Case Study #5 – Family

My house is not haunted, but there is paranormal activity here. I have heard my name called out when no one is home with me except my airhead dog and geriatric cat. I have seen shadows move across walls when no one is moving in the room. I have heard my voice mimicked in my own ear, clear as a bell, on a bright summer morning. And I have heard my daughter speak to something in the night. Have I had my home investigated by the very team of which I’m proud to be a part?

No.

I can hear you all, saying incredulously, “WHAT?!?” to your computer screens.

I know what is happening and it doesn’t bother me. Not in the slightest. Maybe, someday, when our schedule is quiet and my fellow investigators are bored, then sure. I’ll pack the kids off for a weekend at Grandma’s and we can scour this place with our equipment and senses. And probably capture not one damned bit of evidence. But I’ll be OK with that. Because I think of whatever is here as our “silent” family member. A freeloader who doesn’t pay rent but, then again, doesn’t raid the fridge.

But this post isn’t about me. It’s about my mother.

She moved to Georgia, from West Virginia, almost eight years ago. After a stint in an apartment, she moved into a home at the outer edges of Acworth. It’s a cute little three-bedroom, two-story house and she loves it. And all was going well with her move-in until weird things started happening. At first, she noticed a bath scrunchy had been moved from the shower head to a basket. She hadn’t moved it and no one had used that bathroom. “Oh, well,” she thought, “maybe I moved it and forgot.” And then more odd things occurred.

She called me one day in a tizzy. “My vent! Over my stove! It just turned on by itself! And I’m pushing every button on this danged thing and it’s not turning off!”

By itself? I thought. Now, that’s weird. In all my years doing this I had never encountered appliances acting of their own accord. I told her to reset the breaker for the kitchen and chalked it up to faulty wiring or crappy vent.

Until two weeks later when I was at her house and witnessed the dishwasher turning on by itself. There is no timer setting on this dishwasher and my mother hadn’t touched it while we were there. Darned thing just switched on and you could hear water gushing. That’s when I knew weird stuff was afoot.

When sitting on her couch, hearing her front door open, and footsteps trooping through the foyer while the front door was locked and shut and she was looking straight at it, that’s when my mother said, “Alright. That’s it. Bring in your team. I want to know what’s going on.”

Our investigation was quiet. Nothing out of the ordinary happened. We investigated the whole house and during our downstairs session, we clearly heard a woman giggle on the second floor landing. No women were upstairs because we were all downstairs being quiet. Other than that, the night was still.

When I presented my mom with our evidence (minimal) and personal experiences (benign), her outlook and attitude on the whole situation changed. We told her that she had just moved in, painted, adjusted, and changed the house. That was sure to stir up energies already present in her home. It could also be that whatever is there is trying to get her attention.

Since my father died 15 years ago, my mother has been lonely. She is active socially and lives near us, but coming home to an empty house each day can be something else entirely. She treats the paranormal activity as she would a roommate. On many nights, Mom still hears footsteps downstairs while she tries to fall asleep. The appliances now all behave and the bathroom scrunchies stay put. Mom, it turns out, also has a not-so-silent roommate who has made her presence known and pops up every now and then to remind Mom that she is still there. And my mother no longer worries about her house. She’s a lot like me in that respect.

Just don’t ask her about the possum in her garage. That’s a WHOLE other story!

Misconceptions of the Paranormal

Hey, all! Heather here! The following post is from our Charter Investigator and current Assistant Director Jordan. Enjoy!

It should be understood that not everybody has a belief or interest in the paranormal, and that is completely fine. We here at PGI completely understand. However,  it’s usually found that the people who want to criticize paranormal investigations and investigators don’t take the time to research what they are criticizing. Sure people see what’s on TV, but not all paranormal investigators operate the same way.

The word ‘paranormal’  gets tossed around very often these days. Most likely because of the growing popularity of paranormal TV shows and other forms of ‘Para-tainment’. But what is the paranormal? Paranormal refers to anything outside ‘the normal’. Paranormal DOES NOT equal ghosts! Paranormal can refer to anything from the spiritual/supernatural, to the extra terrestrial, to cryptozoological, and so on. Now, we’re not saying there is a ghost of a Sasquatch or a Yeti flying a UFO in your house screaming Get out, but ‘Paranormal’ is a blanket term for all of these and is most identified with ghosts/spirits. Also, on the same note, if a place has paranormal activity it DOES NOT make that place haunted. It just means that there could possibly be activity going on that hasn’t quite been explained as of yet.

Not everybody in the field is a believer, and that is INCREDIBLY important for the future of the paranormal field. There are a healthy amount of skeptics in the field and the field NEEDS that skepticism. It is important for investigators to use that skepticism to find normal reasons that could be misidentified as potential paranormal activity. A skeptic’s primary job is go in and attempt to disprove what is potentially going on. When you can not logically or scientifically explain what is going on, then you have something paranormal (again meaning ‘Outside-of-the-normal’). It should not be assumed that everyone who investigates the paranormal is a believer. That is not the case.

On the flip side of the argument, just because someone might be a believer does not make them wrong. There are a large number of reasons a person could be a believer whether they’ve had some undeniable personal experience or captured a piece of evidence that just cannot be explained to the most logical or scientific sense. If someone does not believe or have interest in the paranormal because they think or feel science or religious beliefs dictate otherwise, that’s fine too. But one shouldn’t sit here and tell all the others who are interested that they’re wrong or imply that they are dumb for having an interest in the paranormal. The people who investigate have obviously have some personal reasons that drew them towards the subject, or some people just have an interest in it and investigate because of said interest. And that is completely OK.

There was an argument stating that paranormal investigators do not help people. We beg to differ. We can’t speak for any other investigators or teams, but there are MANY cases of paranormal investigators giving peace of mind to a client. If a client has something going on that they can not explain and requests the aid of a team to go in to see what they can disprove (or prove) just to give the client a better understanding of what is or isn’t going on, then a client’s needs are met. A large percentage of the time, you can disprove almost every claim. Normally with whatever the outcome of the investigation, this eases whatever the clients thoughts were about the goings-on in their home or business and however the client wants to continue after investigators do or don’t find anything is entirely up to them. Again, sometimes not everything can be explained or maybe the client is looking to go a bit deeper in their search for answers, it is perfectly acceptable to refer a client to other sources, people, and teams in the paranormal community in order for them to get the answers they need.

On a lighter note, paranormal investigators are not Ghostbusters. With as much as that is a long-loved film (And who doesn’t? It’s a classic! Personally, it’s one of my favorite films. I know I’m not the only one!), that is far from the truth. Paranormal investigators do not drive around in the Ecto-1 or run around with proton packs zapping “class 5 full roaming vapors” (as cool and fun as that may sound). There is little we do in the ‘busting’ area. We investigate. Plain and simple. When a client calls a team in, equipment (video recorders, audio recorders, temperature gauges, and electromagnetic field detectors) is set up and records for however long a team is investigating. What is collected is not evidence, it is data. Once the data is collected it goes through a rigorous review and what is pulled from the data via audio, video, etc is potential evidence of something paranormal. Once all pieces of potential evidence are collected, they are then again re-reviewed to look for any logical or scientific explanations as to why it is not paranormal. If nothing can be explained, then this piece of evidence is given to the client with an explanation as to who found it, where it was found, and what it means to the client. Not every piece of evidence given to a client means it’s officially a ghost/spirit/entity. It just means what was found can’t be explained at the moment, but maybe at a later time it can possibly be explained.

To end, it is extremely important to know that no one person has all the answers about the paranormal and the paranormal field. ‘Paranormal’ refers to ‘the unknown’ for a reason. If someone had all the answers, it would be ‘known’ and terms like paranormal wouldn’t exist.

Like Family

Tammy, Stefanie, and Heather with Josh Gates, host of “Destination Truth.”

I can tell you, with no trepidation or uncertainty, that Paranormal Georgia Investigations is a family.

We charter members started investigating together five years ago. It was in January, 2008, that we all gathered in a restaurant for a meet and greet with a different paranormal group we had been recruited to join. I didn’t know any of these people and was, quite frankly, feeling my “advanced” age of 36. My youngest child was a mere eight months old, the baby weight was hanging on for dear life, mascara and other bits of makeup were but a dream (so was sleep), and the crows were starting to mark up the corners of my eyes each and every night.

Among this rag-tag group of truthseekers was this incredibly spunky college student in her early-early-early 20s. I looked at her (Stefanie) and thought, Oh, what a sweet baby! Yes, I thought that. After 13 years of marriage, three kids, and four jobs I had become an unbearable, sleep-deprived cynic. My husband couldn’t fathom why I would want to join a group that would stay up most nights when all I wanted was sleep. And when I came home to tell him most of the group was made up of college students he rolled his eyes. I’m sure we both thought this would be short-lived.

Our second-ever investigation was at a local salon housed in an old, historic home and we were all excited. This was our first “real” investigation, with clients and everything. No more training because we were on the job! I can remember piling into my car at 1AM, barely awake and yet trying to stay warm so that when our team went back in, we weren’t big human Popsicles. Stefanie’s energy was exuberant and I felt awful for fighting the need to doze off, but I wanted to listen to her, talk to her, and get to know her. I discovered that this ball of energy wasn’t the naive young-un about whom I had made incorrect assumptions. This was a woman who knew who she was, what she was about, and what she wanted out of life. To say that Stefanie is creative, busy, or smart is an understatement. She is a wife, mother, daughter, artist, multiple-business-woman, and ghost hunter. And that doesn’t even scratch the surface of her depth.

It’s because of Stefanie I started texting. YES! Stefanie brought me kicking and screaming into the 21st century. I had an iPhone, just a month old, and one day it made a funny noise. A texting noise. And just like that, I became a texting monster. I would joke to my husband that it was because of my ghost hunting friends that I was finally hip.

For the last five years, through thick and thin, ghosts and scary clients, births, marriages, deaths, conferences, and founding Paranormal Georgia Investigations that I realize Stefanie Jones is more than just a friend. Her ideas about the paranormal have shaped many of my own theories and beliefs. Her drive to make PGI an incredibly professional, well-oiled machine has kept me on my toes. I know I make a poor director when compared to her, but it’s because of her work and dedication that all of you see the amazing organization we have become. I hope to carry on where she has left off.

Stefanie, thank you for everything. Thank you for your hard work, your constant questioning, your dedication, and your love and friendship. When I started this journey five years ago, I had hoped simply to quell my fears and anxieties. Not only did I do that, but I gained a family in the process. As you move forward with your life and to new adventures, I’ll miss you at investigations, but I’ll see you at the coffee shop!

Book Review – The Paranormal Equation

Dear Readers. Our Case Manager, Stefanie, was asked to review an awesome book, “The Paranormal Equation,” by James Stein. Below is her review of the book and here is a link to purchase it at Amazon. Enjoy!

I have to admit that in reading this book I originally thought that I may have bitten off more than I could chew. Let’s face it, the last book I read was The Very Hungry Caterpillar for my 2 year old. However, once said 2 year old went to bed and I began reading I rather enjoyed the book. Sure, I am terrible… terrible with math and science respectively, but there were some great topics covered in The Paranormal Equation by James Stein.

I knew just by giving the table of contents a quick glance over that I would enjoy the chapter on marital telepathy (I know right? Interesting subject!) granted, as the ball got rolling in that chapter we find out a little about quantum mechanics too. Mind blown.

I think that the most refreshing part about this read for me is the fact that it does indeed, state fact. In the paranormal field whether it be through television, conferences, reading materials, and events one can meet a million experts. So often in the paranormal community you will hear the words science and scientific thrown around all willy nilly. Don’t get me wrong here, I have had the pleasure of sitting in on discussion panels from folks who have their science and science related topics down to a tee, but some goober running around with a headlamp on and a ghost meter in hand who says they are using 100% scientific methods is well, silly to say the least. This book was a nice change of pace in that it was written by a man who certainly knows his stuff.

James Stein, or as my 2 year old calls him “Doctor Stein scientist” (his photo is on the back cover, and she is rather inquisitive) has put together a collection of facts and theories to shine a new light on all sorts of things. All sorts of things? Sounds vague right. Let me throw a few topics at you that may ring as interesting: telekinesis, clairvoyance, and parallel universes to name a few.

The book also helped me understand that just because something is supernatural it doesn’t mean it simply just goes against the usual laws of nature, enter law of physics stage left. Stein takes it a few notches further. I definitely got a new perspective on the universe, and the possibility of this Paranormal Equation. I suggest picking up a copy and learning about it yourself!

Note: Paranormal Georgia Investigations is not the author of this book. We are simply humble book reviewers. Also, this blogger and paranormal investigator received a free copy The Paranormal Equation as compensation for review of said book. This in no way influenced my review. And now my FTC disclosure of compensation requirement is done!

Old South Pittsburgh Hospital Audio Evidence, Part 2

Since we gave you 10 brand-spanking new EVPs last week to bend your ears and give you goose bumps (not to mention the video of the door opening by itself – yes, I’m still excited about that – yes, I’ll be telling my grandchildren about that and boring friends and family with that story for decades to come), I figured it was only fair that I post part two.

You know, since we promised and stuff.

So, here we go fellow paranormal enthusiasts! Nine more EVPs to whet your audio appetites! Break out your headphones and crank up the volume! This first EVP was found during our second session. We were on the main floor of the hospital in the old hospice section. Tammy, Jenny, Stefanie, and I were hanging out, talking, and three seconds into this clip, you hear a far-away, tinny female voice shout something. To me, it sounds like “Come out!” (Don’t forget to use your browser’s “Back” button to return to the post after you listen to the audio clip!)

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During part of this EVP session, Cindy (the caretaker) was making her rounds and we walked down the hall to speak with her, leaving our recorders behind. We were far enough down the hall that our conversation didn’t carry and it was silent in the room. At the one second mark, you hear that same tinny female voice say “Down!”

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Again, this was during the time we were away from the room. All of our team was talking with Cindy on another part of the floor. At the 2-second mark, you can hear two footsteps in the room.

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While we were in the room, we would quietly talk amongst ourselves. At the beginning of this audio clip, you hear Tammy talking, then you hear Nick speak and under Nick, at about the three second mark, you hear a female humming. I can tell you that humming is not something we just randomly do on an investigation.

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The hospice room we investigated still had the personal effects of one of the patients and in this audio clip you hear me ask the spirit if the dresses hanging in the closet were hers. At ten seconds you hear a faint whispered “Yes” and then at 15 seconds “Mine.” It’s very faint so definitely turn up the volume!

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This audio clip was during the quiet time in the room when we were in a different area of the hospital. Again, the entire team was talking to Cindy in a different area and our voices didn’t travel down to hospice. At just before the three second mark, you hear a female say “That makes sense.”

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At this point, we had moved back up to the third floor of the hospital. At the three second mark, you hear a strange giggle (that wasn’t any of us), then one of us coughs at six seconds, then there’s a strange sigh (again, not one of us) at eight seconds.

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This is another third floor EVP during one of our quieter moments. We weren’t really talking (you can hear our investigator coughing at the end of the clip), but there is a male voice in the middle of the audio clip saying something. I had to clean up the audio to really make sense of it, but I think he’s saying “Light going on!”

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And, finally, the last EVP which was found on the main floor of the hospital, at the front desk. This was our last EVP session of the night and we had decided to gather at the front desk, make a few announcements over the PA system and see if we could stir things up. Prior to this clip, Jordan had asked “Is there a doctor in the house?” There is a long 30-second silence (of which this clip is a part) and then you hear a quick, low male voice (just after the one second mark) say “Right here!”

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Those are all of my EVPs! I have a few other from our other investigators that I will share with you next week. Hope you’ve enjoyed them and please leave us a comment and let us know what you think or if you hear anything we may have missed!

Old South Pittsburgh Hospital Audio Evidence, Part 1

I have to tell you all, honestly, I loved Old South Pittsburgh Hospital. Nestled on a hillside in South Pittsburgh, Tennessee, this place doesn’t look like much.

Credit: Photo courtesy of AURORA IMAGES by Dawn Bond https://www.facebook.com/auroraimages007

It’s just this hulk of a mid-20th century building, squatting there in its industrial, no-nonsense glory, waiting for paranormal investigators to flock to its halls and wondering where have all the patients gone?

As I stated in my previous post about this location (the post where I blow you all away with video evidence of a door opening by itself), I wasn’t looking forward to this investigation. I wasn’t excited. I was actually tired (raising three kids and one husband does that to a person) and wishing I could have stayed home.

But my experiences here and the evidence I gleaned from my voice recorder (20 – just from my recorder – and my other fellow PGI investigators still have yet to listen to their audio so you can imagine the body of evidence we will have from one 22-hour investigation of our group alone, it’s mind-boggling) convince me that this place is an evidence gold mine.

The caretaker of OSPH, Cindy, lives in this building full-time with her husband and young son. This is their home. I can tell you that when I wake up in the middle of the night and “make the rounds” of my home, I’m not scared. I don’t run back to my bedroom thinking the hounds of hell are nipping at my heels. But this place? I had a hard time walking our investigator Matt from the bedroom, to the front door, and then getting myself back to my group without running like a big chicken. Frankly, I don’t know how Cindy and her family do it, but I do know that we have her to thank. She is a wonderful advocate for groups like ours and true scientific research. It’s because of her that you can investigate here for a solid 22 hours, take your evidence home, and expand your knowledge base. For her, it’s important that we OSPH-alumni teams share what we’ve learned. And that’s what I’m doing right here.

Now, as always, you’ll need a good pair of headphones and crank the volume. Earbuds will do in a pinch, but speakers may not work for all of these EVPs. I’m presenting the first ten in this post and all of these EVPs came from our first session on the third floor. My recorder was placed on the floor at the corner by the nursery, just a few feet away from labor and delivery, and stayed stationary the entire time. Most of us were a bit further down the hall, closer to the section that was considered to be the mental evaluation area.

This first EVP occurs at three seconds in. It’s a child’s voice. I don’t know what it’s saying, but we certainly had no children with us and Cindy’s son was in bed, asleep. (Remember, click on the link and then, once you’ve listened to your fill, click on your browser’s back button.)

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This next EVP occurs at about two seconds. You hear a male voice with an echo-y quality to it say, “Give me… the child.” Remember, my recorder was placed near labor and delivery so it would make sense to hear something like this.

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This next one gives me the chills because I’ve asked everyone on my team if this could be them and no one has admitted to it. At about the one second mark, you hear a male whisper, “Heather… come here!”

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This next EVP is very innocuous and is obviously something trying to get our attention. At this point in the session, my team had moved to another part of the floor, away from the recorders. At about four seconds, something says, “HEY!”

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This is another EVP that details perfectly the spirit of a child present on the 3rd floor. You can hear our team talking and at the two second mark you hear a child’s voice say, “HI!”

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During this next EVP, we had placed a flashlight at the end of the hallway, trying to encourage whatever was there to turn it on. The flashlight was located quite a distance away from my recorder. You can hear Stefanie ask something to turn it on and she counts, “1… 2… 3″ At the six second mark, you hear a child say something, but it’s unintelligible.

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This next EVP is confusing to me. It sounds like someone is making an announcement over the hospital PA system, but no one did this while we were investigating. At the one second mark year hear a “BING!” sound and then a female voice. Now, I made sure that no one on my team had their phones on during this time (Ah, Siri.) and no one did, so I can’t explain this one.

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This is another EVP that makes the hair stand up on my neck. It’s a male voice, whispering, almost immediately into the audio file, and it says (I think) “They ought to be told the truth.”

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This next EVP is of a woman’s voice saying something unintelligible at around four seconds and again at six seconds. You will hear my team talking and the woman’s voice occurs in the background.

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In this final EVP (for this post), you hear my team talking rather close to the recorder. At the two second mark, you hear a woman talking under us. Trying to get our attention, perhaps?

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Hope you’ve enjoyed! Part two (and all of my EVPs from this investigation) will follow in a few days.

Sad Farewell

I hate this. I really do. I don’t even want to post this blog from our Case Manager, Stefanie. I feel like when I hit “Publish” it will be real. And it is real. And the PGI family will miss her when she’s no longer investigating with us. But she’ll still be around as our friend and sister. We’ll miss you on the team, Stef, but you’re still going to OSPH and Waverly next time we go, Missy! -PGI Heather

Death is the only guarantee that life has to offer. On that note, it is no wonder that so many people are fascinated with what happens after death.

I started my journey in the paranormal field about 5 years ago. I won’t lie, I was probably more interested in doing what they do on the t.v. shows than I was with actually helping people. I had so much to learn, and learn I did. My personal goals in this hobby evolved over the years, and I would like to think that somewhere along the way I did help a few people out. I have formed some amazing friendships along the way too, and I have never known another group or club to function so much like a family (an extremely professional family at that).

I started this journey as a believer, I grew up noticing things that weren’t “normal” and I knew that there had to be something else to all of this. It isn’t black and white, the universe, the whole life after death idea, there is a gray area. This gray area is what has been a topic of concern for dozens and dozens of clients we have been called on to help over the years. Yes, some client situations we could explain away as nothing paranormal. However, I can say that I have added to my arsenal of personal experiences as an investigator. I can’t tell you the meaning of it all, I could be on several teams, over several decades, and still not tell you how it all works. There are no rule books when it comes to this sort of stuff.

I do know that there is a fear surrounding this unknown, and that fear is real. I am so blessed to have had the opportunity to work with this amazing team, and to have been able to eliminate that fear in myself.

Yesterday it was with a heavy heart that I announced to my team that I will be resigning from my duties as case manager, and investigator, on March 31st, 2013. I battled it out in my head for months on what would be the best move for me to make. Maybe just step down from my board position, take a leave of absence, go to the beach, take a hike, fly a kite, you name it. Unfortunately I can’t operate that way, as my goals evolved in this field I have managed to turn it into a bit of an obsession, and less of a hobby. I spend hours on the team’s message board. I spend hours tweaking forms and methods. I have organized and re-organized enough to probably make the whole team batty. I know deep down that in order to re-direct my focus to where it needs to be I have to just cut all ties. That realization ripped my heart right out.

I wish the best of luck to all of my teammates, my family. I also wish the best of luck to all of our past, present, and future clients. If you are a potential client reading this and navigating through the website to find a team to help you, you are at the right place. I cannot think of a better group of people to take care of you.

The paranormal field has offered me so many great memories, and I thank each and every one of you who I have had the pleasure of meeting through this adventure.

The one I don’t title with something cheesy like “A Touching Story”

On Sunday, November 11, PGI began a 22-hour investigation of the Old South Pittsburg Hospital in South Pittsburg, Tennessee. Excitement about potential evidence can be palpable, especially when you’ve heard the location is very active. I think every investigator is looking for a new experience, an experience that will leave an impression and pique the curious desire to investigate more often in the search for answers. I know all that is true for me. At OSPH, we were gifted with several new experiences.

First, little REM-y, our REM-Pod, got some action. The REM-Pod is designed to emit an electromagnetic field that can be broken by any material/object that has its own EM field. To manually set off REM-y, our investigators have to get very close to the antenna. Walking nearby or waving a hand around at even a short distance does not set it off. Our REM-y has worked hard on previous investigations, but has never gone off in a situation that we could not debunk. That changed when four of us sat in Martha’s room (in the old hospice section on the second floor) with REM-y in the hallway outside the door, between Martha’s room and the hospice room that was once a morgue. Sounds like a delightful place to hang out, I know. To each his own. Anyway, in the midst of our random conversation, little old REM-y squealed and flashed lights for a few seconds, then nothing. There was nothing electrical to interfere, we were not close enough to manipulate the device in any way, and no one was in the hallway . . . or maybe someone was.

The next experience was solely mine. I can honestly say that I have never really felt I was touched on any previous investigation. I have felt a presence in the room, but I have never had the presence feel me. After the incident with REM-y, our group reconvened in the hallway by our break room. I couldn’t keep my eyes off REM-y back down the long hallway behind us. REM-y glows, and I was seeing the glow, then the glow would disappear. Maybe a trick of the eyes. After a while of watching, standing off on my own, I suddenly felt uncomfortable and moved nearer the group blocking the entire hallway. I felt a rapid succession of three or four pats on my upper arm, as if someone were politely asking me to move and let them pass. Instinctively, because my mama taught me manners, I immediately moved to allow someone to pass. I turned to see who was going by, but there was no one behind me. Best part? The patting was audible against my winter coat, and I wasn’t the only one to hear it.

The third experience was thankfully one that we could all share in, and we can even share it with you, thanks to Clint and his camera! I won’t go into a play-by-play, because I’m pretty sure you’ll watch the video and see for yourself, but I will say this: It is interesting that instead of doing what I asked, whatever opened that door did the opposite. The previous night on that same hall, we had some intriguing and frustrating flashlight interaction. The light came on, but any time we would ask for it to go off, it would wane and almost totally go off until we began to say “Thank you,” or “You did a great job,” or “You did it!” As soon as we were satisfied it was going to grant our request, the flashlight would come back on to full brightness, as if to say, “I don’t have to mind you.” Maybe Buddy is really there, and maybe he’s a typical kid having some fun messing with the living who roam the hospital.

Whatever the circumstance, I’m still excited about that door opening. I’m excited that you can hear the clicking sound of the knob. I’m excited that even if we weren’t directly facing the door, you can see the eerie progression of the light spilling into the dark hallway. I’m excited that Heather was so excited she says, “Yes! Yes! Yes!” I’m excited that you can see the door open right after I ask Buddy to close the one across the hall, even if I hate hearing my own voice on a recording (listen to the southern twang on the word “bear” – I really sound like that). Mostly, I’m excited that you can share our excitement. Enjoy the video, and if you are part of a group looking for a place to practice and/or gain new experiences, put OSPH on your to-do-as-soon-as-possible list.

Old South Pittsburgh Hospital Blew Our Minds

This past Sunday and Monday, the Paranormal Georgia team spent 22 hours investigating Old South Pittsburgh Hospital in South Pittsburgh, TN.

Can I just admit something up front?

I wasn’t too sure about this place. I was skeptical. But everyone in the group wanted to go. So I paid my money, invited two blogger friends who have investigated with us before, and grudgingly drove the two hours north, convinced that it was going to be a ho-hum weekend.

I frakking love it when I’m wrong!

We have yet to go through all of our audio, but I can tell you that all of it pales in comparison to the five seconds my heart nearly beat out of my chest on Monday morning. All because a door opened. By. Itself.

This is the description I wrote for the video once I uploaded it to YouTube:

The PGI team was at Old South Pittsburgh Hospital, South Pittsburgh, TN. We were on the 3rd floor, at the psych ward entrance. Heather had just opened the door to room 303 (on the right side of the hall) and Jordan had just tried to open and secure the door to 307 (left side of the hall), but it wouldn’t stay open, so he closed it and made sure the knob was secure. Tammy then asked Buddy (a purported spirit at OSPH) to open the door and immediately, we heard the door knob to 307 twist and the door open. In the video, you can hear the door knob twist and see the light change as the door opens and light from an exterior (closed) window is visible. You can also hear (under our excited voices) the sound of the door hitting the wall twice. It was opened pretty forcefully.

There is no heat or air conditioning at OSPH. There is no exchange of air through the vents. The windows do not open. The windows are not cracked or broken. There were 11 of us in the building at the time. Seven of us were at the entrance to the psych ward, two were downstairs on the second floor eating breakfast, and the last two, the caretakers, were in their residence on the second floor. Jordan had just opened the door and checked and saw no one in the room.

This door opened by itself. Believe it.

If any of you reading this blog is skeptical, then I’ll sign an affidavit. I’ll swear on any holy book of your choice. I’ll even pay your way to Old South Pittsburgh so you can witness this activity for yourself.

Enjoy! And believe me, there’s more to come!

Case Study #4 – Disagreement

Sometimes, not everyone in the house agrees with what is going on around them. Maybe only the wife is seeing the apparitions, or only the husband hears the footsteps. Sometimes, one member of the family is convinced there is no such thing as ghosts and those banging noises in the attic are NOT Great Aunt Fanny but squirrels, dang it. SQUIRRELS!

And that’s where it can get difficult for us. If one member of the family calls us for help and an investigation, the other member of the family can make us feel very unwelcome, whether they mean to or not. The last thing we ever want to do is to make a client unhappy and we are always worried when one spouse leaves the house or stands outside, clearly not pleased by our presence.

That is what happened during this particular case. The wife was convinced of activity in her home and the husband didn’t believe any of it. He knew, for a fact, that ghosts don’t exist and he clearly let it be known that he would leave during our investigation and be back by midnight. We knew that was our deadline.

When we arrived at the home, we set up our equipment as quickly as possible and started our investigation in record time. The wife camped out in her downstairs bedroom and we investigated the rest of the house. What we found was interesting.

Based on responses with a flashlight (turn the flashlight on for “yes” and off for “no”) and small, moving shadows we continuously saw during the investigation, we felt we were dealing with a young girl. This first EVP isn’t really an EVP. We were using a Shack Hack, or Frank’s Box, to communicate with any spirits present and received the following (immediate) response to the age of spirit present. (Click on the link to listen to the file – it’s best if you have headphones/earbuds and crank up the volume. Afterwards, click on your browser’s back button to this post.) At the beginning of the audio file, you’ll hear the radio constantly switching frequencies, giving out a lot of static:

howold10

This second EVP was captured in one of the bedrooms. You can hear our investigator Tammy saying “very good” and thanking the spirit for turning on the flashlight. You will hear a child’s voice, female, speaking over Tammy’s voice. At first, we thought it was humming, but it’s actually three separate words that none of us have been able to make out. Again, crank up the volume and use your headphones/earbuds if you have them:

Hum BR1

We were finishing up our investigation in the front bedroom of the house, located over the garage when we all heard it – the unmistakable sound of the garage door opening. The husband was home and we were still there. Like cockroaches scattering in the light, we leapt off the floor, gathered up our equipment, and left the house within 15 minutes. We presented our report two weeks later and never again heard from the client. Does she still experience paranormal activity at her house? Did the evidence we present convince the husband that something paranormal is going on in his house? We’ll never know.

What we do know is that if your significant other or beloved family member has contacted us to investigate and you don’t agree with the idea, it’s OK. We get it. But trust us when we say that doing this will help your loved one in the long run and will give you a chance to go see that movie you’ve been itching to check out.

And when it’s all over, we’ll get out of your house as quickly and as quietly as possible when you return. Pinky swear.