Private Residence in Western, Wisconsin

Synopsis

The structure is now a house that was once a church. It was built in 1874. An addition was added around 1900 and a 3^rd addition and basement was added in 1920. The kitchen was added after it ceased to be a church, sometime around 2009/2010. The clients purchased the building in August 2011. They have continued to renovate the property. A few weeks after moving in they had begun to experience paranormal activity in various areas of the building. They contacted the WPRS in September 2011 and asked us to investigate the property. Their hope is that we debunk some of the activity as well as validate some of the claims.

Paranormal Activity Reported

Activity occurring in the home includes:

· The sound of a stick much like that of a yard stick being smacked against the floor in the kitchen area where the alter was located.

· The sound of the client’s banjo being plucked while in full view by the client.

· A guitar being strummed softly without the aid of human hands.

· A door near the old choir loft is often found open when it has been previously closed.

· A misty white figure, upper torso only, has been seen floating down the staircase that leads from the old choir loft to the kitchen area.

· The sounds of footsteps have been heard on the main level of the home more often during the early evening hours.

· A black shadow has been seen exiting the wall in the living room area as well as a similar black shadow crossing the room near the music room.

· A dark figure has been seen passing through the kitchen area from the office adjacent to it.

· The sound of knocking has been heard on the door in the old bedroom area and on the choir door.

· Footsteps have been heard crossing the kitchen area when people are up stairs.

· Once a voice of a small girl has been heard saying “Hey, Ha, Ha” in the kitchen area.

· The family dog has been seen paying more than normal attention to the kitchen area.

· A figure has been seen moving from ceiling right to waist height left past the inside of the client’s closet door. The door has a clear glass center.

· A black shadowy figure has been seen moving down the back staircase while the client was outside the home. She stated that the figure looked as if it was wearing a cape. Another resident has seen the same similar figure in the same area.

· Client was awoken one morning by what sounded like a gunshot. Her pet cats reacted to the sound as well.

· A figure was seen several times peaking around from a door frame in the old choir area.

· A dark figure was observed passing in front of the electric fireplace. It blocked the light as it passed by it.

The clients are curious to see if the WPRS can debunk their experiences or find any concrete evidence to back them up.

Investigation

The WPRS investigated the home on Friday January 20, 2012 from approximately 8:30pm to 2am. Investigators Blaschka, Spialek, Beaudry, and Cratty were present. The client's gave us a tour of the property and explained where paranormal experiences have occurred in the home. Basic equipment used during the investigation included digital cameras, digital voice recorders, Tri Field Electro Magnetic Field (EMF) meter, vibration detectors, EM Pod, a 4 channel DVR camera system, Infrared and Full Spectrum cameras and infrared/ambient thermal probes.

After the tour, temperature, EMF readings and a sketch of the floor plan were obtained. Also many infrared and full spectrum photographs were taken in various areas inside the home. Baseline readings were not obtained in the basement area as little to no activity has been reported there. The main floor had temperatures between 49 and 65 degrees, with EMF readings between .02 and .06 Milligauss. Upstairs temperatures were between 48 and 55 degrees, and EMF readings were .02 and .04 Milligauss throughout. There were no Geiger readings obtained during the evening. During the collection of our base line readings we found no anomalous EMF or temperature variances other than a few times during an EVP session in the kitchen area.

Vibration detectors were placed by Beaudry on the upper staircase leading to the old choir loft and another was placed at the bottom of the staircase leading to the kitchen area. These instruments were placed to detect any movement or vibrations in that area between the hours of 10pm and 2AM. The vibration detectors were not triggered during that time frame.

After our base readings were collected we formed a group of three investigators to perform several EVP sessions in various areas of the home. One investigator always stayed behind to monitor the DVR system and the other investigators used digital voice recorders to try to collect audio evidence of paranormal activity (Electronic Voice Phenomena or EVP.) We switched out the camera monitoring person during each EVP session and only one session was conducted at a time to avoid the chance of noise contamination. Upon later review of our EVP evidence we found several recordings that may have produced evidence of paranormal activity. We conducted our first session in the old choir loft area. During that session we captured two EVP’s. Blaschka while asking a question heard a male voice softly say “two”. Beaudry and Spialek both captured a sound much like a laugh. The second session was conducted in the living room. Beaudry captured a faint male voice say, “yeah” and another unintelligible male voice. Also the K-2 meter seemed to react to some of the questions asked during the living room session. Our third and final session was conducted in the kitchen area. During that session we had placed a K-2 meter on the kitchen island and proceeded to ask questions. The meter reacted almost every time we asked questions. We placed our REM-POD near the K-2 meter but the pod did not react. Investigator Beaudry also had strong interference on his digital recording when the K-2 meter reacted. Again a faint male voice saying, “yeah” is heard.

We tested the door leading to the old choir loft to try and find a reason for it opening on its own as the client had earlier explained. After several tries to recreate the event we were unable to explain what caused the door to open. In fact the door latches very well and cannot be pulled out of the latched position unless the door knob is turned. We have no logical explanation for the door opening.

Upon review of our photographs we found one suspect photo that was taken with our full spectrum camera. The photo depicts the area facing the French doors leading to the living room. To the upper right of the photo an unexplainable shadow is present.

During the investigation we spoke out loud several times to whatever presence may happen to be in the home. We laid out ground rules about what the current occupants would like followed. We relayed the fact that the clients are uncomfortable with certain activity and asked that they abide by these basic rules when the clients are residing in the home.

Conclusion

Upon review and consideration of all the evidence collected we feel that it is likely that the clients have been experiencing paranormal activity. Several of the client’s claims we were unable to recreate or find reasonable explanations to. Based on what we found and what has been reported, I feel that the home has ghostly activity. However it should be noted, at no time did any of the investigators present feel that any malicious activity was present in the home. Further study of the site may be conducted in the future at the client’s request.