Following is their overview of what's been happening in their investigations.
From GRS:
2009 was an extremely active year for the Ghost Research Society as we traveled extensively around the country in search of some of the most active paranormal hotspots. Our annual investigation of the Lincoln Theater in Decatur, Illinois is always a pleasure and usually full of surprises. No visual phenomenon was recorded this time but a number of EVPs (electronic voice phenomena) were recorded by team members throughout the night. Harry Houdini once performed on stage at the Lincoln Theater and team members Nicole Tito and Lisa Krick picked up a strange clear Class “A” voice saying, “Magic!” which I find fascinating given the Houdini connection.
Our two main highlights for the year were out of state trips to Waverly Hills Sanitarium in Louisville, Kentucky and Mansfield Reformatory in Mansfield, Ohio.
Waverly Hills Sanitarium was an old tuberculosis sanitarium where thousands of people died. Quite a bit of paranormal activity has been reported there in the past including the appearances of “shadow people” seen drifting down the hallways and into the vacant rooms. Strange sounds of footsteps, slamming doors and the movement of objects have also been reported. On the third floor, allegedly the ghosts of children have been encountered. Researchers in the past have left behind “trigger objects” such as balls and toys for the ghosts to play with and some have indeed done just that.
During an EVP session with a device known as Frank’s Box, researchers Rosemary Ellen Guiley, Joey Tito, Joe Tito, Jason Tito had placed a remote controlled truck on the ground for the ghosts to play with. Frank’s Box is a device whereby alleged two-way communication with a spirit is possible. Guiley asked the ghosts to move it around and a response came through Frank’s Box that sounded like, “It’s hard”. Guiley then suggested that they have their ghostly friends help move the truck and at that moment using a state of the art infrared digital trap camera (Moultrie I-40) I snapped a picture in the opposite direction down the darkened corridor. When the images were later uploaded to my laptop, I was amazed to see the distinct images of four small shadowy figures standing in the empty hallway.
Later the GRS traveled to Mansfield Reformatory, site of the movie the Shawshank Redemption. This old prison has been closed for many years but is constantly inundated by ghost hunters from around the country for investigations. Much new experimental equipment was used during this investigation including a 360 degree microphone coupled to a digital recorder, a Darklight (device that allegedly illuminates the buffering zone between this world and the spirit world using the resonance between the upper and lower frequencies of the light spectrum), motion detectors, strobe lights to allegedly slow down the movements of spirits or dark matter moving through the field of vision of our infrared cameras.
Using only the illumination from our Sony Nightshot cameras, research assistant Jim Graczyk, Art Schramm and I roamed the empty cell blocks provoking and attempting to illicit a response from the ghosts often said to inhabit the prison. Reports of a “running man” seen scurrying from one cell block through the bull pen and into the toilet room have been seen. Historical records seem to indicate that he was an inmate that had his throat cut from ear to ear so severely that when he ran, his head flopped nearly off his neck pumping blood like a geyser. Shadowy figures and strange sounds of cell doors slamming have also been reported.
While walking from the toilet room in the East Cell Block towards the Bull Pen, I clearly saw what looked like a shadowy image standing near a cell on the second tier. Upon arriving at the location Graczyk snapped a picture with the trap camera and a shadow of a male figure was later seen on the image. Shadows were also captured in the shower area on a Sony Nightshot camcorder at the same time strange sounds and EMF spikes on our Tri-Field Meters were encountered.
A strange foggy mist was captured on the digital trap camera in Solitary while a group was conducting EVP experiments. It only appears on two of the several pictures taken in rapid succession within 60 seconds.
A camera on a tripod was toppled over twice when no one was anywhere nearby at the time. Several metal clanks of cell doors were recorded when no one was in the cell block except Graczyk, Schramm and I.
One of the most interesting pieces of evidence captured that evening was on the fifth tier of the West Cell Block where the “running man” is said to start his route. While I was upstairs talking with a number of other researchers who were in the process of setting up our plan of attack, the Tri-Field meter began to gyrate wildly indicating very strong electromagnetic fields present. At this same time Graczyk was snapping pictures with the infrared digital trap camera and a temperature was recorded of 64 degrees. One unique feature of the trap camera besides taking pictures is that each digital image has the time, date, lunar phase and temperature imprinted on the file. Ambient temperature on all the other pictures taken that evening in different parts of the prison ranged from 72 to 75 degrees. This series of 3-4 pictures showed a temperature of 64 and 65 degrees on the fifth floor! Normally heat rises and if anything the top tier of the prison should have been the hottest and not the coldest. Later pictures in the same area about an hour later indicated the temperature had returned to the normal 72 degrees.
Some of the GRS group also traveled to haunted Baltimore, Maryland to meet with Vince Wilson who took us into the catacombs of Westminster Church and Crybaby Bridge where the sounds of a baby crying have been heard allegedly due to a mother throwing her newborn infant over the bridge to drown.
We were able to investigate the Triangular Field in Gettysburg where some of the bloodiest carnage took place on July 2, 1863 as Confederate soldiers were attempting to storm Devil’s Den and Little Round Top. Graczyk and I were attempting to duplicate the events from last year’s visit where we both distinctly smelled the aroma of cherry pipe tobacco from no source, heard the sounds of horse hoofs on payment and then both saw a shadowy figure in total darkness climbing a rocky, steep slope without the aid of a flashlight. Upon arriving at the area, we first determined that no human could have been observed where we had seen the figure before because of the fence surrounding the area and that no walking trail was nearby.
While nothing unusual happened or was recorded, we did meet a number of people who claimed to have had experiences there in the past and had taken some interesting photographs. We did set up our Sony Nightshot cameras to film a section of the field where Tom Underwood had videotaped the appearance of ghostly soldier figures drifting and floating through the trees. His footage can be viewed on You Tube and was recently featured on My Ghost Story and Monster Quest.
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