2004: February 15, April 4 2006: May 19
What happens when a family has a believing mother, a skeptical father, and a daughter on the verge of becoming a teenager? Well, the answer is a combination of rolling balloons, bursts of perfumed aroma, and lights turning on of their own accord.
This particular family’s experiences span across three households. In the first, locks activated when no one was inside to turn them. A door chain pulled itself straight and hovered in the air for a few seconds. Blinds moved rhythmically though there were no breezes in the room.
Things continued to get stranger when the group moved to an apartment. Shortly after they arrived, they discovered the still knotted rope from which the former dweller had hung himself. The cats acted up, hovering near the homeowner whenever she went into a particular room. The newly washed bathmat was found messed up shortly after it was placed upon the floor. A cool and unseen finger liked to touch people as they moved about.
This set the stage for the third, and current, location. Phenomena focuses around a set of sliding glass doors. On separate occasions, the doors have rattled as if hit. No known source can be found for the doors’ strange vibrations. Homeowner also reports feeling as if they are not alone in the home.
The SPIRITS came out for the first investigation. Focus quickly shifted to the back yard, where power lines hovered. Though these lines were high up, they did emit EMF fields on a regular basis, and meters recorded a patterned cycle.
However, sensitives picked up a name associated with the daughter’s room: Charles. He was a minor residue that was believed to look in on the girl from time to time. He was protective, and homeowners later acknowledged Charles, a deceased family friend.
Still, little information could be determined at this investigation. A second check was set for the following spring. Though homeowners reported a new phenomenon, an aroma of strong perfume similar to that found in an Avon line, the SPIRITS detected very little activity during the time period.
Overall, the family appears to have experienced paranormal activity in the past. Though it continues on a lesser scale in their current home, it was hard for the SPIRITS to come to a strong conclusion one way or the other. The power lines certainly have an impact upon the property and our equipment, but the randomness of the events and the way they fit within paranormal parameters does not allow us to rule out a ghost.
Ah, the coy and fickle nature of Florida’s supernatural residents fits in well with our warm winters. Both are hard to define, both have a fleeting existence. Perhaps someday Florida will have its snow and the SPIRITS will have the final key to opening the secrets of the paranormal world.
Homeowner Document:
The first incident with our ghost occurred when I was at home alone with my daughter. She was sound asleep on the sofa after spraining her ankle at camp. I’d decided to clean our screened-in patio. Not once, but twice, the top flip-up lock on the sliding glass door locked, forcing me to enter the house through the kitchen. This was my first clue something was happening. Needless to say, my husband had a difficult time believing me.
The second incident, a few days later, forced my husband to reconsider. We were sitting in the living room late one night, he on his recliner, me stretched out on the sofa. Our daughter, already tucked in and asleep, had gotten a helium balloon a few hours earlier, and it was “sitting” at our ceiling. No air conditioner was on, no windows open, no movement (that we were aware of). As my husband is recounting a movie to me, our eyes were both drawn to the balloon as it rolled four feet, dropped straight down to the floor, and rolled four feet across the floor, the same direction it came from. It remained motionless on the floor. I arose from the sofa and announced to my husband (who was sitting in stunned silence) that I was going on to bed.
Unfortunately, I suspect our ghost was offended by my husband’s need to humor himself by diligently looking for ways to explain what was happening.
The third major occurrence was witnessed by all three of us. We were returning home from dinner and a trip to the local hardware store. It was way past twilight and just a minute or so before full darkness. My husband used to be fanatical about leaving no lights on when we left the house. As we pulled into the driveway, all three of us noticed what appeared to be every light in the main part of the house on. As my husband is asking “Did we leave lights on?” the lights went out. We weren’t thinking ghost, we thought intruder. A quick call to the sheriff’s office brought out deputies who were able to ascertain that in fact, there did not appear to be any intruder. My husband became a believer that night.
A week later we were both stretched out on the living room floor, pondering what household chore to tackle next, our daughter was playing down the street, when the chain for our front door began to swing wildly not just side to side, but straight out towards the room, perpendicular to the doorframe. We both watched in silence. Eventually, it stopped just as suddenly as it had started. My husband announced that if the spirit spoke and told him to get out he would already be halfway across town. Having arrived at a stage in my life I prefer not to have to stand for unnecessary crap, my thought was that if the spirit could speak that it could pay rent, so I would stay and discuss some financial aspects to the new living arrangement. What can you do?
Throughout this time, the vertical blinds would swing, just one or two separate by several, all by themselves. No breezes. We eventually gave up checking since we never found a breeze.
I began researching ghosts on the internet a bit. I discovered that you may speak to them in a firm voice and request that they “not disturb the children” and they will comply if they are the polite sort. (While this worked occasionally, it was a source of distress for my husband as they did not observe the same courtesy for him.) I also discovered a name for the little light balls that are in several of the photos: Orbs, spears, globules, balls of light, globes
Throughout all of this, my husband’s older brother K. expressed the same disbelief my husband had in the beginning. That all soon changed, much to my brother-in-laws’ chagrin.
As my in-laws were in the middle of moving from their apartment to their new home, they stayed the night with us. We set them in the living room, so the three of them were fairly comfortable. Mr. Skeptical seemed not at all concerned with recent events, so goodnights were said. That night I thought I heard a baby cry and assumed it was my nephew. My husband and I passed a restful night, but as I got up in the morning and was on my way to the bathroom, my sister-in-law S. and her not-so-skeptical husband were right there, talking in unison. She had also heard a baby cry and thought perhaps it was my daughter. (Neither child had cried.) My brother-in-law swore to my husband that the front screen door would be found lying in a mangled heap on the front patio as it had sounded like it was being torn off during the night. My sister-in-law stated they had seen the blinds moving, just as we had described seeing them swing dozens of times before.
The front porch was checked, and nothing was found to be out of place. All doors remained on their hinges.
At work that day K. told his co-workers that stuff was really going down in our house, and we started getting offers from people willing to pay top dollar to stay the night in it. He himself swore he’d never stay another night there.
A history check of the house revealed nothing out the ordinary, only that it was in the middle of an old orange grove.
We have since moved but cannot say for certain that our new place is less occupied, although nothing quite so obvious and frequent is happening.
The above was written shortly after we moved into the apartment at Ridge Road.
June 2001 November 2003
As we were in the process of moving into our new apartment, which, by the way, an elderly gentleman had passed away while living in, B. was a little bit longer than usual coming back for another load of boxes. Apparently, a man from upstairs who’d been drinking or some such (B. could probably tell you the details since he was there and spoke with the officials) hung himself from the upstairs balcony. The rope was still hanging there when we moved in.
Things didn’t really start acting up at the apartment until Spring 2003
-the bathroom rug wrinkling up like wheels had just run over it, right after I’d cleaned the bathroom and no one else had gone into it.
-the sensation of being touched, almost like the finger was a cool breeze. My husband and I both experienced that.
-Every time I took a bath all three cats piled into the bathroom with me and sat there. They hated the bathroom and avoided all the rest of the time.
-A couple of times I had been taking bath and thought B. had walked in and sat on the commode to talk with me. I pushed the curtain (which was somewhat opaque) and discovered I was alone in the bathroom.
-Little things getting moved and later reappearing in weird places. My tea candles, lighters, keys, checkbooks, Visas and gift certificate cash cards. All things that “have their” places.
A visit at S.’s & K.’s house: We met Bud, her father, on a visit last summer I believe. He almost immediately started questioning me about things that normally people who have just met do not inquire about. He said he felt a strong female presence around me some sort of entity. K. made a smart remark about it and Bud told him not to do that, that the entity may get upset with him. K. went out for a cigarette and promptly returned, having burned his finger. There was some joking about it, but K. was a little unnerved I think.
November 2003 Present 110th
This last Christmas S. and I were in HER kitchen preparing food. I was stuffing the turkey, she was making mashed potatoes. The kitchen door swung open. I was closest, so I walked over to close it it clicked shut. I returned to the turkey. The door swung open again. S. made a joke and closed it herself. It swung open a third time. I went out for a cigarette with the guys.
Additions
1/21/4 – I am not normally a jumpy person – I have worked for the state too long to let much faze me, but today I got a little bit unnerved – I was sitting right here at the desk, typing away to a rehabber friend of mine about our squirrels, and a repeat of yesterday occurred. You are familiar with “mandatory’ sliding glass doors all Florida homes seem to have. And we have all seen and heard (or even done it ourselves) walked right in to one. It’s certainly embarrassing, and quite loud. The glass can be seen to rattle a bit. This happened yesterday and I chalked it up to our next door neighbor doing some renovations on his home. Today’s, however, was full-throttle “boom!”
It wasn’t a garbage truck; those noises come through the ground. Sonic booms usually affect all windows. I checked for our neighbor next door but no one was home. There was no Coast Guard chopper in site.
Both cats had been sleeping, and usually if there is a loud noise, such as those our neighbor makes hammering or dropping wood, their heads spin towards the source of the noise. Cassie, my older cat, got up from her spot on the sofa and ran to the glass door, looking up at it. The young squirrel I have indoors at this time became extremely agitated – he is my “sweet” baby and very social; I’ve never seen him to do this before.) Again, there was no one home with me, so none of this can be validated, but I AM making a log, per your suggestion. This is not the first instance of activity around these kinds of doors.
1/23/4 11pm-ish – We had a “funny” incident – Friday – again, anxiety was little high, we knew the time was coming for my aunt, we just didn’t know when. B. and I were sitting on the sofa (Ashleigh was at a sleepover) and he said “No way!” I looked where he was looking, and saw it, too. The candle-holder in the center of the table that my brother and his wife gave us for Christmas is a beautiful amber-beaded one – each bead separate. No beads were moving, save for one – and it was just spinning away. After about two minutes it stopped. B. was awed that that had happened, but I reminded him that at the old house, one or two of the vertical blinds, never next to each other, would begin swinging of their own accord, and never in sync. I can’t say it made him feel any better, but he is not nearly as unglued by it all as he was previously.
2/2/4 7pm-ish: I was not feeling well kind of like coming down with a cold. I was looking for the thermometer kept USUALLY in the bathroom. It wasn’t there. I searched everywhere. Drawers, the desk, tables, etc. On my third pass through, it wasn’t sitting smack on top of the papers on the desk that I had looked at twice before. Minutes later, the same thing happened with my cigarette pack. It had been moved from the basket I keep them in to on top of the same papers on the desk. Only Ashleigh and I were home, and she was doing the dishes at the time.
2/8/4 5:15 pm Ashleigh had just come home from having dinner with her best friend at her house. B. and I were in the living room and Ashleigh had just come in. Very distinctly, we heard the sound of the kitchen door that goes to the garage slam shut. We all went to look knowing there was no intruder in our house, but ya’ just gotta’ look anyway even though nothing will appear out of the ordinary.
2/9/4 10:40 p.m. B. and I were sitting out back having a cigarette the sound of someone walking into the sliding glass door occurred. No other windows affected. I finally had a witness!!!!!
2/10/4 About 12:30 a.m. I had the distinct impression that we were not alone in the bedroom. I did not wake up B..
FIELD REPORT:
110th St. Petersburg Area
Date: Sunday, February 15, 2004.
Times: 18:00 – 20:25 EDT.
Weather: Partly cloudy, breezy, 63 degrees Fahrenheit.
Investigation Team on Site:
Temperatures Recorded / E.M.F. (ELECTICAL MAGNETIC FIELDS) Recorded:
Garage: 69-71.5 Deg. Fahrenheit, with no spikes. EMF found (.08-.21) with one spike of .41, near the fuse box.
Rear Screened in porch: 62-64.5 Deg. Fahrenheit, no major EMF found (.04-.20).
Rear Yard: 52-56.5 Deg. Fahrenheit, no EMF found (.08-.24) with some small spikes .29, and .35. Large power distribution lines ran across the rear yard in a north/south line. Very large cold temperature spikes recorded by several members using different meters, ranging from -10, 1.5, 9, 11.5, 12, 24.5, 26, 30, 31.5, 34 degrees Fahrenheit. The weather was breezy and 63 degrees Fahrenheit according to the Weather Channel at this time.
Kitchen: 76.-85 Deg. Fahrenheit, No major EMF (.08-.15).
Child’s Bedroom: 75-76.5 Deg. Fahrenheit, with no spikes. EMF (.04-.19).
Master Bedroom: 75-76.5 Deg. Fahrenheit with no spikes. No major EMF found (.03-.16).
Hallway/Bathroom Areas: 75.5-78 Deg. Fahrenheit with no spikes, EMF found (.02-.28) with a moderate spike recorded of .30-.48. Spike later determined to be coming from the imbedded wiring of the door bell and smoke detector units.
Living Room: 79-79.5 Deg. Fahrenheit with no spikes, No major EMF found (.10-.18).
A/C off for 1 week before investigation.
Pre-Investigation:
Master Bedroom:
Dizzy sensations coming up hall.
EMF: 1.3 on 0-3 scale.
74 – 75 degrees
Child’s room: 73-75.5 degrees
EMF 1.6 to 2.0; EMF increased.
Cold coming into the room. EMF increase, especially near the doorway. 1.2 – 1.3; heart pounding.
Living room: EMF; 10-1.6 Needle moving slowly, repeatedly rising, then falling. EMF field moving through the area? All electronics are off. Cause unknown.
Amy’s camera turned on by itself, then turned back off.
Deck: EMF: 1.5 – 2.0 Steady.
I was called outside at this point because of unusual temperatures sensed by team “B” — sub team.
Outside: Temperature anomaly: Several members reported that thermometers were picking up and recording anomalous energies. My own IR thermometer picked up temperatures from 37 – 55 degrees, then dropped to 23 degrees. EMF on the 0 – 100 scale was a solid 3 outside; However, homeowner has large wires running through tall utility poles behind the house. Wind was also blowing; I think that there is a problem with the IR thermometers relating to the wind.
I started to get a headache outside.
Kitchen/Garage: EMF 1.5; nothing anomalous.
Homeowner interview:
Homeowner, wife: Uncle Charlie passed away 10 years ago; he was in his 60’s, he laughed a lot. He was a friend of the family, not directly family.
Homeowner, wife, worked with a woman named Witherspoon; last she had heard of her, the woman dealt with some serious life problems. Has not heard from her in a year.
They have been in this house since November. Much of the activity they sensed came from a prior home. However, they have had phenomena here, such as:
*Feeling touched by something (A cool finger of air)
*Hearing names called when no one is present, the wife particularly hears her husband’s voice speaking to her.
*Hearing loud bangs that cannot be explained
*Movement of a bead, part of a beaded decoration; spinning alone and without aid one afternoon for several minutes.
*What they believe are paranormal mist images outside
*Orb images inside, particularly in living room
*Seeing a peripheral vision manifestation of a male figure with no defined face
*Feeling someone’s breathing on them
*Abnormal behavior in cats
Husband reports that none of this activity started until he married his wife; the husband was skeptical of phenomena before this.
Homeowners have agreed to allow us to come back in April to revisit the site and do a check up on activity. They have started, and will continue, a paranormal diary detailing the activities they have experienced. (See document on this page).
Investigator’s Observations and Conclusions:
Manifestation activity in this house was very low when we checked it. It appears that there is a guardian entity that stays with the family, but otherwise the house had little paranormal activity at the time that we checked it.
Homeowners report that activity increases during time of stress; I wonder if they are low-level SLI-ders and some of the phenomena is manifested due to stress?
Some phenomena, I believe, could be explained. However, they also cited classic symptoms of a mild haunting: feeling a presence in the area, cold spots, and manifestation of familiar forms when no one else is present (hearing the husband, when he never spoke, seeing the male figure with indiscreet features, etc.)
I am curious to see what happens during the re-investigation which we have tentatively agreed to schedule in April.
Conclusion:
I am very confused as to what is going on at this location. I would have thought that after a re-check, some of our answers would be clearer. Quite the opposite has happened. Now we have new readings that are less dramatic then before, but still suggest that something is odd at this location. We have more reports of un-explained happenings (scents, silhouettes, animals acting oddly, and more very cold temperature readings) yet they do seem to be slightly slowing down in frequency. If I had to make a judgment call here, I would have to say that I do feel that there is something supernatural happening with this family, not the location. I would guess that maybe a relative or a protector type ‘being’ is looking after the family, and is in no way trying to scare or ‘haunt’ the family. The other possibility that has come to mind is that it could be the family having an E.S.P. type projection upon their own environment and themselves. Since very little extensive research has gone into this field, many scientists do not know what powers that some people have using pure brain activity or thought patterns. Some people have been blessed (or cursed) with E.S.P. type powers, and our team uses a few Sensitive Investigators as well. Could this be thought patterns being transmitted, either intentionally or sub-consciously? Again, I am not sure, but these are the two best ideas that I have at this time for this location. Either way, something strange is happening, and I would like to have a third investigation at this location with more equipment to try to determine what is actually happening here.
110th Ave. North
04/04/04
6:35 PM
Full moon
First day of Daylight Savings “Spring Forward”
All EMF readings are on a scale of 0 3 unless otherwise noted.
Pre-investigation
MA Bedroom
1.7 1.6 EMF
75 77
Chills on legs
Bedroom 2: 2.0 EMF
In hall
74 degrees
Power line outside window.
Bathroom:
2.0 EMF
75 degrees
Living room:
1.6 EMF, minor flux in EMF
77 degrees
We stopped to change out batteries in EMF meters.
Kitchen:
2.0 EMF
75.5
Garage:
75 degrees
1.6-1.8 EMF
Porch: EMF 2.2
66 degrees
Outside:
EMF: 2.5 – 2.8
Powerline outside house; EMF was higher. 0 100 scale recorded 3.5 4.0
Temperature flux was the same as we experienced last time; unless held level the IR thermometers record odd temperatures.
Spikes with EMF by hammock as we returned to the house from outside.
The porch area also had EMF the second time we went out there; I did receive an orb image by the hammock. Cindy took a final shot as we went in for the homeowner’s interview. She also got an orb.
Interview: Only thing to change since the last time we came through was that the homeowners reported a strong perfume smell that occurred two times in the morning, once at night. They described the fragrance as an Avon aroma known as “Here’s My Heart Cologne” an older fragrance that is still sold today.
On each occasion, there were no windows open; they could not account for the aroma. They reported that prior experience left them with a male experience, which is what the SPIRITS picked up at the prior investigation. They were surprised at the perfume, which was intimidating in its overwhelming fragrance that consolidated in the home.
Investigator’s Thoughts:
I find it very odd that at both this investigation and the last one, psi-sensitives reported feeling and sensing a young woman, either a teenager or in early 20s, trying to contact the family. The first investigation, others suggested that the sensitive was possibly referring to an amber alert for a missing teenager.
The sense of woman may relate to the perfume smell. We did not pick up any anomalous activity at this investigation, but several of the team members suffer from allergies and were possibly olfactory-challenged.
Homeowners wanted to know if the woman had something she wanted them to do, or what she was trying to communicate with them. Cindy said there was no message received, but that if she got one she’d contact homeowners.
I also found the hammock to be interesting; there was nothing that should create EMF near the hammock.
Most people who went on the investigation reported few findings. I took 78 pictures and had only one strong image (by the hammock). Others reported taking images and having no positives.
Overall, phenomena reported at the home is mild, though sporadic. It’s random nature can surprise homeowners; my suggestion was that the homeowners ask the entity to tone down the perfume.
I wonder if the shift in time (and more light) hampered the investigation. I need to keep that in mind for the next time we set up an investigation near a time change.
110th recheck Aug. 28, 2005
Brandy’s report
Start: 6:38 p.m.
Potential solar flair activity reported
Waning crescent moon
Others: Odyssey the Pug, Donna, Brian, Ashley
Living room: Chills on legs, 83 degrees
High EMF, 0 200 scale. No reaction from Odyssey.
Daughter’s Room:
Chills on leg
4.0 4.2 EMF
Many mirrors, 84 degrees
Odyssey wants up on bed (nothing paranormal there).
Main bathroom: 81 degrees
EMF 4.0; inside slightly higher.
84 85 degrees
MA bedroom
4.0 EMF
Chills on legs
83-84 degrees
Return to living room; chills on legs
Kitchen and desk area:
83 degrees
3.8 4.0 EMF
Mirrors everywhere.
Garage: 87-97 degrees
3.0 3.2 EMF
Camera taking dark images. Reasons unknown.
Outside yard:
88-89 degrees
MASSIVE power lines. EMF 5.0-7.5.
Felt a little light headed in the back yard next to one of the trees.
Small pockets of lesser energy detected on EMF meter.
No reaction from Odyssey.
Decided to reinvestigate the MA bedroom and the back yard.
We did note that EMF in the living room dropped. EMF in bedroom also dropped. MA bedroom we did note a detectable energy shift. Others attempted an EVP but Odyssey was too noisy. Ody and I sat in the livingroom.
Odyssey did start barking three times at the back glass doors for reasons unknown. He has seen his reflection in the mirror and does not react to it. Homeowners reported that his barking coincided with the times of activities.
I did go outside with him, but nothing showed up on film.
Odyssey was comfortable outside; the team wondered if the flux in EMF outside was the EMF being absorbed/blocked/or channeled by the plants.
Homeowner turned off lights in the area of the glass door and Odyssey did not bark again. So, it’s hard to tell if he was barking at reflections or at anything else.
Homeowners report the following new incidents since our last investigation:
Ashleigh had several occasions where she thought she saw a parent go to another room, though no one was there. The blinds continue to move even with out the A/C. Donna is in the kitchen when the overhead lights flicker until she left. When she returns, the start to flicker again. Ashleigh keeps hearing called.
The most notable phenomena is a video tape. The family saw a vine moving in a strange manner and went to record it. In recording it, they caught a strange white figure moving through the areait moves along the wall in front of the camera and vanished. Initially, one SPIRITS member thought it was a reflection on the lens. However, a retest, and SPIRITS investigation, shows that there is really nothing that would create that image (a curved arch of “smoke” that does not shift or change during its time on the film). We watched the video repeatedly and cannot come up with a reason why it would exist. They may have gotten something paranormal on film.
The remainder of the information can be found on the family’s online diary at www.realmfl.com — Haunted House link.
Conclusion: While there was not much activity at the home the night we were there (I got no orb images) I am intrigued by the videotape. I really don’t know what to make of it. Of the 6 SPIRITS members present, none of us could figure out what caused it. Homeowners have also shown the tape to a police officer and a video expert; neither can explain it. I do recall that Denise pointed out that the wall of the daughter’s bedroom seems to be active with entities popping through it. Perhaps this was the case.
I was thrilled that the family invited Odyssey along for a visit. I know this pug well (I raised him from a puppy) and he has been to other haunted venues. In one, he did pinpoint an area of activity. I am not sure what to think with his activity here.
The family continues to be an active participant in the SPIRITS investigations. They have volunteered for another recheck whenever we are ready. They have also agreed to allow others to view the video.
Brandy: Review of Odyssey’s behavior (interest in pet graves and squirrels)
Dizzy in yard by tree
Orb by fica plant
Dizzy in living room (note: rep of shots, no orbs)