December 7, 2002
Tampa, Florida
Dirty clothes strewn on the floor, unclean dishes in the sink, milk drunk from the carton: these are a few signs of a bad house guest. What happens, though, when the disturbing party is not a part of the mortal realm, but remains the source of disruption? That is when the SPIRITS of St. Petersburg are called in to investigate.
An apartment in Tampa is our focus this month. The two young women who dwell within live varied hectic lives, but have one thing in common: the sense that they are not alone.
The first clues to the phenomena began when both ladies experienced a series of paralysis dreams during a multi-week period. Paralysis dreams are classified by scientists as biological; certain areas of the brain experience internal pressure during sleep, causing the participant to feel alert mentally, even awake, but unable to move physically for short periods of time.
In paranormal investigation, however, dreams are but one way in which entities can attempt communications with the living. Even the most ancient ghost stories record the dream state as containing messages from the dead. Many modern investigations include inquiries into unusual dreams, as part of the alpha brainwave state, with homeowners across the world reporting possible supernatural intrusions during sleep.
In conjunction with the strange dreams, one roommate reported finding a simple “hi” scrawled on a steamed mirror as she exited the shower. She hastily wiped it off. Another time, she emerged to find water pouring from the sink faucet, though she had not turned it on.
The household pets, both cats, also appeared on several occasions to chase or follow something invisible through the area.
While setting up for the investigation phenomena began; one SPIRITS teammate felt chills on her legs while another reported intense pressure in her ears.
Several members recorded roving cold and hot spots. One cold spot lead to a master bedroom, where temperatures dropped nearly 10 degrees. The second temperature fluctuation was in the bathroom where a condensed area registering 15 degrees above normal room temperature, traveled around this section.
All involved in the investigation began to pick up a disorienting sensation, which some likened to drunkenness. One woman felt a young male presence staggering from the bathroom to the bedroom. One person got messages of “I can, I can, I can.”
The SPIRITS attempted an EVP (Electronic Voice Phenomena) recording in the master bedroom. The assembled group heard, and recorded, a very strange yowling sound. It appeared to come from the room itself and sounded similar to a baby’s cry, or a cat’s howl, though the roommates report no children or other animals in the area. Several people felt it was an unearthly sound, unmatched by anything heard before.
During the interview, the SPIRITS learned that one roommate had known a young man several years before. He had become addicted to heroin, but went through treatment. His motto was “I CAN beat this.” However, the addiction was too strong for him, and he succumbed to a drug overdose. As we waited, the woman confirmed through phone calls to mutual friends, that he had felt very strongly for her.
Several sensitives believe that it is he who has, somehow, found and followed her to the apartment. The area, itself, may be conducive to supernatural entities; later research revealed that several other families in the building report possible supernatural phenomena.
This raises interesting questions: How would death through drug use, which creates an altered state of mind, affect death and the afterlife experience as altered states of existence? Is this entity crying out for the help it could not find in life, or is he trying to find comfort with someone he regarded as a friend in the afterlife?
Location: Himes Ave
Date: 12/7/02
Time: 7:45 p.m. to 10:45 p.m.
Weather conditions: Clear, cool.
Lunar Cycle: crescent moon waxing
Other: None
Equipment Used: Olympus digital recorder, ELF meter, Samsung digital, 2 – 35 mm. Cameras with 400 speed black and white film, and 400 speed color film, walkie talkies (NO), Radio Shack IR Thermometer, Polaroid 600
Other unusual or new equipment: Amy used her new IR thermometer.
Others Present: Homeowners Aja, Melissa, cats: Tesoro, Fedora
Back Porch:
My camera experienced a delay in taking images, as did Amy’s.
Temperature readings were 60 degrees.
Living room: When the group first arrived, I felt a chill on my legs while sitting in the living room prior to the investigation.
Melissa’s bedroom:
There was a cold spot in the room of 65 degrees. It lasted 3 to 5 seconds. It also moved.
Felt a chill on leg.
A caution spike was recorded.
At 8:50 pm an unusual howling sound was heard around the apartment. I believe, however, it was related to the police sirens heard a few minutes later. Yet, most of the group felt the sound may have had a paranormal origin. Both homeowners reported that they had never heard a noise like that before.
Bathroom:
Heat spike recorded up to 81.5 degrees
Hallway: EMF spikes and dizziness recorded. 4 spikes to danger, 5 spikes to caution in hallway on Brandy’s EMF.
Aja’s Room:
2 spikes of danger in Aja’s room.
Stairwell: No EMF
Snapped several images, but no EMF. Temperature had gotten sufficiently colder.
Outside:
Several sensed something emitted from the trees outside the apt. Photos taken did not reveal anything, and there was no recorded EMF.
Home owner interviews:
Unusual dreams: Yes, both
Lucid dreams: Aja
Old Hag Syndrome: Yes, both
Paralysis Dreams: Yes, both
Several series of “Old Hag Dreams”.Aja was the first to have one. It was a Saturday, around 4 or 5 pm. She had just hung up the phone, and felt chills. Melissa was out of town and she was home alone. She could not get up or move, and felt someone push her into the bed for about 30 seconds. She pushed back, so hard that she felt she had knocked over some lamps and fell out of bed. She “Stood up” and opened her eyes, and for a moment saw a party of people everywhere. Then she physically woke up and found herself alone.
Melissa returned home. Two days after Aja’s experience, Melissa finished talking to her boyfriend on the phone and fell asleep. She felt an overwhelming evil presence, and pressure on her body. She couldn’t move. She thought it might be a friend of hers passing through, as an acquaintance named Randy.
She snapped out of it, and things seemed to settle down. She fell asleep, and again felt herself freezing up. S he tried to think of her friend’s name to tell him that this was making her uncomfortable, but could not remember it. She asked to see the entity in her mind, and felt that she opened her mind. She didn’t see an entity, but a black moth flying in a side-ways 8 pattern against the wall. The sensation finally went awak.
The third manifestation took place when she got back from Texas. Melissa had spoken with me on the phone, and I had told her to imagine white light as a defensive shield around her. She knew that something was about to happen. She sensed the strange paralysis, and tried to imagine white light. She kept her eyes open and felt confident. The feeling went away. She fell asleep, and the feeling came back. She “told” the presence that she wanted to live in peace.
She saw colors behind her closed eyes: a kaleidoscope of purple and green, and felt chills. When the episode ended, she went to sleep in her roommate’s room.
SLIder Phenomena: No
Premonitions: Aja, possibly, though it may have been a biological reaction.
Reported manifestations:
Shadow figures: Aja, on the stairs, has seen a shown one time. She felt as if she was being followed or watched.
Peripheral vision: A and M
Animals acting strangely: Cats appear to play with some unseen event. Melissa witnessed one of the cats follow something around the room, swiping at it. She tried to find a bug or what the cat was after, but saw nothing. Then the cat fled the room.
Aja witnessed the other cat sitting in the hall, as if it was interacting with something. It was unusual because the cat almost always followed her through the house, and for it to stop and stay away from her.
Cold drafts: No
Cold spots: No
Apportation of objects: Lost objects, possibly scattered brained, drivers license lost, credit cards lost.
Full manifestation: No
Visual confirmation of moving objects: No
Abnormal Behavior of lights or doors: Light bulbs burn out rapidly.
Other: Melissa heard water running when she got out of the shower. The bathroom faucet was running full blast, though she was alone in the bathroom. She thought she say “Hi” written on the mirror, but was so panicked that she wiped it off and got out of the bathroom.
Both girls feel like they are being watched on the porch. They went out there for the first several weeks, but eventually stopped going to the porch at all for the past 3 to 4 months. During the investigation, however, one of the cats came out on the porch and showed no fear.
The night before the investigation, Aja reported that she was really upset. She felt someone stroking her hair in a comforting manner. When she was sick, earlier in the week, she had the same sensation. She likened it to her grandmother stoking her hair when she was younger.
Potential causes:
Any non-prescription drug use? No
Any prescription drugs? No
Drinking at time of manifestations: No; do drink some at home, but rarely. Usually go out.
Medical conditions: No
Investigation Conclusion:
One sensitive thought that the entity was still a young male who died unintentionally, probably on a drug high. The sensation of wobbling, strange and erratic emotions that she felt, odd colors she likened it to a heroine addict, something very strong. She felt that the entity moved from the bathroom to the bedroom, as he had done in life, where he died. A second sensitive agreed, especially because of the frantic messages she kept getting (I can I can I can).
Melissa told us she had a friend who died of an overdose. He was a heroine addict. He was a friend of a friend, but she had met him. He was one who believed he could overcome the addiction, though the odds were against him. He told her that he COULD do it. He made it through nearly all the program but regressed and died of a high. He did die. She got his name confirmed by her friends: “Matt G.”
He also reported likening her a lot.
There was the older man sensed on site. The ladies revealed that an older man died in the apt. below them several months ago. It could be he wandering through.