Original Date Unknown – St. Petersburg
Recheck 1: June 6, 2009
Recheck 2: November 8, 2014
Editor’s note: This investigation was all about the experimentation. This was the time when new paranormal devices were flooding the market. Note that this investigation includes the use of ghost rods (pseudoscience and explainable phenomena), the Ovilus (ultimately dismissed from this team’s equipment), the Paranormal Puck (which has proven useful), and there is a discussion of the ghost box (featured article. We do not use them). May 10, 2017.
This month’s topic: The Ghost Box
The ghost box is a controversial device used by some paranormal investigators. History shows that the ghost box idea stems back to Thomas Edison, who was quoted twice in 1920 about his interest in communicating with the dead:
“I have been at work for some time building an apparatus to see if it is possible for personalities which have left this earth to communicate with us.” (October, 1920, The American Magazine).
“I have been thinking for some time of a machine or apparatus which could be operated by personalities which have passed on to another existence or sphere.” (October, 1920, Scientific America).
From: http://paranormal.about.com/od/ghostaudiovideo/a/edison-ghost-machine.htm
Already, there is debate about the device. Did he speculate on the device, or was he in the process of making it? Regardless, when the inventor died there was no prototype, or plans for such, ever found. Modern paranormalists, however, have jumped on his idea in both the process of recording EVPs and in trying to create new methods of communicating with the dead.
As discussed on other pages of this site, EVPs can be difficult to obtain. Movement and background noise must be ruled out. It does require an entity a decent amount of energy to create a recording. EVPs come in various levels from clearly stated to nothing but the sound of muttering. Thus, the paranormal community began to experiment with new devices. In recent years some have begun to use a device called the ghost box.
According to http://www.angelsghosts.com/ghost_box, the ghost box (also called a “Franks Box” does the following:
Frank’s Box is a ghost box that produces random voltage to create raw audio from an AM tuner, where it is then amplified and then fed into an echo chamber and recorded. In short, ghost boxes such as Frank’s box create audio bits and white noise that ghosts and/or spirits can then manipulate into forming words – real time two-way communication.
The SPIRITS of St. Petersburg made one (though we call ours the “Stark’s Box” for the person who made it). It is also known as a “Radio Shack Hack”. They are very easy to make. At the time, Radio Shack sold small portable am/fm radios for $25. Paranormalists found the price, and the simple electronics, perfect for their needs. By removing the back of the box and opening the panel, the entire scope of creating a ghost box is to disable the device that stops a radio at a certain radio station. This effectively allows the ghost box to randomly scan the airwaves.
The SPIRITS first utilized the Stark’s Box on this investigation. The random noise was great and the results were without merit. The device would simply spit forth sounds. Little impressed, we stopped the experiement. Yet, this same investigation did snag us a decent EVP (see above).
Yet, there are still some out there who use the ghost box and site it as an absolute truth. Demonstrations of the device make it appear as if it is a combination of synchronicity and timing. It may also equate to an “audio ink blot” in which the sounds are combined to answer questions. (This opinion is also repeated here: http://ghostsandhaunts.blogspot.com/2009/01/ghost-boxradioshack-hack.html). Recently, a link was set out via Facebook to a group that did such a session with a “demonic” entity. Watching the display four times led me to hear only 2 of the proposed 8 answers. Even with the words printed across the screen I could not get the same answers that they did. I also questioned the behavior of the group since they taunted and cursed at the entity (thus possibly getting an angry response).
For those who are interested in experimenting with the device, there are several ways to make them. There are also multiple ways of managing them (white noise, no white noise, etc.). For a start, see: http://www.squidoo.com/ghost-box
To view a random sampling of ghost box sessions (not from the SPIRITS of St. Petersburg) go here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVkf7ROtXvk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4glaAD47B-A
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGW_ew955fI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uIBJdNiC3Q
First Investigation of 5000:
Brandy: Asked a series of questions. The ghost rods crossed with questions. Front room: Anyone here: crossed. Girl’s room: Crossed.
Post discussion, areas to recheck:
In the front living room I felt a “swirly” energy, one to two entities, younger.
Stair, upstairs, fall through: a possible actual falling through.
There was a serious drain of power in the camera.
Paranormal Puck Session 1: Apparently this is not in the original notes. However, two sessions stand out, as read above.
After the Puck babbled quite a bit for the first walk through, it had two significant questions. One was:
“What message do you want to pass on?”
mine
“What do you think of the children?”
cattle
In the living room, when asked if the entity was female the response was a near sentence:
“preacher watch yourself” (followed by 3 other random words).
Both of these questions were read aloud to the group with the answers. Both were quite eerie because the Puck had so often created almost random answers and multi-worded answers up until this point and out of nearly 25 questions asked, all with strange answers, these questions were the only ones that were either one – word answers (instead of 5 or 6) or made any sense. They also fit with what we know of the investigation. I will continue to try to retrieve the notes if I can find them for the Puck. (NOTES: 12:20 a.m., under 1 hour after the investigation ended).
This was saved appropriately:
Paranormal Puck 2
With EVPS
User: Are you here with us?
mine problem
User: Are you male?
Sandra drift along fall
User: Female?
tilt sound east built
User: Did you live in this house?
User: Did you die in this house?
toward comfort opening would
User: Are you related to the male homeowner? Donny?
drank
User: Are you the woman that we spoke with before?
erase hunting relax Sandra
User: What is your name?
take sand church
zero User: Why are you here?
toward
repeated User: Do you have amessage?
drift
User: Do you want to cross over to the other side?
settled
User: What is your age
hidden
problem User: How did you die?
east drank
jerk User: How did you die?
covered
User: Do you know the homeowners?
church
began User: Did yoy fall>
built
User: Did you die in a slip amd fall accident?
cement used
User: Did you fall from the attic?
6 anything months
User: What is the last year that you remember?
.
east
User: ‘Puck 2 NOTE: Attempt to do paranormal EVP session 2
.
along jerk
ask User: Are you the entity the fhe MA bedroom?
toward would take
mine User: Will you talk to us?
settled tilt
built User: was this house built foryou as a returning veteran
User: Were you in WWII
else fall began erase
User: Did you die in a fall?
zero hunting church
User: Why are you so attached to the house?
everything
hidden User: Do you commumicate with the children that stay in this room?>
User: What is hidden?
User: Did you hide a book in this house?
User: Is your life hidden here?
mine
User: Did you die in this room?
crossover ask
User: Ask you to crossover?
User: Can you tell us if you are afraid?
really indian memories .
appetite
User: Are you afraid of us?
happy drawing vector quickly position
User: What are you afraid of?
details behind find pounds told
User: Do you remember Joey?
ass else seat tied
User: Is there anyone here?
Sandra
User: Are you female?
he’s take world
User: Arw you the same as the guy in the next room?
soak express empath
User: Are you a different male than we talked to in the next room?
faith Larry
User: s Neal in this room?
jerk subtract fall east
User: Do you have a message to pass on?
mine
User: Are the kids yours?
cattle
User: Is there anyone here?
befriend provide always dog
solid User: Are you male?
instead luck total bracelet famous
User: Are you female
watch yourself preacher spread drunk key
User: Why should we watch ourselves?
tail stop two loud
User: Is there anyone here?
that toward kept hunting relax
User: Is there anyone here?
sand nickel deceit rock .
belong
User: Are you happy?
always decimal able circle
Homeowner discussion:
Questions to homeowner:
Grandmother:
How old when passed — 74
1984
Close to you
Sense her? No
Message to pass on: love and pride, and that she was with you.
When she passed, he found her at age 16.
Stairs or steps may relate to the homeowner’s grandmother, who lived upstairs on the second floor. That is where she was
found.
From the start we felt as if we were being watched in this house. From the front window, we saw an old lady leaning
in the door frame. Both homeowners saw her.
Saw a young boy (“David”) in the house. Beth’s kids talked to him when they were here.
When son was in the smaller bedroom, he had trophies on the dresser, it was all pushed off.
All feel an old man in the front of the house. In the small bedroom, clocks and things move in that room, especially things
on the shelves. In the MA bedroom, we hear voices, like you are overhearing a conversation.
Someone was in bed with husband, very hard. Sheets pulling very hard on the corner.
Son feels someone in the kitchen by the corner by the microwave (got the microwave).
Daughter thought that she saw a face in the corner of the small room. Son has also seen a man standing by the window
of the small.
Homeowner feels as if the entities gather in the living room at night.
Homeowner’s father made a joke that his angels were not with him; a penny fell out him from nowhere.
Homeowner’s son used to have little plastic balls fall around him. He would bring the balls to him. They were a yellow
clear plastic.
Had a psychic come in, and felt a very angry energy imprinted on the home from the construction workers.
When sitting on the couch, homeowner feels something pull her hair.
Lights go on and off. Thanksgiving lights went on and off in a very strange way.
Son saw a shadow in his room.
Found a book that was lodged in the walls of the house when they remodeled the home.
A pair of glasses were found under the bed. The bed was moved before, no glasses.
When son was a baby, homeowner walked into her son’s room night and saw a man holding the baby. Long hair, beard, robe
(note: One SPIRITS member had sensed a man with a beard and long hair). Said that he “wasn’t done with him yet. He’s still
mine.” He put the baby down, homeowner ran to the crib, and then turned around and there was nobody there.
Discovered a book in the walls when they did reconstruction. Pulled out the book and we were able to see it.
Brandy:
1. What was your role in this investigation? (Please check one)
Investigator (general)
2. What equipment did you use on this investigation?
Thermometer
Digital camera
Film camera
Audio recording devices
Electro Magnetic Field Meter (EMF meter)
Other (please specify)
Puck, observed ghost divining rods
3. What phenomena did you experience on this investigation? (Please check all that apply)
Sensation of energy
Odd behavior of equipment
4. In review of the footage, recording, or photographs taken at the location, which of the following did you find? (Please check all that apply)
Other (please specify below)
Saw divining rods cross and uncross, the Paranormal Puck also acted strangely. Had three coherent statements
5. What technical observations did you note during the investigation? For purposes of categorizing data, please post your first name, followed by your response.
Brandy: The Paranormal Puck was the most interesting for me. It did have three statements that were unusual. It was set to speak for 15 seconds and often produced the normal nonsense. Three times, however, it did something different. In the daughter’s room, when asked if the entity had a message to pass on, the Puck said “mine” — a sense of possessiveness is noted about the entity by the homeowner. It also stated only one word instead of the typical 5 or 6. When asked about the children, it said “cattle” — and the daughter’s nickname is her name plus “Moo”. Lastly, in the living room it came up with “preacher watch yourself”. I also saw the EMF fields fluctuate wildly for the first time since getting the device in October. Pictures: Nothing. Film: only one picture taken, undeveloped at this time. EVPs: Nothing.
6. What sensitive observations did you note during the investigation? For purposes of categorizing data, please post your first name, followed by your response.
I observed this in the bedroom: our sensitive, Beth, felt very overwhelmed by a female presence. The message was that the entity was waiting for someone, and initially responded to “son”, though the homeowner in the living room, overhearing the question, asked if this was actually her “grandson”. The response was positive. The sensitive felt so overwhelmed that I had to ask it to back off twice from her. Her message to pass on was that she felt pride and and love toward her grandson. We did later learn that the male homeowner discovered his deceased grandmother, but that they had shared a close bond in life.
7. What researched/historical information did you learn about this location? For purposes of categorizing data, please post your first name, followed by your response.
House was built in 1953. Several people who had been in there, especially in the second to front bedroom, felt uncomfortable there. This is where we had the most activity and nearly everyone agreed that it was an older male entity who was very possessive of the house. Research showed that it was also a rental unit for some time.
8. On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate the haunting of this location? Note on scale: 1 represents “no haunting”, 5 “moderate haunting” and 10 “extremely haunted”?
7
9. What issues does the review team need to address with the occupant (homeowner, business owner, resident)? What aspects of the investigation need to be re-addressed, retested, or clarified?
Would like them to try EVP again.
10. Is there any other information that you would like to add about this investigation? For purposes of categorizing data, please post your first name, followed by your response.
Brandy: none.
5029 recheck
Investigator 1: I felt good knowing that we are coming here. We first went to the MA bedroom. The first thing I wrote down was “someone in the bathroom” and I went in to take a picture near the toilet and my battery drained completely. After that I kept feeling that I was short of breath. I left the room for a minute, went back in there and had the sense of someone looking in, short of breath, copper taste in my mouth — scared. I kept wanting to look at the window and I don’t know why. I felt like I was startled. Nothing really in the living room or dining room. When I first went into the MA bedroom; felt nothing good or bad. Saw an elderly woman going from the living room to the kitchen, shuffling. She was hunched over; no kids, didn’t want to leave the house, stale smoke and coffee. Questioned if she knew English. Little girl’s room nausea, times two, after I was in there for a little while. I heard gasping or wheezing. Jesse’s room made me dizzy, but I also put “used for storage”. It gave me a weird feeling of it was a room, but not a room. In the kid’s bathroom, I wrote down safe. It reminded me of where I would go if there were a tornado.
Brandy: I was walking to the bathroom and saw the guinea pig in the main room. Held the guinea pig and she seemed fine. Took some images, too. No pictures showed much; only one small orb in kitchen.
Discussion: MA bedroom, child’s room, hallway, living room.
EVP and Puck session:
User: Is anyone here?
months .
used pet
User: What is your name?
night
User: Do you have a message to pass on>
mine represent
User: What is mine?
toward began
User: Is this house yours?
kept User: How do you feel about the children?
ask .
User: How do you feel about the pets?
User: Was this a probate issue?
church built
User: Is anyone here?
repeated sure believe .
User: What is your name?
glass
User: Do you look outside the glass in the door?
hot size walter cement short
User: Do you have a message to pass on?
weight empty
User: Is anyone here?
wish east would Larry
User: What is your name?
sound along sand
User: Did you die in this house>
world zero
User: Did you live in this house>
User: Are you related to the homeowner?
express
User: Do you have a message to pass on?
kansas
MA bedroom: experiment with ghost box
Read the former notes from last investigation.
Homeowner discussion:
Homeowner did say that the woman who they bought the house from was as one of the SPIRITS sensitives described. She was known to smell like smoke. She would stand at the door and hated everything out there.
The initial “C” may have been related to “Aunt Clara”; she could not speak towards the end of her life because she had a trach.
Stained glass window: bought in VA but does not know the history.
All of these houses were built for the military men returning home.
EVP: (Brandy, digital recorder): Investigator questions if the house was once an issue in probate. Very soft reply: “Yes”.
RECHECK 6-6-09
EVP: (Brandy, digital recorder): Investigator questions if the house was once an issue in probate. Very soft reply: “Yes”. (Recheck 6-6-09).
(Left): Photograph of the relative that appeared active during the investigation; posted with permission.
Recheck
Nov. 8, 2014
Paranormal investigators are often asked about what kind of ghost manifests to families. It is the experience of the SPIRITS of St. Petersburg that the most active manifestations are not strangers to a home, but are actually family members. Parents manifest the most, followed by grandparents. Other reports do include siblings. Overall, it seems, entities on the other side remain active within the lives of their living families — at least for important matters, major anniversaries, and holidays.
These visits are certainly reported by the members of the SPIRITS of St. Petersburg. One has had a one-time manifestation from an uncle, short term post-death powerful message dreams from a grandmother, and three objects moved on different visits by her deceased father. Another member has reported her father, and a short time after her mother’s passing, received a phone call from the dead. Yet another member has reported manifestations of a grandmotherly grand-aunt.
This case reveals another family manifestation, brought on by stress over the health of a still living close relative. The phenomena was much less active this time through howver, and there was less to report.