump from one side of the lighthouse to the other instantaneously.

            Here’s an article from Wikipedia on the St.Augustine Lighthouse.

The lighthouse and surrounding buildings have a long history of paranormal activity. Allegedly, visitors and workers have seen moving shadows, heard voices and unexplained sounds, and seen the figures of two little girls standing on the lighthouse catwalk (who purportedly were daughters of Hezekiah Pittee, Superintendent of Lighthouse Construction, during the 1870s. The girls drowned in a tragic accident during the building of the tower). Other reports are of a woman seen on the lighthouse stairway or walking in the yard outside the buildings, and the figure of a man who roams the basement.^[3]

Stories like these have led The Atlantic Paranormal Society (TAPS) to the scene where they shot an episode of the SciFi Channel show Ghost Hunters. During said episode, TAPS allegedly captured a few mysterious incidents on video in the lighthouse such as a disembodied voice of a woman crying "help me" and a shadowy figure was recorded on video moving about the stairs above them.^[4]

Due to the success of the first investigation, TAPS later returned for a follow-up investigation, and experienced similar incidents for the second time.^{[citation needed]}

The lighthouse offers Dark of the Moon tours where visitors can tour the site at night, and get the real facts about the history of those who have died on the site, though no ghosts are promised.^[5]

“History of the St.Augustine Lighthouse”

Quoted from Wikipedia

            St. Augustine was the site of the first lighthouse established in Florida by the new, territorial, American Government in 1824. According to some archival records and maps, this "official" American lighthouse was placed on the site of an earlier watchtower built by the Spanish as early as the late 16th century.^[2] The Map of St. Augustine depicting Sir Francis Drake's attack on the city by Baptista Boazio, 1589, shows an early wooden watch tower near the Spanish structure. By 1737, Spanish authorities built a more permanent tower from coquina taken from a nearby quarry on the island. Archival records are inconclusive as to whether the Spanish used the coquina tower as a lighthouse.

As the British took control of St. Augustine from Spain in 1763, in exchange for Havana, Cuba, the new government acted quickly to use the coquina watchtower as a light aid-to-navigation. In 1789, the Spanish once again took control of St. Augustine, and once again the lighthouse was improved. British engineer and Marine surveyor, Joseph F.W. Des Barres marks a coquina "Light House" on Anastasia Island in his 1780 engraving, "A Plan of the Harbour of St. Augustine." Jacques N. Belline, Royal French Hydrographer, refers to the coquina tower as a "Batise" in Volume I of "Petit Atlas Maritime." The accuracy of these scholars is debated still, Des Barres work includes some obvious errors, but Belline is considered highly qualified. His work provides an important reference to St. Augustine's geography and landmarks in 1764. Facing erosion and a changing coastline, the old tower crashed into the sea in 1880, but not before a new lighthouse was lit. Today the tower ruins are a submerged archaeological site whose smooth stones may still be seen at low tide.

The 1824 lighthouse was established on the site of the Old Spanish watchtower.

Early lamps in the first tower burned lard oil. Multiple lamps with silver reflectors were replaced by a fourth order Fresnel lens in 1855, greatly improving the lighthouse's range and eliminating some maintenance issues.

At the beginning of the Civil War Confederate authorities, future mayor Paul Arnau a local Menorcan harbor master, along with the light keeper, a woman named Maria De Los Delores Mestre, removed the lens from the old lighthouse and hid it, in order to block Union shipping lanes. The lens and clock works were recovered after Arnau was held captive on a ship off-shore until he revealed their location.

By 1870 beach erosion threatened the first lighthouse. Construction on a new light tower began in 1871 during Florida's reconstruction period. In the meantime a jetty of coquina and brush was built to protect the old tower. A trolley track brought building supplies from the ships at the dock.

The new tower was completed in 1874, and put into service with a new first order Fresnel lens. It was lit for the first time in October by keeper William Russell. Russell was the first lighthouse keeper in the new tower. He was the only keeper to have worked both towers.

For 20 years the site was manned by head-keeper William A. Harn of Philadelphia. Major Harn was a Union war hero who commanded his own battery at the Battle of Gettysburg. With his wife, Kate Skillen Harn, of Maine, he had six lovely daughters. The family was known for serving lemonade out on the porches of the keepers' house, which was constructed as a Victorian duplex during Harn's tenure.

On August 31, 1886 the Charleston earthquake caused the tower to sway violently, according to the keeper's log, but there was no recorded damage.

After many experiments with different types of oils, in 1885 the lamp was converted from lard oil to kerosene.

During World War II, Coast Guard men and women trained in St. Augustine, and used the lighthouse as a lookout post for enemy ships and submarines which frequented the coastline.

In 1907 indoor plumbing reached the light station, followed by electricity in the keeper's quarters in 1925. The light itself was electrified in 1936, and automated in 1955. As the light was automated, positions for three keepers slowly dwindled down to two and then one. No longer housing lighthouse families by the 1960s, the Keepers House was rented to local residents. Eventually it was declared surplus, and St. Johns County bought it in 1970. In that year the Keepers' house suffered a devastating fire at the hands of an unknown arsonist.

Rolling Hills Asylum

            Another good example of paranormal activity. This was one of my favorite episodes of TAPS (Ghost Hunters). I decided to follow-up on it myself and do some research. It tirns out another paranormal group investigated some of the same places as TAPS, including rolling Hills Asylum. This group is based out of Long Island, called LIPI (Long Island Paranormal Investigators). They use a range of different equipment for investigations, which is why I research their investigations. They work the same as TAPS basically.

            Any who, I found some very interesting evidence on the LIPI website posted from that investigation. They were apparently setting up or something, and an digital audio recorder was running. In the background you can hear a scream, and what sounds like another scream saying “Bitch!!”. It’s very loud and clear. Here’s a link. This is saved as a .m3u, or media playlist since their material is protected.

(Sorry, the audio is currently unavailable)

Rolling Hills EVP

            Rolling Hills Asylum was open back about 2 decades ago. I believe it was abandoned many years ago, and for what I don’t know. The history of the place I somewhat grim. Many deaths occurred there. Sometimes surgeries were performed such as lobotomies, and other types of surgery for mental cases. I’m not entirely sure as to what the history of the location is (you can read the Wiki article up ahead), but I do know that there were certain deaths there that can be significant to the area’s haunting. Here’s a Wikipedia article on Rolling Hills.

History of Rolling Hills Asylum

            Quoted from Wikipedia

            Rolling Hills Asylum is currently a research center for the paranormal. It has a differing points in time been an asylum, a mall, and a museum. It opened its doors in 1827 in response to a New York state legislation requiring all counties to assume duties of taking care of individuals unable to care for themselves.

Originally, a tavern servicing stage coaches stood there from 1790 until December 1826, when it was sold to Genesee county. The tavern serviced travelers from Batavia, NY to Warsaw, NY traveling along what is now known as US Route 20. At that point, the facility took in paupers, unwed mothers, the insane, and orphans.

By the early 1950s, the facility served only as a nursing home, where it was then closed by 1972; stepping aside for a new facility in Batavia, NY. After which, the building stood empty until 1992, when it was then re-opened as Carriage Village, a mall of unique shops. In 2002, the current owners Lori Carlson and Jeff Carlson purchased the building, and subsequently renamed it as Rolling Hills Country Mall. The property it stands on was purchased in 1826 from a local Tavern Owner, by Genesee County to accommodate this need.

Current History

Currently, the building serves as a research center into the paranormal, and hosts Ghost Hunts, and is home to the Rolling Hills Paranormal Research Society.

It has been featured in an episode of Ghost Hunters, and has been the subject of a number of events sponsoring it that have been ran by The Atlantic Paranormal Society.

That’s about all I have up to here. I might finish this, I might not. I’m not sure yet. But if you want more info you can always talk to me. I’m available on Yahoo Messenger, Facebook and Myspace so I’m always available. For more info on Rolling Hills asylum, just google it. Also if you know of a haunted area in Saginaw county, let me know! Thanks y’all.

You can find my original Paranormal Phenomena article on my Myspace blog!

SEE MY CHANNEL
http://www.youtube.com/user/mattbar6

This year's season has lot's of short films to be released. This blog talks shortly about a few of them.

Suspicious Activity Report

I know I'm not yet a Police Officer, but I act like one. This was one evening I was up late observing some activities on my street, and decided to pull out the camera. That's basically all there is to say.

The Experiment of the 1920's

First off, this was made for a school project, and completely filmed solo. The story goes like this: it's prohibition of alcohol, and I am a bootlegger smuggling whiskey to a speakeasy. I hear police and run.

Broken Lighter

Simply me hitting a broken lighter with a sledge hammer. Nothing else to say.

Car Tour

This is a short tour of our new car (Pontiac Grand Am GT, Dark Green) that replaced our old van. It's a pretty nice car ovarall, good gas mileage and such.

I don't quite yet have a release date for any of these yet, but the next one out to release would be The Experiment of the 1920's. Then SAR, BL, and CT. Hope you enjoy the videos.

-The Producer