~The client has requested we not disclose the location or the name of the building we investigated.~
Welcome to another investigation.
First, I apologize for not blogging about the last two investigations, but I'm afraid there really wasn't anything to write about.
But our last one was an awesome one.
The building was, it's believed, built in the 20's or 30's and was originally an orphanage. The client told us a story of how the neighborhood was referred to as Shantytown and the kids in the area were forbidden to play around the orphanage. We were also told that more than likely the orphans were mistreated. The most common story was that of a boy the clients call Jason. During the time it was an orphanage, children who got sick would be quarantined in a small room in what is now the basement. (We've come to understand that parts of the building have been closed off for some reason over the years) Now this hidden room is being used for storage. The story is that Jason got sick and he was quarantined to keep the other children from getting sick. Unfortunately, the caretakers forgot about him and he passed away in that room. The building then was turned into a school and then a business and has been in its current life for the past 30 years. (Since the only history we know about the building is what little the clients have gathered, Trish and I are planning on making a trip to the local library to do some research and I shall either edit this blog or make a whole new post)
The clients said that toys would be played with, keys would be messed with and a TV would be turned to anything with cartoons on it. In the basement, the clients would feel very uncomfortable and feel a bit freaked out in a few of the rooms. In their darkroom, you can see where a staircase is. The client told us the staircase is sealed off and they didn't even know about it, until a fire broke out in the building. The firefighters found the staircase on the other side of a firewall (left over from the bombing fears of the Cold War). The clients reported feeling uncomfortable there and in the back area of the basement. In the farthest back room, the clients said that a few of them were in there and, although they never would say what happened, they said they would not go back into the room. There are reports of footsteps and voices and a very creepy Native American statue that moves. And when I say creepy, I mean creepy as in talking dolls creepy. (I can handle getting touched but I swear if that statue moved, I was going to have a major freak out and move on out of there.) As you can tell, I'm not a fan of lifelike inanimate objects.
Now for the good part:
After we set up our equipment, including a few news toys thanks to our newest member, Jordi, Brandon, Justin and I went into the basement area while Trish, Eric, Debbie, Jordi and the client stayed upstairs. As the smallest person, I volunteered to climb into the crawlspace and check it out. And got a face full of cobwebs. Which proves how much I love this, I hate spiders. I sat in the crawlspace, which is the size of a small room and went the length of the room it's hidden in. At least from what I could tell, it's full of boxes and old electronics with a small amount of space for me to walk around in. I'm about 5'6" and I could stand easily. After doing an evp session, we moved on the the "creeped out feeling" room where the clients had said they didn't want to go back in. Earlier, during our walkthough, I'd felt uncomfortable and felt a pressure on my head but when I walked out of the room, it went away. This time, I didn't have the pressure. As we did an evp session, I began to feel uncomfortable. Now I have a bad right knee from a fall several years ago, so at times it'll randomly flair up with shooting pain. As we did the investigation, my left knee started hurting. At first, I brushed it off. Until I felt a burning sensation on the inside of my knee. I pulled my pant leg up to reveal a scratch the length on my knee. Which is the first time that has happened. After several videos and pictures of my leg, we traded places with Trish, Eric, Debbie, Jordi and the client. We had the Ovilius, an EMF reader and a Mel Meter (which measures both EMF and temp) The EMF reader was going crazy during that time. Debbie ended up rejoining us after a little tumble up the stairs (See, I'm not the only clumsy investigator on the team!) Justin saw a shadow and heard movement down a hall. When he asked, if there was anyone over there and if they would give us a sign, a walkie I had in my equipment bag went off with a woman's voice. I run over there and Justin follows me. I find the walkie that had somehow turned on and as I'm holding it, the same woman's voice comes through it. I check the other walkies and they are turned off. "Why weren't we using the walkies?" you ask. The batteries were low and I didn't have enough extras to replace them. Trish and the client come upstairs and ask if we were stomping around. Now I did run, but I'd taken my shoes off since it's very rude to put your shoes on someone else's couch. They also asked if we'd dragged anything across the floor. We hadn't touched anything.
Later, the others joined us and we did a group EVP with the flashlight trick. And the flashlight and our equipment went crazy. As we did this, I glanced into the hallway and saw a glimpse of someone walk out of one of the rooms and down the hall. Naturally, I get up and go check it out. I find nothing. Several of us had personal experiences during the investigation.
Over all a great investigation and yet another place I would love to go to again. As long as the Native American doesn't turn and look at me...
Until next time,
~Peach
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Having unexplained activity? Need answers? email us at arkghosthunters@yahoo.com
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Cell Phones and the Paranormal
I am having to put this out there as it is becoming a problem with the rise of the iPhone and other cell phones with the ability to take pictures.
Recently our group was contacted about an alleged haunting. During the course of the back and forth info gathering emails on Facebook, I was told that pictures had been taken. The photos showed the alleged spirits haunting this family. Naturally, I asked to see the photos. The contact complied and I received an email with the photos. Of course, I was expecting to see random photos of dust particles being claimed as orbs. Instead, I opened the attachments of 5 random photos with images from an Android ghost app in them.
Can you say disappointed?
Thus the reason for this post
Because we have had experience with someone trying to pass of an app photo as the real deal, we are quite familiar with all the apps out there. And these photos were obvious fakes. When confronted, they admitted they were taken with an app.
With the rise of all the paranormal shows out there, there has also been a rise of iPhone and Android apps to go along with it. Which people take seriously. Granted, these apps were originally meant for you to scare your friends and be fun. But people in recent years have begun to hoax pictures and destroy the creditably of established paranormal experts.
Which is frustrating to we paranormal investigators.
Personally, I don't believe cell phone pictures. Cell phones are not an investigators best friend. If you are going to take pictures at an alleged haunted location, do it with a digital camera, not your phone. Now I understand iPhones take great pictures, but leave it in your pocket when it comes to the paranormal. Any photo we are sent, we set out to debunk. Because we were not there when the photo was taken, we go over them with a fine tooth comb, so to speak.
Now about the apps in general
In the words of our tech guy, if it has ghost in the title, it's BS. For example, iPhone's "Ghost Radar". The way the "Ghost Radar" works is it "scans" the area around you and pics up any "ghosts" that are around you along with having random words pop up (usually depends on the conversation around you what those random words will say). I will admit that the "Ghost Radar" is quite fun to play with and that is the point of the app. For fun. And it recently came to my attention that there are apps that will insert disembodied voices into your recordings. Again, fun to scare your friends but just BS
If you are a budding paranormal investigator, I suggest staying away from the phone apps with the word "ghost" or "evp" in the title. It will only cause embarrassment if you attempt to pass them off as the real deal. Stick with your handy dandy digital camera, camcorder and digital recorder. These are your best friends and they will never let you down when it comes to gathering evidence.
Until next time
Peach
Recently our group was contacted about an alleged haunting. During the course of the back and forth info gathering emails on Facebook, I was told that pictures had been taken. The photos showed the alleged spirits haunting this family. Naturally, I asked to see the photos. The contact complied and I received an email with the photos. Of course, I was expecting to see random photos of dust particles being claimed as orbs. Instead, I opened the attachments of 5 random photos with images from an Android ghost app in them.
Can you say disappointed?
Thus the reason for this post
Because we have had experience with someone trying to pass of an app photo as the real deal, we are quite familiar with all the apps out there. And these photos were obvious fakes. When confronted, they admitted they were taken with an app.
With the rise of all the paranormal shows out there, there has also been a rise of iPhone and Android apps to go along with it. Which people take seriously. Granted, these apps were originally meant for you to scare your friends and be fun. But people in recent years have begun to hoax pictures and destroy the creditably of established paranormal experts.
Which is frustrating to we paranormal investigators.
Personally, I don't believe cell phone pictures. Cell phones are not an investigators best friend. If you are going to take pictures at an alleged haunted location, do it with a digital camera, not your phone. Now I understand iPhones take great pictures, but leave it in your pocket when it comes to the paranormal. Any photo we are sent, we set out to debunk. Because we were not there when the photo was taken, we go over them with a fine tooth comb, so to speak.
Now about the apps in general
In the words of our tech guy, if it has ghost in the title, it's BS. For example, iPhone's "Ghost Radar". The way the "Ghost Radar" works is it "scans" the area around you and pics up any "ghosts" that are around you along with having random words pop up (usually depends on the conversation around you what those random words will say). I will admit that the "Ghost Radar" is quite fun to play with and that is the point of the app. For fun. And it recently came to my attention that there are apps that will insert disembodied voices into your recordings. Again, fun to scare your friends but just BS
If you are a budding paranormal investigator, I suggest staying away from the phone apps with the word "ghost" or "evp" in the title. It will only cause embarrassment if you attempt to pass them off as the real deal. Stick with your handy dandy digital camera, camcorder and digital recorder. These are your best friends and they will never let you down when it comes to gathering evidence.
Until next time
Peach
Friday, April 20, 2012
Lonoke Private Residence 4/7/12
I know it's been a while since I posted an investigation. Like I mentioned in my previous post life got in the way. The group has been on two others, I was only able to go on one of them. But anyway, on to the investigation.
The house has had several owners over its life. The current owners believe the house was built in the 1700s and was originally a plantation but cannot find any records on the house to confirm it. "But can't they find records at the courthouse?" you ask. Well I think you need a little history of Lonoke first. Lonoke wasn't always Lonoke. The city of Brownsville stood there once but during the Civil War Union troops burned it to the ground after the Confederates retreated to Little Rock. After the war, the leaders of Brownsville decided to move the town closer to the nearby railroad so that those who wished to stay could. According to local legend, the town was named for a large Red Oak tree that was found while houses were being built, Lone Oak. But due to a misprint in the local newspaper, it was spelled Lonoak. The name was farther misspelled to its current spelling.
Now for the investigation
It was after dark when we arrived (Maybe a little late too because of my stupid GPS crapped out when we got to Lonoke. Damn cell phone reception). Trish and I decided to interview the clients' granddaughter (Sorry but I will never reveal the clients' names or identity.) According to the clients, the granddaughter is terrified of the house whenever she is over. We did not see that fear when we did the interview, but doesn't mean that she is normally afraid of the house. Eric, Justin and Brandon did a walk through with the clients to determine where the most activity occurs.
We started our investigation in the dining room, where we did an EVP session. Trish and I kept feeling cold spots and the hair on Trish's neck stood on end at one point. We did what we call the flashlight trick, where we set a flash light where a slight movement will turn it on. As we asked questions, the flash light would turn on and off with no one touching it. We also used a device called the Ovilious, which is similar to a ghost, or Franks, box. While a ghost box uses radio waves that the spirit uses to communicate, the Ovilious has a preprogramed vocabulary that the spirit uses. The downside is you can't understand what it's saying. At least I couldn't...
We moved on to the living room/den next, where the granddaughter sleeps when she is over. This is the room she is most scared of. We did the flashlight trick again here along with an EVP session. Brandon was sitting on the love seat, Justin was sitting in a chair and Eric, Trish and I were sitting on the couch. During the session, I kept seeing something peak around a curtain the clients had tied back at the entrance into the den. I saw it several times and I took a ton of pictures but sadly I didn't catch it on camera. I mentioned seeing it to the others but no one else saw it. The clients reported hearing footsteps in this room and we heard what sounded like heavy boots as well. Justin was even able to capture them on his camcorder.
Our last location in the house was the clients' bedroom, where one had been grabbed and they reported seeing a "black sheet" over their bed. Unfortunately, we didn't catch much in that room. And the flashlight only turned on once or twice.
Overall, it was a good investigation and a location that I'd like to do a secondary investigation at.
Be sure to check us out at www.arkansasghosthunters.com and if have unexplained occurrences and you need someone to check it out, contact us at our website or drop me a line here.
And check us out on Facebook
Until next time, be safe and happy hunting
~Peach
The house has had several owners over its life. The current owners believe the house was built in the 1700s and was originally a plantation but cannot find any records on the house to confirm it. "But can't they find records at the courthouse?" you ask. Well I think you need a little history of Lonoke first. Lonoke wasn't always Lonoke. The city of Brownsville stood there once but during the Civil War Union troops burned it to the ground after the Confederates retreated to Little Rock. After the war, the leaders of Brownsville decided to move the town closer to the nearby railroad so that those who wished to stay could. According to local legend, the town was named for a large Red Oak tree that was found while houses were being built, Lone Oak. But due to a misprint in the local newspaper, it was spelled Lonoak. The name was farther misspelled to its current spelling.
Now for the investigation
It was after dark when we arrived (Maybe a little late too because of my stupid GPS crapped out when we got to Lonoke. Damn cell phone reception). Trish and I decided to interview the clients' granddaughter (Sorry but I will never reveal the clients' names or identity.) According to the clients, the granddaughter is terrified of the house whenever she is over. We did not see that fear when we did the interview, but doesn't mean that she is normally afraid of the house. Eric, Justin and Brandon did a walk through with the clients to determine where the most activity occurs.
We started our investigation in the dining room, where we did an EVP session. Trish and I kept feeling cold spots and the hair on Trish's neck stood on end at one point. We did what we call the flashlight trick, where we set a flash light where a slight movement will turn it on. As we asked questions, the flash light would turn on and off with no one touching it. We also used a device called the Ovilious, which is similar to a ghost, or Franks, box. While a ghost box uses radio waves that the spirit uses to communicate, the Ovilious has a preprogramed vocabulary that the spirit uses. The downside is you can't understand what it's saying. At least I couldn't...
We moved on to the living room/den next, where the granddaughter sleeps when she is over. This is the room she is most scared of. We did the flashlight trick again here along with an EVP session. Brandon was sitting on the love seat, Justin was sitting in a chair and Eric, Trish and I were sitting on the couch. During the session, I kept seeing something peak around a curtain the clients had tied back at the entrance into the den. I saw it several times and I took a ton of pictures but sadly I didn't catch it on camera. I mentioned seeing it to the others but no one else saw it. The clients reported hearing footsteps in this room and we heard what sounded like heavy boots as well. Justin was even able to capture them on his camcorder.
Our last location in the house was the clients' bedroom, where one had been grabbed and they reported seeing a "black sheet" over their bed. Unfortunately, we didn't catch much in that room. And the flashlight only turned on once or twice.
Overall, it was a good investigation and a location that I'd like to do a secondary investigation at.
Be sure to check us out at www.arkansasghosthunters.com and if have unexplained occurrences and you need someone to check it out, contact us at our website or drop me a line here.
And check us out on Facebook
Until next time, be safe and happy hunting
~Peach
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
I Haven't Forgotten You!
I know it's been since Nov since I posted. Our group did have another investigation at the Old Southern Sanatorium but I never was able to blog about it between Christmas and other personal stuff that was going on. A couple weeks ago we went on an investigation to a private residence and I promise within the next few days, I will have a blog up about it. Until then be safe and happy hunting :)
~Peach.
P.S. Long story on the nickname...
~Peach.
P.S. Long story on the nickname...
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