The Battleship North Carolina Part 1

The Battleship North Carolina

Part One Feb. 19, 2011

I had the opportunity to investigate the Battleship North Carolina on February 19^th, this was my first time in the ship and I must the say the experience was great. We began the investigation in Engine Room Three, during this time we did record a voice responding to us asking “is anyone with us” the reply was “yes”. We then captured quite a few K2 hits that seemed to be moving back and forth along one of the walls.  We then went to the mess hall, in this location we heard several times what sounded like someone going up and down the stairs in the room next to ours but no one was there. We also at one point smelled food, steak and mashed potatoes, this could have been the result of psychological suggestion since we were in a kitchen area so I am not claiming that this was paranormal but it was an interesting experience.

We then went into the Bullpen area where we recorded several EVP’s the most interesting ones included a response to our asking “do you like baseball?” answer “no” and to the question “you must think we are a bunch of enlisted guys?” answer “correct”. Then on our way to Sick Bay I heard what sounded like a conversation in one of the hallways between two men. There were no other men on the ship at the time other than our group so this was unusual but the voices were not picked up by my recorder. There was not much activity in sick bay except I once again picked up hits on the K2 meter that kept moving but this time it was accompanied by a feeling of chills, nausea, and general uneasiness. This happened around the time we were discussing a man who died in the sick bay of an infection, the anniversary of his death was just a few days earlier. I do not know if there was any connection between our measurements and the topic of our discussion but it was interesting.

Then we went to the location which was ultimately the most active location of the evening, a small mess area for the officers which was also used for training and as a catholic chapel. While we were in this room we heard numerous loud bangs which sounded like doors slamming. I also felt a very cold chill down the back of my neck, what I did not realize is that the chill corresponded with an EVP we captured which said “don’t leave”. Shortly thereafter we get another EVP which says “Look at me”. Later, one member of the team hears what sounds like knuckles cracking near him, not long after there is voice recorded that says “that’s my bed!” (he was sitting in a lounge chair at the time. I then record several statements by two different voices the first says “cmon” the next then says two things “take your time” and “lets try n get em” not sure of the meaning but it was definitely interesting. The next stop was Officer’s Country which, this was where the officer’s rooms were located. When we were in a large room which housed the ropes and different materials, I recorded an irritated voice saying “get off of me”. Several other voices were also recorded in this area. We then went into one of the officer’s quarters and were sitting in the room when we heard a door close and then heard loud footsteps coming down the hallway towards us. We then heard footsteps above us very loud and sounded like it would have been heels or boots and not sneakers. We later checked with the other groups and could not account for that sound.

The next location was the shower area which is near the location where the ship was hit by a torpedo. Activity in this section was mostly light although I did record a strange voice which sounded almost German. I said “I am going to shoot some pictures” and a voice responds with a phrase that sounds like “eis ve non verstadt”. Not sure of the language or what was being said but it was interesting. We then went into the engineering section which was very interesting to see, we recorded a few odd voices but in general did not have any experiences in this area. Actually it appeared that the activity peaked around the time we were in the small mess area and Officer’s Country and then decreased after that. Our final stop was in the brig where each of us selected a cell and spent time doing EVP work. We did not get any activity in that area.

Overall the Battleship North Carolina is an amazing location with good activity. I am returning to that location soon (second investigation was in March report to follow) and I really look forward to it.

The Temple Theater

The Temple Theater

 By Matthew Slozer

Last night had a very interesting investigation at the Temple Theater in Sanford. Generally you hear stories of most theaters being haunted but you see very little evidence coming from theaters. I believe that the nature of theater buildings lend themselves to a lot of light and acoustic phenomenon which can be mistaken for paranormal activity. That was certainly part of the case here where we noticed sound traveled particularly well and there was a high degree of light play on the ceiling due to cars passing by.  That being said, we had some interesting experiences here. One person saw a man sitting in the balcony (there was no one there) and another person saw a figure standing in the lobby, at first he thought it was a member of our group but no one was in the area at the time. The only experience that I had was I was sitting alone on the lower level of the theater and heard a rather creepy voice behind me whipser "hey". No one was talking at the time. There were also many sounds of footsteps in the building but sound traveled so well in the building it is hard to tell if it was settling. We had recorders so it will be interesting to see what we get from our audio. 

 We experimented with a ghost box, the theory is that entities can pull words from radio transmissions to communicate. I am very skeptical about this and believe that it is the same effect as horoscopes, words are so general that it is easy to apply significance to them. That being said, we did get some interesting results, when we were on the stage we consistently got the word "basement" and when asking "do you want us to go to the basement" we consistently got the answer "yes". Then while in the basement we consistently got the word "crawlspace, monster and help". Now for all we know we could have been getting words from a home improvement radio show (and something else for the "monster" word). We then learned that there was a crawlspace in the building but we did not have the opportunity to enter that evening. 

On the evidence review it was interesting that as we were leaving the basement and heading towards the entrance to the crawlspace I got an EVP of an irritated male voice. Then as we were sitting in the main part of the theater I recorded multiple voices of a little girl. One interesting EVP was when Sarah spoke there was a little gilrs voice saying "Mommy?" Also out of the pictures that I took there was one that had a strange anomaly to it that I need to investigate furhter. Overall this was a great location and there was definitely indications of activity present. We look forward to the opportunity to return to this location.

Ghost Hunting and Cash

I have recently begun to notice that a lot of groups simply get into ghost hunting for all the wrong reasons. They are looking to make a buck or simply to get quick fame. I see all these groups doing their own radio shows are fake tv shows and trying to plaster their faces all over the internet in a desperate need for attention and the almighty dollar. This blog is simply my warning to those seeking knowledge on the paranormal to be careful of these types of groups. They may seem flashy and cool and right in your face as the way to gather the knowledge that you seek but when they are charging you for ghost hunting classes or conferences to meet so called celebrities that have no more knowledge than your average run of the mill ghost hunter then caution flags should always fly up. Never pay for ghost hunting classes or anyone selling their so called "knowledge" of a subject. Remember: none of this is proven science. None of this is real in the sense that we have absolute scientific proof that ghost even exist. That has yet to happen! Nor do we know that any of the tools we use as ghost hunters even tracks paranormal activity. Do not pay for conferences to meet people who want to charge you for their book or autograph. All the information you can get from these so called classes or conferences can be found on your own by watching any paranormal TV show or doing a quick internet search. Go out on your own and learn by doing! Get out there and make mistakes and learn from them, it's the best way to learn anything new. Always follow simple rules of course - #1 being safety and always have permission to be on a location. Never provoke and never do anything disrespectful. Other than that you will find all the knowledge you seek without paying a dime. Remember there are good people in this field, lots of them. Look for the ones willing to share and to teach for free. The ones who care about advancing this field and making it more scientific. The ones who shed a good positive light on the future of ghost hunting rather than making it into a commercial enterprise. Most importantly, use common sense.

Spooky House of Music

A blast from the past, but a place that never gets old......

It all began as a family home for your typical farmers many years ago. Now, a creepy old farmhouse sits on large piece of farmland with busted out windows and long list to it's history. The history of the land goes back much further according to evidence found. Currently it is used as a commercial haunted attraction, but still has the true makings for paranormal activity due to the past. Pitch black....sitting upstairs.....dead silence...when suddenly across the floor downstairs......"clump, clump, clump." The lingering sounds of footsteps haunt this house. The most famous legend is the one of a man they call "The Fiddler." At the point that the fiddlers story begins, the house had now become a boarding house. Sadly, he had a bit of misfortune at this house, first by breaking down and having to stay in the home for a long spell. He had a little room upstairs for which he slept at night, but other times he would come downstairs to be the entertainment by playing his fiddle for others. One night, due to unforeseen circumstances, the fiddler took his last breath upstairs in bed. The worst part of it all is that he was a very large man, so this made it almost impossible to get him out of the small farmhouse. Well, carrying him down the teeny tiny staircase was not an option. The only option anyone could offer was to bring in a crane and lift him through the windows upstairs, only the window wasn't big enough, so they had to cut it open larger. So it has been said that one of the spirits that still roams the house is the fiddler. Listen closely and you might still hear him playing for you. This land has many more stories to tell. Tall stalks of corn swaying in the nightly breeze, crisp, crackling sounds, or is it the sounds of the farmer following you on your journey? Some believe that a farmer is still tending to his land out there near the cornfields, possibly wearing his overalls and keeping his work tools close to him. Although his story is unknown, the mystery remains to know if he died some tragic death or just refuses to leave his fields which he cared for daily. If you wander out in the corn alone, you might find yourself having company. He likes to whistle while he works, so don't be surprised if you hear some whistling behind you as you walk.
Way before it was farmland, there is also tales of the Indians passing through this area. Artifacts have been retrieved from digging on the land that suggests this is definitely a fact. Whispering in the winds of a clear, crisp night, you can still hear the sounds of the Native Americans chanting and dancing around the fire. Clouds of smoke have appeared on the road and it wasn't the dust of the dirt road. At night, the dark shadows dart in between the trees, maybe they are keeping a watchful eye to see what dangers they don't want to see.
Although people might think this place is just a commercial attraction, where things can be set up, but the truth is we have done numerous research on this location and we have checked every possible explanation to try to debunk the evidence caught. The stories above contain evidence that we have actually caught when we were there. Even when we don't have a single personal experience, we can come home to reveal numerous unexplained EVP. Things have been thrown at us out of an empty room that was double checked and checked again after the occurrence. A sing song voice and a piano key have been picked up on recording from inside the house.
The most irrefutable piece of evidence thus far would be one that happened earlier this year inside the house. Only five investigators were inside the house this particular night. After spending quite some time trying to capture EVP, we were getting a little frustrated over nothing happening. We desperately kept asking questions to get a response, when suddenly, I saw something move in a doorway. Someone had got the feeling that a man had faced a terrible tragedy in the house. We later discovered when playing back recordings that on two recorders, a voice was captured that was not one of ours. The most impressive thing would be the fact that the two recorders were sitting in two different locations. The one closest to the doorway where the shadow was seen darting, the EVP captured is louder and clearer than the recorder sitting closer to the investigators.

Spooky sounds heard in the dark of night make this the most enjoyable haunted location.

Investigation December 17th

Where: Private Home Mt. Airy, NC
Time: 7:30 - 12:30

Homeowners reported hearing & seeing odd things in one general part of the house including an apparition of a man. Also things being moved in the house and little tricks being played on the homeowners like heat being turned up or down and toilet paper being put in sink. After arriving at house and getting full report on what has been happening, we started setting up and did EMF base readings. We found that the EMF's were extremely high in the part of the house that the clients did not feel comfortable and reported activity in. We explained what this could possibly mean. We set up 3 IR cameras and several audio recorders in various places and did EVP sessions for the rest of the night. We tried to do a session with ghost box but got no clear responses from it. We heard a few odd noises but nothing that we could label as paranormal. I heard what I thought was a groan in one of the bedrooms. But again could of been noise from outside. I felt very comfortable in home except in areas of high emf that did give you that uncomfortable sensation. Several members heard what they thought were whispers at different times throughout the night but again not sure if paranormal or outside noise or matrixing from other ambient noise. I had no other personal experiences that night. We wrapped up investigation and will review the recordings and get back to them.

Investigation December 11th

Start Time: 10:30
End time: 3:30
Place: Theater
Present: Sarah, Michelle, Matthew, Kevin and Theater manager - Jon.
Areas: Large theater area that was wide open with balcony and stage area. Area behind the stage and a basement area that included kitchen and dressing rooms. Also a lobby area.
History: no known history that would cause this place to be haunted. Always used as theater and opened up in the 1920s. Was abandoned for about 20 years from 1960s to the 1980s before it was renovated and opened back up. Was used for a Burlesque house for sometime during the early years it was opened up.
Weather: 33 and rainy
Moon Phase: First Quarter
Things to be aware of during investigation and review: car noise and traffic causing sound and lights, bar across street was open till around midnight and so some street noise coming from it.

While setting up and preparing for the investigation, I spotted a man up in the balcony walking and thought it was Jon - never questioned it otherwise. The man was clear as day and walking from left to right side of balcony. After seeing him I then directed my eyes back down and there stood Jon at the doorway at the bottom floor and he was busy doing something else. I quickly looked back up and nobody was in balcony and all other team members were present and counted for. I was baffled and knew that it wasn't Jon in balcony because I immediately saw him after seeing the man in balcony and just to be sure I spoke up and said what I saw and he said he wasn't in the balcony. Later that night kevin was headed up to the balcony with Matthew and Jon. The rest of us were sitting on the stage - I saw Matthew and Jon upstairs and preparing for investigation and Kevin later made his way up the stairs. Kevin spotted a man on the stairs and actually passed him within a couple feet and thought it was Jon. It was dark so couldn't clearly make out the face but same shape, size of Jon. It turned out that Jon was already upstairs and did not pass Kevin. He had been up there and we saw him up there way before kevin made his way up the stairs.

Also that night I felt what can be described as the tingly spider web effect on my head in the same exact spot that I saw the man walking on the balcony area. It was like electricity running up the side of my head. Oddest feeling I ever had and later Michelle had this same experience and neither of us knew about the other's experience before each experienced happened seperately. Kevin saw a black shadow figure dart across the stage like it was running. Several members heard voices that sounded like whispers in their ears. Some unexplained noises but the building is really old and makes a lot of noises. No major EMF fields in the building except for stage right and that was from electrical source but was close to ground. Our EMF meters did not go off the entire night. We used for the first time the ghost box and communicated with what seemed like something. We talked with it for at least an hour's time. It directed us to the basement area and told us it needed help in basement. It inexplicably said the words basement and crawl space and help me several times. It wanted us to go to the crawl space and look for it. It said something about a "hole". Then Jon speaks up and states there was a well in crawl space. It also stated that there was a monster there holding it. That is was scared and that the monster did this to it. When asking to speak to the monster - we got answers in what seemed like a very dark, almost demonic sounding voice. It was nothing that we've ever heard on a radio before. The repeated answers to same questions asked over and over seemed odd. I don't know what to think of the ghost box and if it's a tool that should even be used since it's full of possibilities of matrixing and concidence. It did seem to have a lot of answers though. I would like to try again some other time and see if we can debunk this tool. This place seems to have some sort of activity just from the personal experiences we had. Even excluding the ghost box - we still saw and heard things that were unexplainable. I look forward to going over the evidence carefully and hope we got some sort of evidence on audio or video. This is definitely a place I would like to revisit at some point.

Evidence from Investigation performed recently.....Follow up.

We received a great deal of evidence from the private home case that we have investigated twice now. There seems to definitely be some sort of paranormal activity going on in this historic home. There were numerous EVPS - some very clear and some that answered questions asked by investigators. We had unexplained EMF activity that could never be tracked to any natural source. With the personal experiences and great amount of EVPs collected at this location I would feel safe to say that something is going on in the home that we can not explain at this time. This could possibly mean that it's haunted but would love to do further research before I can say with 100% certainty. Whatever is in the location seems to be non harmful and is attached to the house, especially one room in particular.

The other historic location that we have investigated twice now also yielded many results. We had numerous EVPs even though a lot of it was very hard to go through with the background noises of the outside world. We were left with some unexplained voices and evidence. I believe that there is a lot of residual hauntings going on in this particular location. I look forward to investigated it hopefully on a regular basis so that we can identify more clearly what type of haunt and any other types of patterns that may emerge from more investigations. It's important to fully follow through on locations like this and key in on better research methods and tactics to get better evidence.

The investigaton in Morehead City, NC did not yield any results. All evidence - audio and video came up with absolutely nothing that could of been considered out of place. We do believe that this was just an off night and would like to investigate again sometime in the future to see if we get better results as this location has had a lot of known activity and results.