Happy New Hauntings

Good morning and Happy New Year my fellow investigators! Today is a new day, a new month, and a new year. How many times can we say that? (Once a year of course!)

Personally I am looking forward to the new year so much that I can barely sit still. Our plans are to investigate our butts off in some of the most haunted locations in and around Western North Carolina. We have fingers in a ton of cookie jars and hope to have some responses from our cookie monsters in the coming days.

Here's to you and yours on this New Year's day! It is time to make the impossible, possible!

Helen's Bridge - Asheville, NC

Now, as much as I despise being called a "Ghost Hunter" (as you all know), sometimes it's true. It truly is good to have a hobby and just geek out with your friends and do a little hobby time. Being serious investigators all the time can wear a team out. So if you're a team leader or founder of a group take them out for some honest fun once and awhile. That is what I did!

Why is it that in any urban legend or ghost story you only get a general description of where to go for the location? Of course, I only had a general idea as to how to get there and where it was since NO ONE ever posts directions to this sort of urban legend location.

Yeah well, in keeping with tradition...here is a map showing a general road in a general location, this may or may not be the actual location of Helen's Bridge.

(Just kidding! These are the actual directions to Helen's Bridge and the driving directions are posted below.)

The legend is that the Zealandia castle caught fire and a young woman lost her only child in the flames. Helen was so lost without her daughter she hung herself from a small stone bridge not far from the castle. Since then it is said that if you go to the bridge late at night, turn off your car, and call her name you may be lucky enough to catch a glimpse of her. Dressed in a long gown, it is said that she may ask you if you have seen her daughter. If it so happens that you do see her your car will be unable to start for a while.

Ghost hunters, paranormal enthusiasts, and teenagers looking for a scare, have flocked to this site for many years. It is obvious that the local teens hang out here with the amounts of litter and trash that lay about and the amount of teens that came to explore while we were there. During the 1940’s there used to be many Indian burial locations and it is rumored that these graves were disturbed. Apparitions and orbs have been documented (ORBS!) and some people have even described being pushed, slapped, scratched, and kicked. It is very possible it is not Helen but another darker entity. Zealandia website owners ask that no one provoke the “spirits” that lurk on or near the bridge.

Being the sort of skeptic's that we are, provoking is our specialty. Don't get me wrong, we respect the dead but stories of slapping, hitting, and scratching, is too irresistible for us. An entity that is willing to do physical harm is not just a lonely spirit and we want evidence of that particular existence.

Look closely above our heads the rocks are shaped like a skull. We thought that was cool, (not paranormal)

We had two recorders running at the same time on opposite ends of the bridge we had been calling for Helen for about fifteen minutes when jokingly a member asked "have you seen my daughter?" This is the response we got. Click Here. We were not kicked, scratched, punched, etc. as we had hoped and expected. The woods are loaded with thorny vines so any scratches we did get was from the greenery.

So go and have fun my paranormal friends! Send us your pictures of Helen's Bridge here and be entered for your chance to win Season 1 of Ghost Adventures on DVD! (The pictures do not have to be paranormal in nature.) You can also be entered to win just by commenting on this post. The winners will be announced within one month of this post.

Please, tell us what you think and leave comment below. Remember to "like" us on facebook by following the link on the right. You can also follow us on twitter @WNCPRS as well. If you would like us to investigate your area, send us an email here.

Private Residence - Investigation

We received a request to investigate a private residence. After speaking with him over the phone we decided that the investigation should proceed. His wife heard heavy breathing when she was outside. He heard his name being called when no one in the house truly called for him. His child refused to sleep in his own room and complained of someone hurting his feelings whenever he was in there. He feels oppressed and uncomfortable in his own home.

Our investigation began the night of November 17th 2012 (my camera decided that it was 2011 however so the dates on the pictures are incorrect.)

The only picture that had anything other than dust "orbs" or creepy crickets, is of the back wall of the basement. (You all know how I feel about "orbs" and if you don't you should probably read this because I will never post pictures of orbs and call them paranormal.) The wall is painted flat white which removed the flash flare, thankfully. I took this first picture and immediately took the second picture. We walked over and touched the location of the shiny spot and found that it was exactly like the rest of the basement wall. Theory would have it that the shiny spot would appear every time the camera flashed. We were never able to duplicate the shiny spot again.

Unexplained shiny spot

Where is the shiny thing?

However, after reviewing all the evidence gathered we came to the conclusion that during the time of our investigation nothing paranormal existed in the house. We did not capture any EVPs during the time we were there and provocation did nothing to increase the activity.

This is not to say that the clients are not going through something in the house or in their lives. As a research team we are simply not able provide evidence of the paranormal at this time in this house. They have been made aware that for peace of mind they have options for cleansing the house. Unfortunately, due to their religious background this may not be possible. We have been invited to come back at a later date for another investigation.

Update: The client has informed me that since we investigated he no longer feels the oppressiveness and he is finally able to take a deep breath.

Best. Twitter. Ever.

This is a little off topic of investigations, ghosts, and research, but the encounter is funnier than the joke in my opinion.

I just had an interaction on Twitter that made my night. This is only one of two times a celebrity that I enjoy has responded to a tweet of mine. However, this time was slightly different. I did not tweet directly to him nor did I expect a response in any form. Since, I was more than a little sarcastic in the reply (to someone I don't know) I did expect a few hate mail responses, blocks, or unfollows.

Here is what happened with actual Twitter times and names:

Kellie Arany @ParalelieKellie 

Me: "I'll have a coke." Waitress: "Is Pepsi ok?" Me: "Is Monopoly money ok?"

1:15 PM - 09 Nov 12

(Here is where I shook my head and grumbled something to my friends about people stealing jokes as their own. Miss Kellie claims to be a "Ghost Hunter extraordinaire" but if she's willing to steal someone's rather famous joke who is to say she wouldn't fake evidence or steal it to make it hers? I couldn't resist. I replied under my paranormal research group account.)

Nichole Hill @WNCPRS

@ParalelieKellie John Caparulo actually. But nice try. :)

5:36 PM - 09 Nov 12

(Now I don't mind that someone has repeated a joke. I don't begrudge her trying to be funny on Twitter. That's why jokes are funny because you can repeat them. However, I have never told a joke as my own that I heard. I usually mention the name of the comedian or say something like "I heard that joke from..." after I tell it.)

Here is the response that I did not expect at all:

John Caparulo favorited

48m : @ParalelieKellie John Caparulo actually. But nice try. :)

(I had to respond to such a profound favorite. I mean, what are the chances that he would have saw that particular post. I verified that he was actually Mr. Caparulo first which Twitter has a nice little blue check mark that tells you it's true.)

Nichole Hill @WNCPRS

@JohnCaparulo just watching out for one of my fave comedians! Thanks for the star.

6:39 PM - 09 Nov 12

His reply:

John Caparulo @JohnCaparulo

@WNCPRS appreciate it!

6:40 PM - 09 Nov 12

(To which I favorited the appreciation.)

(DISCLAIMER: Please do not tweet the poor woman or send her any hate mail. I mean no harm to her character as I do not know her personally. She has already been reminded of what it means to be honest because people ARE watching whether one knows it or not.)

The Curious Case of Orbs!

Orbs are believed by many in the paranormal society to be that of ghosts or spirits assumed to travel in groups. They are believed to be the soul of persons who once had a physical body. Mediums claim to speak with them and ghost “hunters” claim to photograph them regularly.

ORBS!

I have a definite problem with orbs. I cannot describe the anger I have when I hear “hunters” claim that a location is “haunted” due to the multitude of “orbs” on their digital pictures. I dispute the theory of “orbs” as being spiritual in nature on most images presented to me. This is to say that if you show me a picture of an orb and I will dispute its authenticity. I will show you that you took a picture in an attic that no one has been in for months. You disrupted the dust that settled during that time, while you may not notice the change yourself, it happened. This is not to say that the energy that caused you to see what you wanted to see does not exist. Orbs are merely something I personally find hard to believe only because I can prove their existence is not paranormal in nature for almost all cases.

The term orb is merely a description of circular objects that may occur in flash photography. They sometimes have tails indicating motion (also referred to in paranormal circles as “squiggle phenomena.”) In the photography world, it is referred to as backscatter or near-camera reflection. The cause of these anomalies is known throughout the paranormal and photography worlds. These objects are usually caught in low-light situations where the camera’s flash is being utilized. They are especially common with compact cameras where the distance between the lens and the light is very short. This directly illuminates the particles that face the lens and increases the camera’s ability to capture any light reflected off non-visible particles. Dust, pollen, liquid particles like condensation or rain, is all suspect in the anomalies they present. They may appear solid, or semi-solid, circular, and sometimes have partial color spectrums like light traveling through a raindrop producing a rainbow effect.

ORBS!

 There is a great group of investigators who came up with a brilliant idea of the dual camera system. (I highly recommend reading their website! www.ghostbreakers.com) Both cameras point in the same direction but at slightly different angles (to change the reflective flash pattern) and take a single picture at the same time. If the orb were to appear on only one camera then this can be explained as the reflective pattern of the flash on a non-visible particle for that camera. One would assume that if it were to appear on both cameras then it is not merely a reflective flash pattern and you could possibly call it paranormal in nature. (Please be aware that this is only my opinion as a skeptic who looks for explanations based on science. My theories may not reflect the true nature of an orb or its presence.)

ORBS!

I will never berate another investigator or their groups on how they investigate or what they claim to find. However, a paranormal investigation group claiming to be scientific in their research should never use just orbs as a determining factor of paranormal activity.

EVPs from 05/28/2011

(NOTE: I had to delete the original post as to some sort of corruption. This is the original post just moved to a different location.)

Every once in a while I grab my team and we investigate abandoned cemeteries. Not because I believe that there are ghosts there but because it keeps us all on our researcher toes. I use cemeteries to train new researchers, test new devices, and keep the veteran researchers from becoming complacent during investigations. Practice makes perfect and when requests are slow to come in, this is what we do. We are not Ghost Hunters and never will be. We do not actively seek out “haunted” locations we are asked to come and investigate to try to explain what is happening. We are researchers and like every great researcher, we must keep up to date on the latest technology and practices. I do not begrudge anyone who does call themselves a ghost hunter. I respect what you do and I know for a fact, that without the hunters we wouldn’t know what to do with most of the equipment we have. I’m just saying that we do not seek out these locations normally.

With that said: Excerpt from the survey done in 2000 for this particular cemetery just to give you an idea as to how the place looked. Our night vision camera refused to behave so we have no photos but I will go back and take some daylight pictures and update this post as soon as I do.

Though the cemetery is still in use, it is in extremely poor condition, and many gravestones may soon be lost to neglect. At the time of the survey weeds, shrubs, and trees made it difficult to complete the work. Many gravestones are leaning, sunken, broken, deteriorating, or just plain missing. Several graves have only a funeral home marker (marked by the letter "F" to the left of the death date). There are many more graves in this cemetery than the survey shows if one includes the sunken graves, mounds, and the pile of fieldstones found near the back of the cemetery. The church building is still standing, but it appears to be abandoned.

I attempted to do the survey in rows to show possibly relationships, but the rows are very irregular. I started the survey AT THE ROAD and worked back through the cemetery. A date that appears to fall between the birth and death columns indicates that there was only one date on the stone, and I could not tell if it was a birth or death date.

The oldest date on a grave was that of Larence Morrow, whose birth date reads: ___ 24, 1835. His death date was unreadable.

The first EVP we obtained was two footsteps. I hated how these turned out upon upload to sound cloud. You may have to listen to it a couple times. The footsteps are faint but after you hear them, you can clearly hear our trainee say that he is now leaving. It did freak him out a bit but he hung in there.

The second one is a breath or a sigh, none of us were standing anywhere near the voice recorder as it was atop a gravestone alone.

Lastly, this one is the most difficult to hear once it was uploaded and is best heard with headphones. Again, it is barely above a whisper. We enhanced the audio only to make the volume louder; it is clearly audible without any enhancements but the upload completely distorts it. We believe it is saying, "I'm judging you," referring again to our trainee.

If anyone has any recommendations as to a better uploader please let us know! Please, tell us what you think and leave comment below. Remember to "like" us on facebook by following the link on the right. You can also follow us on twitter @WNCPRS as well. If you would like us to investigate your area, send us an email here.

http://snd.sc/l49xNA

Ghostly Pictures or Trick of Light?

It has been so long since I've been here it's almost as if I turned into a ghost! No, I haven't left or become extinct, I've just been horrendously busy with everyday life as I am sure you can understand. I have been meaning to post this for over a year now and just never got around to it. I promise to continue to keep this blog updated now that I am live and active on Twitter. You can follow me @WNCPRS for all things paranormal.

I know, I suck at life. Perhaps my afterlife will be better.

Anyway...

I received these pictures from Alison (a friend of mine) a while back and she asked me to look them over. She believed that she saw something in the reflection of the window panes. Unable to identify it she sent them to me for review.

In this picture, there is a reflection of a face and if you look closer a small shadowy figure to the right. Clearly, the face is not a likeness of the person taking the photo as you can see for yourself in the comparison. Looking at the frame, the face appears to be looking off to the right towards the cemetery located behind the photographer. The woman taking the picture is looking directly at the window frame to take the photo.

My skeptic side rejects the idea of the face being there almost immediately due to lighting, shadowing, and the fact that the old windows are wavy and not flat like our windows today, which would cause some interesting effects on a digital camera lens.

The shadow figure is odd considering the back of the building is inaccessible to people at this time. This also means I cannot get back there to see what could have possibly created the shadow.

Alison took a picture from almost the same angle (but not close enough) a few days later and the face does not appear nor does the shadowy figure. My believer side wants to say they captured something, perhaps a woman in mourning for someone in the cemetery. Unfortunately, my skeptic side prevails in this case, as I am unable to produce enough evidence to the contrary.

Please, tell us what you think and leave comment below. Remember to "like" us on Facebook by following the link on the right. You can also follow us on twitter @WNCPRS as well. If you would like us to investigate your area, you can send us an email here.

What kind of equipment do you need?

I did most of my research online for what types of equipment I needed when I decided that it was time to test my ghost investigation abilities. Other researchers I had asked tended to be a bit closed mouthed on this subject. I have yet to find out the reason why but I do not plan on keeping my mouth shut about anything I use now or in the future. I hope this helps all new investigators in their search for the perfect equipment. By no means are any of these items required! A simple notebook and pen is perfectly acceptable, these items are what works for us and is in no way set in stone as to this is what you have to use.

I knew some basics off the top, a flash light, camera, EMF detector (rarely used now and is not pictured), and a digital voice recorder. But what else? What else do they use on these TV shows, well of course they use the most expensive equipment out there like the Thermal Imager. That particular piece runs for over $4,000.00 on Amazon, USED! No one in their right minds can afford equipment like this. Other websites attempted to sell me a "Ghost Hunting Box" which is ridiculous, I am not a hunter and never wanted to be. I didn't even know how to use half of the things in their box, nor did they explain why the use of such items is important. Let's go over each item that my team and I currently own and I will explain its purpose, pros, and cons.

 
Infrared Digital Camera (1): Bell Howell S7-R, Slim and fits in any pocket easily. It has 6 IR lamps that light up an indoor darkened room perfectly but it makes every picture come out as a circle. Unfortunately it is not the best camera for outside night use. Sometimes the photos come out really blurry and shaky, I need to get a tripod for it to prevent this and use it only as a stationary camera.You can order this from Amazon for $89 and it comes with a 2GB memory card. Using an IR camera allows you to take pictures without using a flash that will ruin your night vision and it does not blind everyone in the room.

 


Digital Camera (2): Any digital camera works well for the purpose of taking pictures. I have used many and broken many more. The Canon Sure Shot is the only one that has stood up to my testing. I can find nothing wrong with this one. I really like it.




Infrared HD Camcorder (1): Bell and Howell DNV900HD 1080P Infrared Night Vision Camcorder With Accessory Kit. I LOVE this camera! It allows you to shoot footage with an incredible 16-megapixel maximum resolution, ensuring spectacular detail and vivid colors in every shot. LCD touchscreen makes it easy for you to see the subjects and surroundings you are shooting crystal clear. It has 32MB of internal memory and you can expand the external memory with cards up to 16GB, 8GB in each slot. 1080p Full HD Video Output and 4x Digital Zoom. The only bad thing I have found with this camera is the one little IR lamp is not strong enough for outdoor use. You have to get an external IR lamp for that.



Digital Voice Recorder (2): You can purchase these online or at your local Radio Shack, Walmart, Kmart. (I bought mine at Kmart.) They came with a crappy software for listening purposes but the recorder is amazing. I got a microphone that is noise canceling and takes out all the ambient hiss when using the recorder. It also has a speaker for immediate playback if you want. It has 4 folders for memory and holds up to 70 hours of recordings. You can download the Wavepad Sound Editor that I use for free which allows you to amplify and edit your recordings. Although I never "edit" simply amplify for better understanding.



 
IR Thermometer: Gun with laser guide ST-380, Light weight and cheap. You can get this one on Amazon for $30. We use it for checking the temperature on surfaces around us before, during, and after, the investigation. It seems to be extremely accurate when tested against another temperature gauge.I have not found anything wrong with this piece other than it takes surface temps and NOT ambient air temps. So don't go waving this thing around and expect it to keep a steady temp.




Please, tell us what you think and leave comment below. Remember to "like" us on facebook by following the link on the right. You can also follow us on twitter @WNCPRS as well. If you would like us to investigate your area, send us an email here.

Changelings

Okay, so anything to do with small children happens to be my biggest fear. Think, "Children of the Corn". So last night being bored to tears and not being able to watch any of my normal ghostly shows Hubby and I put in Supernatural Season 3. The very first episode happened to be about changelings. Which, of course, made me wonder. Do they actually exist? The voices of small children can be heard at most haunted places without having any connection to children in its history. Is this the changeling? What is it? When has it been seen? Under what circumstances? Of course most of the idea of the changeling has been embellished for the television series. But isn't fiction based on some form of truth?

I set about my limited research. What I found from ever faithful "Wiki" was that a changeling is a creature found in folktales. Generally it can be described as the child of a fairy or troll that is able to take the place of the human child. Basically, the idea stems from the inability to define the sickness or deformities of afflicted children. The reason the child looked or acted the way they did was because they were the "changeling" and not the real human child.

As a parent of three small children, I believe that the idea could make sense to a mother who is helpless to do anything about her sick child. As a researcher I find it ridiculous that this would still occur today. However, it does and in many cases the mother has a mental illness. While I didn't answer my own questions just yet, perhaps one day I will be able to.

Please, tell us what you think and leave comment below. Remember to "like" us on facebook by following the link on the right. You can also follow us on twitter @WNCPRS as well. If you would like us to investigate your area, send us an email here.

Meet the Crew of WNCPRS

We have posted a little about ourselves so that you can get to know us! We all have different interests in life, we have very different backgrounds, but we all have at least one thing in common. That "thing" just happens to be our interest in the paranormal. Check out our Who are WNCPRS Members? page!

Happy New Year

2010 has finally come to an end. WNCPRS is looking forward to their future investigations for 2011. We hope to keep you posted and update in our adventures this year. All of us at WNCPRS wish you a happy New Year and we do hope all of your dreams come true this year. Please remember us as well and send in your investigation requests here. "Like" us on Facebook by using the link to the right and you can also follow us on Twitter @WNCPRS.

EMF (Electromagnetic Force)

Electromagnetism is one of four forces found in nature. It is the force that causes the interaction between electrically charged particles; the areas in which this happens are called electromagnetic fields. It is said that this is where paranormal phenomena occurs. Spirits can lock on to the electrical fields and draw energy from the area. Paranormal researchers can tell you that when they are experiencing something, hairs standing on end, touching, breathing on the neck, there is usually a high EMF reading associated.

I don’t necessarily believe that spirits appear every time there is a spike on a meter nor do I believe that there is a spike because a spirit is present. Remember, this is just my opinion so please don’t be offended if you use a meter. Yes, I have a meter. Yes, I use it. I use it as a tool to determine what ELSE could be causing the strange feelings we feel like our hair standing up on end. I do not use it as you see on the multitude of TV shows and say things like “look at that! There MUST be a ghost around me.” No. I am a researcher so I use tools to explain reactions not to determine them.

Most EMF detectors are scaled from 1 to 10. A reading of 4 and higher is said to be where the phenomena will occur. There is no scientific data to backup this theory as of yet. Some EMF detectors are scaled 1 to 5 thus removing the readings for basic household emissions. I have both types of EMF meters but again, I only use them as tools to define what I may be feeling.

Electromagnetism is responsible for practically all the phenomena encountered in daily life, with the exception of gravity, IE the ability to see light. High EMF levels can cause nausea, skin rashes, fatigue, headaches, forgetfulness, paranoia, and other more serious conditions like leukemia, brain tumors, birth defects, and cancer. Always be aware of where you are when determining high EMF readings and paranormal activity, under power lines for example will give a gigantic reading of 10 or higher!

There is a story about a local news station who called in an investigator about the strange happenings going on in their newsroom. People were seeing things, having a feeling of someone standing behind them, and even rashes. It was later determined with all of the electronics they have running in the newsroom alone and the EMF spikes being off the charts that they were not in fact haunted.

Please, tell us what you think and leave comment below. Remember to "like" us on facebook by following the link on the right. You can also follow us on twitter @WNCPRS as well. If you would like us to investigate your area, send us an email here.

Doppelgangers

The doppelganger is presumed to be the double of a living person that typically represents evil or darkness. Doppelgangers are said to bring bad luck, illness, or danger, if they show themselves to family and friends. Seeing your own generally means death. They are generally seen through your peripheral vision. (Not unlike the Shadow People mentioned here) Some doppelgangers will impersonate its double to play tricks on friends or insulting family or they even attempt to kill the original.

Sorry...I couldn't resist.

Generally speaking, or at least on a paranormal researcher stand point, there is not much information regarding the doppelganger. We have yet to find any reports of a doppelganger on any related websites for  investigation which leads us to believe that we are either looking in the wrong area for information or there is not much a researcher can do to prove or disprove the existence. One may conclude that we are speaking of paternal or fraternal twins. We are not. We are more interested in the reports of persons born as a single infant seeing themselves or friends noticing that the person “was two places at once.”

Studies have been completed to try to find out why the brain would perceive something so sinister. Using electromagnetic stimulation to a specific part in a patient’s brain caused the patient to feel another presence in the room; the patients would describe these “people” as faceless, silent, motionless, and with a body structure not unlike the patients own. Different effects were identified when the patients were placed in different positions and the stimulation increased. Other reports of doppelgangers may be due to a failure of that section of brain.

Please, tell us what you think and leave comment below. Remember to "like" us on facebook by following the link on the right. You can also follow us on twitter @WNCPRS as well. If you would like us to investigate your area, send us an email here.

Shadow People

The definition of a "shadow person" is about as vague as you can imagine. These shadows are described as dark humanoid figures that are either the size of a large man or a child, they can even be shapeless beings. Appearing only in the peripheral vision of whomever notices. They are described as malicious or evil beings designed to create fear.

There are several ideas regarding these entities. Optical illusions or hallucinations which are generally brought on by psychological damage or circumstance; like hallucinogenic drugs or history of abuse. It has been said that a specific area in the brain can cause the illusion. There is a medical condition called Pareidolia where the brain misinterprets random patterns of shadow, light, or texture, as being shapes that are familiar to us such as faces or human forms. The same condition can happen to the general public as well. In lower light, such as dusk or dawn, when trying to focus vision on a certain object, can cause the brain to incorrectly identify the object.

Another condition, known as "waking-sleep" or Hypnagogia, is a physiological condition where a person can be between actual sleep and wakefulness. During this waking-sleep the person can be fully conscious and aware of their surroundings or environment and also in a dream state where images from their subconscious can also be perceived. People who suffer from waking-sleep generally describe a feeling of dread and visual hallucinations. Closely related to this is another condition referred to as Sleep Paralysis, which causes feelings of levitation, pressure on the chest, and an acute sense of danger.

This is just a definition to give you a better idea as to what may be causing the "shadow person" to appear in our mind's eye. By no means am I telling you that they do not exist nor am I saying that these occurrences are due to medical conditions alone. As a researcher you have to be able to know what the possible explanations may be so that you can better prove or disprove your own evidence. No one is a harder critic than you on your own work. Keep your mind open but be aware of the possibilities that something else can be the cause.

Please, tell us what you think and leave comment below. Remember to "like" us on facebook by following the link on the right. You can also follow us on twitter @WNCPRS as well. If you would like us to investigate your area, send us an email here.