Case Number:  08-005-13

Location:  Athol, Massachusetts

Type:  Residential

Investigator's:  Phil Sheridan, Dennis Peck, Julie Sisson, Gerry Powling, Paula Sheridan, Rob Wronski, Kelley Dubrule, Robin Minkema, and Jenn LeBlanc

Equipment:  Audio Recorders, DVC IR Video Cameras, IR Surveillance Cameras, EMF Meters, KII EMF, IR Thermometers, Motion Detectors

Solar Activity:  N/A          Moon Phase:  N/A          Temperature:  50 Degrees F          Weather Conditions:  Calm

Narrative

                Requested by client who resides in Athol, Massachusetts to investigate her home for possible paranormal activity.  We received the request for the investigation via email on March 10, 2008.  The request was passed on to Case Manager Julie Sisson.  An intake interview was scheduled for March 20, 2008 at the home of the client.  Julie was ill the day of the interview, so Kelley Dubrule and Director Phil Sheridan conducted the interview.  The interview was recorded on a digital audio recorder.  The client had many claims, including footsteps, electrical disturbances, Stereo turning on by itself, large energy orb at seen at base of stairs and her pet seems to be tormented by a possible presence, including being locked in a sub room in the basement.

                There was a reported suicide via a self inflicted gunshot wound to the head of an elderly gentleman in the home in on July 7, 1982.  We had an investigator research this claim, and found that there was indeed a suicide in the home, but the official cause of death was asphyxiation from a hanging, not a gunshot.  We also obtained a copy of the person’s obituary. 

                The client had a medium/animal communicator come into her home and she emailed us with her information.  She describes a man dressed in a black robe; a very negative energy that she states tried to push her down the stairs. 

                The investigation due to the client’s hectic schedule was not probably going to occur until June.  She ended up with an open date on April 5 and we told her we would be there.  A team of 8 was rounded up (3 Trainees) that consisted of Team Leader Phil Sheridan, Tech Supervisor was initially Dennis Peck but he ended up calling out due to illness and Gerry Powling would handle Tech.  The rest of the team included Julie Sisson, Paula Sheridan, Rob Wronski, Robin Minkema, Kelley Dubrule, and Jenn LeBlanc.

                We arrived at the client’s home on April 5, 2008 at 19:30 hours (at client’s request).  The house was under major renovations, including an addition which always raises flags, as this is a common time to have paranormal activity.  We set up Command Post in the room adjacent to kitchen.  We set up (2) DVR IR Cameras (basement and second floor), and two stationary audio recorders (first floor living room and second floor hallway).  We also had a Sony DVC at base of stairs on first floor aiming up stairs as a lot of activity is reported in stairwell.  We had multiple voice recorders, digital cameras and Mini DV cameras in use.

                The home was not that big which allowed us excellent coverage of the whole house in two person teams.   We performed a baseline EMF sweep of whole house.  In the basement, we found that by the washer and dryer, the EMF readings were very high (190.0 mG) coming from the furnace near the washer and dryer.  We also noted high EMF along the copper piping along the ceiling all the way to the water shut off (25.0 mG).  The client did say she felt uneasy when doing laundry, we possibly found a “fear cage”.  We also found high EMF emitted from the clients cordless phone (45.0 mG) which sat right next to her bed (where a lot of footsteps were heard).  We also found a possibly faulty night light on children’s room (30.0 mG).  We advised the client of these high readings and also referred her to a website that had literature about high EMF exposures. 

                A couple of investigator’s had personal experiences.  Down in the basement, a couple of investigator’s felt as if their hair was tugged, did not see any cob webs in the area, although the basement ceiling was very low, and there was in fact some small strips of duct tape hanging off ceiling, which could not be seen in the dark.

                Phil and Robin saw what they thought was a moving black mass near the window in the master bedroom.  It was not caught on any video or in a picture.  They tried to recreate the “shadow”, and it may have been a light reflection, but what they saw could not be exactly replicated.

                Julie had to leave the basement after feeling ill after only a short while down there.  No other investigator had an issue, and Julie did investigate the basement again without any problem.

                We also noted the heat registers in the floor, which allowed the heat to travel over the whole house, transmitted sounds from one part of the house to others quite easily.  You could hear investigator’s doing EVP sessions on first floor from the second floor and so on. 

                The noises from outside the home were also easily heard in the house.  This was evident when investigators were up in master bedroom, and we had another investigator go outside and walk down the street.  You could hear the footsteps quite clearly in the master bedroom.

                We set up a camera at the base of stairs, and did notice that when cars drove by, it would sometimes transmit a bright light through the windows at the base of stairs.  This is not to say that this is what the client saw, but just a possibility.

                As far as the room that the cat would get locked into in the basement, we tried to come up with an explanation for it.  We couldn’t even get the door to latch, and it didn’t seem that the door could latch.  So we could not come up with an explanation there.

                No one felt threatened in the home, it actually felt quite benign.  We wrapped up the investigation at 3:00 AM.  We informed the client it would be a couple of weeks while we reviewed all the data collected.  We told her if anything else happened and she needed us for anything to call us. 

                Upon review of the data, we did catch a possible EVP in the living room on a stationary audio recorder.  Phil and Robin were investigating and doing an EVP session when Phil asked, “Are you the presence who tries to push people down the stairs?”  After a short pause you hear a distinct and very clear “Yes” in response to the question.  No one else was in the area, and there was no audio contamination from the other floors.  Then when reviewing video evidence we noticed we caught that same EVP on the video camera, but it was more pronounced and not as whispered on the camera which was closer to the stairwell. 

                We didn’t catch any other evidence on data review.  We advised client of our findings.  As far as determining if site was haunted, we have to say with the very limited evidence, we have to say that the findings are inconclusive.  We advised the client that if she needs us to come back, or would like other interventions, to let us know and we will assist her. 

                The client  informed us that after our visit, she had an Associate come in and perform a “cleansing” of the home.  She states that after the cleansing, activity is still occurring.  We again offered our service if any further help is needed.  The case remains open as of June 1, 2008.

Data Collected

Photos Taken:  396 Photos Analyzed, Nothing Found

Video Footage:  22:30 total hours, found one EVP

Audio:  24:00 total hours, found one EVP

EMF:  Found high EMF (from appliances), see narrative