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
Thursday, June 28, 2012
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...
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Old Southern Sanatorium 11/11/11
~Per client request, I will not be revealing the name or location of the investigation site.~
The Sanatorium has been visited by members of our group before, although this was my first visit. The building itself was the main building of what was once a large complex built to treat people who'd contacted the contagious and often fatal respiratory disease Tuberculosis or TB.
A little history for you
In the early part of the 20th century, TB was an epidemic sweeping across the country. Sanatoriums were built to treat the infected, freeing up hospitals and helping combat the spread of the disease. This particular sanatorium, so I'm lead to believe, is the second or third largest sanatorium in the US. (Waverly Hills Sanatorium in Louisville, Kentucky is the largest. Have you seen pics of the place? My entire High School population, including the staff, could easily fit in it!) The sanatorium admitted its first patient in 1908 and was in operation until 1973. Because it mainly affected the lungs (some strains affect other areas), TB would cause one to have chest pains, cough blood, have a chronic cough and also cause the infected to have fever, chills, appetite and weight loss, pallor and fatigue, among other symptoms. Aside from clean air and rest, treatment sometimes involved collapsing the infected lung, cutting away the infected part of the lung and, although I've only heard about this treatment, putting ping pong balls into the lung. The last one I've only heard about, I haven't actually found anything on that particular treatment. TB had an 80% fatality rate, which meant that many of the people coming to the sanatorium seeking treatment died there from the disease.
Now about the building...
The building has five stories and a basement. We'll start with the basement. It was here where the morgue and, from what I'm lead to believe, offices for the doctors. The coolers where the bodies of the dead were stored are still there. Now, the basement is used for storage for all sorts of mess. And trust me, its a mess down there. For many years, the sanatorium housed a haunted house and we see the remains of it in the basement, 2nd floor and the stairwell. Stories have it that a spirit resides in the basement that loves Elvis.
The first floor is still used for offices of the state business that owns the property. The stories on this floor is a spirit resides in the men's bathroom and the janitor has been reported cleaning the floors. He's so vivid that one of our members on a previous visit thought he was an employee.
The second floor is another mess having been part of the haunted house, the theme of haunted forest was evident with the branches in the hall posing as trees. This floor also contained several rooms for the infected.
The third floor was the location of the children's ward on one end and the prisoners' ward on the other end. The prisoners' end is evident with the glass and fencing. Story is a little girl resides on this floor. And on the prison side the story is women who venture past the doorway are harassed and made to feel uncomfortable.
The fourth floor... well I don't know any stories there, although there were signs that groups before us had done the flour test. Which is where you spread flour across the floor to see if any spirits walk across it.
Now the fifth floor is where the sickest patients were moved to. Basically anyone moved to that floor succumbed to their disease. It was the death floor, for lack of a better word. The floor where TB patients went to die.
Now for the part you've been patiently reading my ramblings for: The investigation
There were only five of us on this investigation. We arrived at sunset and we set up a "base" in a conference room. We did a prayer and then we spilt up. Originally, our lead investigator, Justin went up towards to 5th floor alone, but got as far as the 4th floor before he started getting activity and hearing voices over the walkie. At first he thought it was us trying to get ahold of him. We were doing an EVP (electronic voice phenomenon) session, thus we weren't calling him. After the second or third time, Brandon went up to join Justin, while Jack, Joanne and I continued to investigate the basement. We explored the history the basement held and did a few EVP sessions before we met with Justin and Brandon on the first floor. After we made the plan for the next hour, Joanne and I headed over to the men's bathroom while Justin, Jack and Brandon headed up to the 3rd floor. We did an EVP session in there but didn't experience any of the activity reported there. We tested the door, since the story was the spirit would push on the door if anyone tried to open it. We came to the conclusion that there was a tight spring on the pneumatic door closer which made it feel as if a force was pushing against the door. Joanne and I then made our way to the 2nd floor, where we immediately started hearing banging. We called up to the guys and had them make noise so we would know which end of hall on the floor above us they were. The noise we were hearing was coming from the opposite end. We never did find what was making that noise before the guys informed us they were heading to investigate the men's bathroom so Joanne and I headed up to the 3rd floor and went down to the prison area, where the story was that women were made to feel very uncomfortable and touched. Nothing. We were joined by the guys and all five of us went to the 5th floor. Justin saw movement in the bathroom and we did an EVP session or two.
After a break, we decided to head back down to the basement and do some more investigating. Joanne sang a couple Elvis songs to trigger activity from the spirit we were told was an Elvis fan. After doing a second EVP session in the morgue and showing Justin and Brandon the history hidden in the basement, we decided to call it a night since we weren't having anymore activity.
No, it's not all seriousness. There were a few moments that made us laugh. Including me walking straight into an a/c unit. Lets just say I hit it hard enough that the recorder left on a heater over halfway down the hall picked it up. I'm happy to say I didn't get a goose egg or a concussion from it. I have a hard head. I will venture to say I'm pretty sure that unit has a dent in it.
Well until next time, be safe and happy hunting
The Sanatorium has been visited by members of our group before, although this was my first visit. The building itself was the main building of what was once a large complex built to treat people who'd contacted the contagious and often fatal respiratory disease Tuberculosis or TB.
A little history for you
In the early part of the 20th century, TB was an epidemic sweeping across the country. Sanatoriums were built to treat the infected, freeing up hospitals and helping combat the spread of the disease. This particular sanatorium, so I'm lead to believe, is the second or third largest sanatorium in the US. (Waverly Hills Sanatorium in Louisville, Kentucky is the largest. Have you seen pics of the place? My entire High School population, including the staff, could easily fit in it!) The sanatorium admitted its first patient in 1908 and was in operation until 1973. Because it mainly affected the lungs (some strains affect other areas), TB would cause one to have chest pains, cough blood, have a chronic cough and also cause the infected to have fever, chills, appetite and weight loss, pallor and fatigue, among other symptoms. Aside from clean air and rest, treatment sometimes involved collapsing the infected lung, cutting away the infected part of the lung and, although I've only heard about this treatment, putting ping pong balls into the lung. The last one I've only heard about, I haven't actually found anything on that particular treatment. TB had an 80% fatality rate, which meant that many of the people coming to the sanatorium seeking treatment died there from the disease.
Now about the building...
The building has five stories and a basement. We'll start with the basement. It was here where the morgue and, from what I'm lead to believe, offices for the doctors. The coolers where the bodies of the dead were stored are still there. Now, the basement is used for storage for all sorts of mess. And trust me, its a mess down there. For many years, the sanatorium housed a haunted house and we see the remains of it in the basement, 2nd floor and the stairwell. Stories have it that a spirit resides in the basement that loves Elvis.
The first floor is still used for offices of the state business that owns the property. The stories on this floor is a spirit resides in the men's bathroom and the janitor has been reported cleaning the floors. He's so vivid that one of our members on a previous visit thought he was an employee.
The second floor is another mess having been part of the haunted house, the theme of haunted forest was evident with the branches in the hall posing as trees. This floor also contained several rooms for the infected.
The third floor was the location of the children's ward on one end and the prisoners' ward on the other end. The prisoners' end is evident with the glass and fencing. Story is a little girl resides on this floor. And on the prison side the story is women who venture past the doorway are harassed and made to feel uncomfortable.
The fourth floor... well I don't know any stories there, although there were signs that groups before us had done the flour test. Which is where you spread flour across the floor to see if any spirits walk across it.
Now the fifth floor is where the sickest patients were moved to. Basically anyone moved to that floor succumbed to their disease. It was the death floor, for lack of a better word. The floor where TB patients went to die.
Now for the part you've been patiently reading my ramblings for: The investigation
There were only five of us on this investigation. We arrived at sunset and we set up a "base" in a conference room. We did a prayer and then we spilt up. Originally, our lead investigator, Justin went up towards to 5th floor alone, but got as far as the 4th floor before he started getting activity and hearing voices over the walkie. At first he thought it was us trying to get ahold of him. We were doing an EVP (electronic voice phenomenon) session, thus we weren't calling him. After the second or third time, Brandon went up to join Justin, while Jack, Joanne and I continued to investigate the basement. We explored the history the basement held and did a few EVP sessions before we met with Justin and Brandon on the first floor. After we made the plan for the next hour, Joanne and I headed over to the men's bathroom while Justin, Jack and Brandon headed up to the 3rd floor. We did an EVP session in there but didn't experience any of the activity reported there. We tested the door, since the story was the spirit would push on the door if anyone tried to open it. We came to the conclusion that there was a tight spring on the pneumatic door closer which made it feel as if a force was pushing against the door. Joanne and I then made our way to the 2nd floor, where we immediately started hearing banging. We called up to the guys and had them make noise so we would know which end of hall on the floor above us they were. The noise we were hearing was coming from the opposite end. We never did find what was making that noise before the guys informed us they were heading to investigate the men's bathroom so Joanne and I headed up to the 3rd floor and went down to the prison area, where the story was that women were made to feel very uncomfortable and touched. Nothing. We were joined by the guys and all five of us went to the 5th floor. Justin saw movement in the bathroom and we did an EVP session or two.
After a break, we decided to head back down to the basement and do some more investigating. Joanne sang a couple Elvis songs to trigger activity from the spirit we were told was an Elvis fan. After doing a second EVP session in the morgue and showing Justin and Brandon the history hidden in the basement, we decided to call it a night since we weren't having anymore activity.
No, it's not all seriousness. There were a few moments that made us laugh. Including me walking straight into an a/c unit. Lets just say I hit it hard enough that the recorder left on a heater over halfway down the hall picked it up. I'm happy to say I didn't get a goose egg or a concussion from it. I have a hard head. I will venture to say I'm pretty sure that unit has a dent in it.
Well until next time, be safe and happy hunting
Friday, September 16, 2011
Welcome
Welcome to my blog. I am a Paranormal Investigator with an Arkansas group and I usually stay within Arkansas when I go on an investigation.
What is a Paranormal Investigator?
A Paranormal Investigator is someone who investigates claims of paranormal activity. For example, a person hears footsteps and voices down the hall when they are the only person home. Things get moved. They see a person out of the corner of their eye and when they look nothings there. Odd activity such as what I have listed above they call us. We go into a location with an open mind. We go to prove or disprove activity. Believe it or not, not all activity is of the ghostly kind. We give people peace of mind.
We are not Ghost Adventures or Ghost Hunters. We do not have to "catch" something every time for the sake of rating. We do not have to cut for commercial. We find what we find with out the pressure of a producer. We are professionals. We do not go around screaming. We do not say "What the frig?" all the time. We do not freak out. We do not run down the hall screaming "Dude! Run!"
We are professionals.
Starting with our next investigation, I will share my experences of an investagation. We'll see you in Nov.
What is a Paranormal Investigator?
A Paranormal Investigator is someone who investigates claims of paranormal activity. For example, a person hears footsteps and voices down the hall when they are the only person home. Things get moved. They see a person out of the corner of their eye and when they look nothings there. Odd activity such as what I have listed above they call us. We go into a location with an open mind. We go to prove or disprove activity. Believe it or not, not all activity is of the ghostly kind. We give people peace of mind.
We are not Ghost Adventures or Ghost Hunters. We do not have to "catch" something every time for the sake of rating. We do not have to cut for commercial. We find what we find with out the pressure of a producer. We are professionals. We do not go around screaming. We do not say "What the frig?" all the time. We do not freak out. We do not run down the hall screaming "Dude! Run!"
We are professionals.
Starting with our next investigation, I will share my experences of an investagation. We'll see you in Nov.
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