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Investigation Navigation Tool
- Maryland Ave Home -
Paranormal Potential ranks are based % likeliness, which is determined by how likely a paranormal event has occurred in the location. % likeliness is based upon data collected, personal experiences, and historical research. These values are calculated into a percentage. Multiple case percent totals are averaged into a total percent. Totals begin at 1% and end at max 85% to account for human error. The current calculations yield:
No Activity Potential - Has been disproved by scientific means or little/no evidence was found. (1%-5% likely.)
Investigation - Maryland Ave Home
These claims were extremely intriguing and we decided to take this investigation up. Immediately, we set out to de-bunk a lot of the claims as best we could to natural phenomenon. We realized that there were several small holes in the attic, whereby small animals such as squirrels could go in and out at will. While this might explain small noises and scratching, it does not explain loud footsteps or the other claims. We also found some faulty wiring between old circuits and new circuits. This type of faulty wiring can create objects to go on and off by themselves, if the circuit is going between the good and the bad. However, the radio in question had no power cord even attached to it and there was no batteries plugged in. The attic itself was quite well insulated and no method of voices, other than passing people along the street, could create any noises. Thus, our attempt at debunking did not prove useful. We set up our digital audio throughout the night, which was able to catch three distinct EVP's, which are provided for you on the website. The EVP's matched perfectly with the claim that the moan and voice heard in the attic belonged to a young female voice, almost child like. We heard no moans or female voices, and our small team consisted only of males. The EVP's occurred at a time when no females were present, leaving us with some genuine sounds. We also set up digital video which captured some odd light-phenomena and an orb-like ball that moves very fast and changes path. While these videos are not as exciting as the EVP's, they also help to solidify some images with the paranormal phenomena that occurred here. In terms of personal experiences, our team did not have anything paranormal happen to them. However, we did get the feeling as though we were being watched. Also, in the beginning, one team-member felt that the back of his neck had felt as though it was being touched, even though there were no spider webs or other such things that could cause this to happen.
All in all, we believe that these college students do indeed have some paranormal phenomena occurring in their house. While we cannot fully prove 100% that it is the spirit of a small girl, we have begun the first steps in proving that this paranormal activity does exist with scientific evidence. We will continue to work with these students to gather more data. On our next investigation to this area, we will be utilizing a far more advanced video system (a four channel DVR system) to capture better video evidence rather than just audio. We believe if we can capture solidified video evidence, then their claims of activity can be all but proven.
UPDATE - We have recently discovered through research that a young girl had lived in the house and had died of an illness around the late 1960's. This continues to validate the claims that a little girl indeed haunts this house.
Investigation - Maryland Ave Home (Revisited)
We were surprised when the client came to join us in the investigator and had a bit of a personal experience, whereby the client felt someone touch her leg. At this exact moment one of the camera's shook violently, which made no plausible sense since it was securely placed and never moved previously or after. Two of the investigators at the case also felt a heavy feeling and spider-web like sensations down the legs. In terms of evidence collected, we did catch one very strong piece of audio that again is extremely similar in voice to the other EVP's caught in the last investigation of this area. This time, the EVP was far more clear. In terms of our 20+ hours of video, we unfortunately did not pick up any major video events. However, we did pick up a very minor detail that gave us some pause. A small reflective cord-like object, which was dangling from a table, was part of one of the camera angles. During the entire investigation, this cord did not move at all beyond very small swaying movements. For some unknown reason, and within 5 minutes of the EVP caught, this object decides to sway in a huge near 90 degree angle motion, which was caught on video. Afterwards, it quickly set itself back down to a normal motion. It is clear from the video that no person had touched the cord and no person was near the cord. Also, there was no draft coming into the area that would have caused just that one object to move. Finally, because it only did that once during the entire investigation, we decided to include it in our list of evidence collected. Combined with both our data and investigations of this area, Scientific Paranormal would have to conclude that this area contains some form of paranormal activity. To the exact extent is unknown, but there were too many personal experiences and data collected to dismiss this area completely. While we would have liked to gain more definitive proof the second time around, we were pleased with the continual data to support the spirit of a little girl haunting.
Investigation - Brookside Lane Home
During the investigation itself, we did not have any personal experiences that were deemed paranormal. We did help to disprove a few claims, such as shadows moving from a faulty lamp post outside, and footstep-like sounds being made from the internal heating system. Our evidence did not reveal any anomalies in photos, MiniDV, infrared DVR, etc. We did receive a few evp-like sounds that we documented as being unique, due to the male whisper type sound. However, even with this, we decided a second case would help both of us in order to gather more data to gain a final verdict.
When analyzing the evidence this time around, we found no paranormal evidence on photo, audio, or video. We did take the time however to analyze the history of the house. We found that a man had died in the house in the mid 80's whose name was in fact Joseph, which was eerily similar to the son's imaginary friends "Joey". We also found that his wife was still surviving today, in her late 90's. We speculated that if there was any paranormal activity going on here, it was extremely weak, and it was most likely Joseph waiting for his wife to pass on. He also might think the son here is Joseph's actual grandson, hence a small connection with the child. However, this is just a speculation and we do not have much evidence to base that fact on other than a few minor EVP clips. Because of this, we believed that we can safely label much of the activity here to be natural in explanation and there is very little, if any, paranormal activity taking place.
Investigation - Madison Barracks
Some major claims in this area included people hearing voices, being pushed down stairs, electric appliances being turned on and off at will, footsteps and other miscellaneous sounds, and the occasional shadow figure. This was Scientific Paranormal's first military installation case, and as such, was one of the largest area-sized cases undertaken. To that end, we pulled out all the stops and brought along more than half of our staff, multiple digital recorders, multiple video camcorders, the DVR system, and just about every type of equipment on hand. Our primary concern was to be able to de-bunk many of the claims of activity, and this is where we began our investigation. We were somewhat able to de-bunk electric appliance activity, as we found the main building in which we were stationed at had some faulty wiring, poor circuit boards, and an overgrowth of dust. Breaking off into two teams, we had one team investigate the main building, serving as an old military headquarters, and another team going into the field where the Sackets Harbor battle was fought. The field team had indeed found a mass grave of over 200 people who had died at the battle, which was recently unearthed in the late 80's. The area was marked by a grave-marker, but was not publicly known as such. Additional interesting properties was old underground tunnels which were most likely used for supply tunnels during the battle, some of which led directly into the water. Other tunnels were camouflaged into nearby brush as used for sniper type fire. We attempted to de-bunk the falling of the stairs in a building that was supposedly used by General Grant. No such activity took place, but we did not of some steep staircases that could cause mis-footing. Excitement rose as some personal activity did occur with rushes of cold air in primarily warm rooms, as well as some footstep sounds and noises. The team was extremely excited when one member noted a human-like shape appearing out of the wall and walking down in a huge gym-like area. Unfortunately, upon further analysis later that week, we learned that the human-like shape was a complex light-reflection from a passing car. (Posted in de-bunked video evidence soon). After further analysis, we did catch a few interesting pieces of audio that have been posted, which can be identified as at least two or more separate voices, both male and female. The voices seem to be intelligent, as some are direct responses to questions. MiniDV and DVR video, while still being heavily analyzed by the team, has not currently picked up anything out of the ordinary, other than the de-bunked footage. Even so, combined with our personal experiences and audio data, we would have to say that Madison Barracks MAY contain some sort of paranormal activity. This is not a definite yes though, as we are going to need to return at a later date to gather more data for an answer. This area is extremely historical to New York State, and should be noted as being a great site for any history buff.
(FROM 2009 RE-INVESTIGATION)
Investigation - Shiloh Inn Restaurant
As we located in historical newspaper records, Mr. and Mrs. Soffel (Peter and Kate) lived at the Shiloh Inn which was then exclusively a home. Mr. Soffel was a Warden at the Allegheny Jail and Mrs. Soffel often read bible passages to prisoners. In 1903, Mrs. Soffel became extremely affectionate with two brothers, Ed and John Biddle, who were prisoners there. While the details are faded from there, we do know that she incapacitated her husband with Chloroform, then released and escaped with the two Biddle boys north. They made it as far as Butler County until they were finally cornered and gunned down on February 2nd, 1903. While one of the Biddle boys died on the scene, another one made it to the jail where he later died as well. Mrs. Soffel was hurt, but survived. She spent around 19 months in prison for her crimes. Deeply ashamed and hurt, Mr. Soffel quit his job and divorced Mrs. Soffel in 1904. The two were never heard from again. After 60 or so years, the home was restored into a restaurant, now called the Shiloh Inn. There were numerous claims of activity, ranging from cold-spots, the people being poked, to seeing a white lady believed to be Mrs. Soffel in the window of the restaurant. We investigated top to bottom and found many de-bunked claims such as very smudgy windows, perpendicular lights hitting the windows, extremely high EMF cages (100-200 milliGaus EMF fields in all four directions in some areas), and wood creaking due to high temperature fluctuations (60 degrees in the 1st floor and 90 degrees in the attic) With such successful de-bunking, we expected there to be little evidence or little personal experiences. To our surprise, our members did get distinct knocking when we asked for a response, we heard a toilet flush on its own, as well as hearing footsteps in a nearby floor. When reviewing the evidence, we found three very distinct and very powerful EVP's located ONLY in the attic. This was interesting to us because there was an unofficial claim that someone had died in the attic, but the name or details were never confirmed. Because of all of this, we believe that the Shiloh Inn may indeed be haunted, but, we do not believe it is Mr. or Mrs. Soffel. The fact that they divorced and were hurt emotionally leads us to be believe that any haunting here would not be them looking for each other, as they would not want to return here. Instead, we believe there must be additional history before or after in this area that would cause this haunting. In the first EVP, we find a husky man's voice saying the name "HICKS". If we can conduct further historical research and determine if a man named Hicks had lived or died near this area, or in the Shiloh Inn, we can all but rule out that any haunting here would be that of a separate man, and or woman.
Investigation - Lansing St Home
Our team was able to accurately find natural causes for several object movement claims such as a stuffed animal falling over and a cross hanging on a wall falling down. However, we were unable to find any concrete explanations for the full body apparitions seen. While the shadows claimed to be seen could be misconstrued as apparitions when in fact they are pipes and clothes that are hanged up in dark areas of the home, it does not give an accurate explanation for what the client was experiencing. We did find a somewhat high EMF around the main living room area, which was where apparitions were seen. This EMF area was attributed to the power-box that was located directly below that room. While this EMF area could give rise to nausea and paranoia feelings, it is far too low to create hallucinations or other such events. It is believed by some paranormal researchers that natural EMF areas can be used by paranormal activity to manifest, but our technology did not document any of this. Based on finding absolutely no definitive evidence as well as experiencing no personal experiences that were unknown in nature, we classified this case has being more of a fear story being passed from person to person, which creates a stigma for the area being haunted, when in fact, it is simply in the mind of the individual who believes there is a haunting.
Investigation - Willis Ave Home
After exploring the area, we found evidence that there might have been another house built where the apartment-like house was currently standing. This was evident from the old foundations, old pipe-systems that led to seemingly nowhere, and a man-made increase to the original foundation. Our historical research only led to one female death in the house, but was not named Emma. We also did an entire EMF sweep of the area and found no-unnatural or harmful areas of EMF. However, we did catch some very faint female like voices which were not identified to be our team. The first one was a very faint giggle like sound that was noticed by an investigator which responded to it. The giggle could not be determined where it was coming from. We also received a female like sigh/moan when we were leaving an area which also could not be verified. There was also a female or child like handprint on one of the windows which was baffling due to the not how it was made but why it was made. Several team-members identified having a feeling of someone whispering something in their ears as well. Even with this evidence, we found no major evidence to support the fact that the area was haunted. Even though we gathered some data, it was extremely weak and hard to validate. We estimate that there is most likely no activity here but cannot fully disprove some of the claims. If there is an entity here, it is most likely a harmless child or female who is only trying to play games.
Investigation - Smith-Ely Mansion
With such a rich historical history as well as the large number of accidental and possibly purposeful deaths in the area, we were anxious to get the equipment up and running to cover this large area. Right from the start we realized that the large amount of windows on this mansion were creating extremely large shadows, which could account for people seeing figures in the corner. Some of the claims of activity were seeing full body apparitions on the outside of the property, the first floor, and the third floor. One of our investigators had a personal experience by seeing a full body shadow figure walk through a doorway and block out the window light. We were unable to validate this claim with any data however. A similar shadow figure was also seen on the third floor that appeared to dart behind a hallway before any photos or videos could be taken. Another investigator had felt as if he had walked through a wall of spider webs, which was odd as another investigator had walked in the exact same path a few seconds earlier. The phantom spider webs could not be found. (Claims of paranormal activity of an entity passing through a person can result in a large shift in EMF and ionic displacement in the area, which can lead to the feeling of spider-web sensations. While these are great personal experiences, they cannot be verified by any data, and so can't be used as evidence. After all the data was reviewed and collected, we only managed to gain two interesting but not definite audio clips which appeared at two interesting times where paranormal activity was thought to have taken place. One audio clip contained a deep and slow whisper at the exact moment a shadow figure was seen on the first floor. Another audio clip contained a short voice that occurred on the third floor in the form of "Do you have permission". This actually makes a bit of sense as that area would have been an ideal place for servant quarters to be placed and the main master bedrooms would be on the second floor. However, it was given an extremely low rating due to the ambiguity between if its a natural breath like sound from a nearby investigator or an actual EVP. While the evidence we caught was interesting, our personal experiences were far more exciting. We will be working again with the owners of the Smith-Ely Mansion to return back with new cameras and equipment to attempt to find proof of those claims again or to find definite natural causes to these claims.
While the entire investigation yielded less personal experiences throughout the night, we did manage to catch one very decent personal experience and debunk one claim. While doing an EVP session, an investigator thought someone had called his names, 'James'. The other investigators also heard this and immediately sought out to debunk the name. Relaying back to the command central staff to see if they had made the call, they confirmed they did not and further debunking tests ensured no internal noise contamination created the whisper. Upon examining the evidence, a faint whisper is heard of 'James', giving credibility to their personal experience. We also were able to debunk a new claim of a figure felt moving around a small bedroom in the 2nd floor. The figure was felt upon the client waking up from a deep sleep, never when fully awake. This type of dream-like state can create powerful hallucinations when just waking up or just falling asleep. This was further enhanced by a strong EMF around the bed of around 10.0 milligauus by way of an electric blanket found on the bed. This strong EMF can easily create these hallucinations when asleep. This second investigation proved to have around the same type of unknown activity and mysteries surrounded the mansion. The team was again unable to completely state the area has paranormal activity but again was unable to completely debunk the mansion. There may be even further investigations of this historic mansion to get to the bottom of what is going on once and for all.
Investigation - Gabriel’s Path Home
After an entire night's worth of investigation, the team was unable to find anything paranormal in nature. Electro-magnetic fields were believed to cause some of the un-easy feelings that people had felt throughout the home, but absolutely no EMF leakage was found. This was expected to be the case as new homes have well-shielded cables and wires that would not give off high EMF's. Most, if not all, of the claims were able to be safely debunked as natural object movements or sounds that could occur within the home. In terms of the evidence, no data was found that would point to paranormal activity. Everything was safely debunked as natural noises and video. This was an important case to help debunk and verify that everything experienced was natural as it gives clients an ease-of-mind. Moving into new homes, regardless of age, is always a stressful time in a families life. "New-Home Jitters" often occur as a result of this and paranormal activity is sometimes blamed. Debunking is very important in these cases as it helps to solidify and put to rest some of these jitters to allow the client and family to live in the home peacefully and without incident.
Investigation - Ball Road Home
The area of the home was quite wooded and far away from the main area of the town. While no historical data was found on the area since the name of the road had been changed before, there was evidence of a previous establishment since an old-well system was found on the property. Still, without verification from historical data this is purely speculation. Throughout the investigation, our team's experience was mostly that of a debunking nature. While a few times some odd noises were heard, nothing was immediately pointed to paranormal. Since there was a lot of snow on the ground, and the home itself was constructed of wood, the expansion and contraction of the wood would produce the creeks heard. Another interesting discovery came from an area where the client had stated a few picture frames were turned upside down. In this same area, an EMF field of around 10 milligauus (9.5 higher than normal) was found radiating from an area behind the wall. While this field would explain any feelings of nausea or paranoia, it does not explain how an object movement would occur. It is theorized that natural high EMF areas can be used to transmit other forms of energy for paranormal use, in this case: Kinetic. However, there were no object movements during our investigation, so this again is purely speculative. After an entire night's worth of data and investigation, we found no evidence of anything paranormal in nature. Many of the figures seen and felt occurred while the client and family were either just waking up or just falling asleep. This semi "dream-like" state can produce hallucinations and phenomena of the sort. While this doesn't necessarily completely debunk the claims, it greatly points to a natural explanation. In short, if there was any paranormal activity in the past, it most likely has long since dispersed or been minimized over time.
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