Investigation Report Summaries

Training Investigation at Burlington County Prison Mt. Holly NJ

Sat, 1 Dec 2007 23:47:25 -0500

This was our first investigation at Burlington and we had set the evening up as a training investigation for new GSPR members from 2 local High Schools in our area.

This even coincided with Mark’s birthday, and so - fulfilling a wish Mark made five years ago at Alcatraz in CA, he turned 16 in a haunted prison. On the gallows - at midnight, to be exact.

As would be expected in a training investigation, there were many “learning moments” which were great for our team, as we strive to keep becoming better investigators and constantly learn and improve. It was not rich in evidence, however.

Personal experiences:
There were some initial bangs and clangs in the upstairs hallway, which at first seemed to respond to questions, one bang being yes and two bangs being no. After three ‘yes’ answers, we decided to ask something ridiculous (along the lines of “Do you like tacos?”). When this was answered in the affirmative, we went looking for the source of the banging, which turned out to be the radiator system. In “The Dungeon”, two of the trainees heard faint music which they described as trumpet or harmonica-like in quality. When alone in the Women’s Hallway (where we set up base) Mark heard whispers and some moaning, and as he was alone, became very uncomfortable (which is rare). Outside, near the far left corner of the courtyard, we conducted random temperature screenings just for a base reading. At one point, the readings were distinctly cooler than the surrounding lawn, so we conducted a brief interview. After a few exciting spikes, we concluded that whatever was changing the temperature was doing so randomly, as the spikes tended to be in the middle of questions.

Some of our learning - so that you may learn from us and improve your next investigation:

Audio:
1) There is a new heating system in the museum. This makes it a much more comfortable environment than, say, ESP, but there is a monster of a blower fan directly behind the kitchen/below the women's wing which killed (polluted) our wireless audio link in that area about every 15 minutes for about 4-5 minutes each time.

With any audio feed streaming real time to a computer - take the time at tear-down to save the completed file. In the case of Audacity - don’t just save the “project”. We only took the time to convert down one of the two laptops, and when the batteries died in the sleeping laptops overnight, the saved project file was lost, while the converted and re-saved .mp3 file was fine. 3.5 less hours of audio evidence review ( yeah!?) but of course the one surviving file was from the subway, not the dungeon. ( see #1 for why that is a problem).

Video:
The are is compact enough to cover well with the 4 100’ IR cameras. We had one positioned in the dungeon, and with the glare from the plexiglass walls it flared too often. Next time a different camera angle away from the shiny walls.
Handheld videos worked well but no positive results.

Lastly on the topic of learning: be advised that following
Halloween and THE PRISON there are a few decidedly
non-paranormal but freaky remnants about the yard:

We still have the IR 4x video to review as well as taking one more pass at the wireless audio. Photos of the investigation team at work are Here. We will be posting the formal investigation report forms at the conclusion of the evidence review.

The good news: We were so impressed with the facility and staff that we are taking two additional teams in during May. These small 6 person teams will also be responsible for evidence review, so there should be much more to report about following that investigation, and the report will be up sooner!

Eastern State Penitentiary ‘07

Thu, 22 Nov 2007 23:57:06 -0500

There is little we can add to the many lengthy pages and hours of video dedicated to this amazing structure. As America’s first “preserved ruin” the prison has captured within it’s 30 foot walls the hope of its designers as well as the ultimate hopelessness of its prisoners.

We recommend a visit to the facility, and participation in an investigation for any and all serious Paranormal Researchers. The links below will bring you to our formal field reports and the single evidence capture that is worthy of GSPR: An EVP caught on a video recording. We’ve also listed links to the prison itself, as well as other write-ups of ESP. Finally, we recommend the book “Eastern State Penitentiary: Crucible of Good Intentions” by Norman Johnson. Available at the site.

Here are copies of our Field Reports. (Note: Typically we would produce only 1 inclusive report per investigation team, but NJGHS required separate submissions of Reports of Findings for the CPI evaluation.

GSPR Field Report: GSPR ESP Investigation Field Report Nov 07.pdf
John B Report of Findings: JB ESP ROF.pdf
Mark B Report of Findings: ESP Mark ROF.pdf

Finally, here is a short video clip containing what we believe to be an EVP voice. In order not to prejudice your review of this evidence, we will not publish here what *we* believe is on the tape. Please feel free to review the clip and email us at info@gsparanormal.com. We will send you a note back with how your analysis compared to ours. You may also download this clip, strip out the audio, and examine it further, and we’d love to hear what you come up with. We will be stripping the audio out of the entire 4 minute video that this clip came from and we will be submitting that to Haunted Voices for analysis.

This was taken in Cellblock 12, 3rd Floor. Halfway down the right catwalk something about the cell I was in front of was compelling. I entered and taped a quick 4 minute EVP session The red light in the video is my headlamp. The obvious voices that can be heard is the rest of the team about 4 cells down. What we suspect as the EVP should be obvious almost exactly halfway thru this short clip. Let us know what you hear!

Further study about Eastern State:

Here’s a good place to start: With ESP’s own site: http://www.easternstate.org/history/genealogy.php
Troy Taylor has a good write-up: http://www.prairieghosts.com/eastern.html
Here is the bibliography Troy used for the above article:

SOURCES & BIBLIOGRAPHY
ADAMS, CHARLES J. III - Philadelphia Ghost Stories (1998)
ASFAR, DAN - Ghost Stories of Pennsylvania (2002)
EASTERN STATE PENITENTIARY (www.easternstate.org)
JOHNSTON, NORMAN - Eastern State Penitentiary: Crucible of Good Intentions (1994)
NIGHT VISITORS (Documentary - Impact TV / 2000)
PERROT, MARK - Hope Abandoned: Eastern State Penitentiary (1992)
PHILLIPS, BEN - Eastern State Penitentiary: 140 Years of Reform (1996)
SIFAKIS, CARL - Encyclopedia of American Crime (1982)
TAYLOR, TROY - Haunted Chicago (2003)
TAYLOR, TROY - Haunting of America (History & Hauntings Series) (2001)
TAYLOR, TROY - No Rest for the Wicked (2001)

An interview in the Cemetery

Fri, 5 Oct 2007 22:18:00 -0400

During this Cemetery Hunt with NJGHS we tried out a new technique of seeing if we could get a response to questions not via EVP, but rather by way of a dramatic change in temperature as measured by the IR Thermometer.

Of course, we got video of the results.....to see the full report click HERE

Fort Mifflin

Sat, 11 Aug 2007 00:01:30 -0400

This is an experience we would recommend to everyone. Simply the opportunity to explore this historical treasure is worth the admission alone, but there are haunts and more haunts to investigate. We came away with a single EVP, but it’s a “keeper”.

During the August 18-19, 2007 investigation at Ft Mifflin, PA, Mark and John were in the room of Elizabeth Pratt- often referred to as the "screaming lady" - in the Officers' Barracks at approximately 12:42 AM. A digital voice recorder had been set up, and John remained in the front room while Mark took EMF readings throughout the front and back rooms. About 7 minutes into this recording, Mark returns to the front room from the back and as soon as he crossed the threshold he complained of feeling a very sudden ache between his shoulder blades, as if he had finished a punishing workout. When he mentions this to me, I vocally marked the digital recording by saying "Check back 30 seconds ago from this point- Mark may have had an encounter".

We took a break at around 4 AM to review some of the files. When we got to the one from Elizabeth's room we checked the timing of the encounter, and my marking statement was said at around 8:15 into the recording. Checking back starting at 7:30, a sound can be heard on the recording, which is Mark's first footstep back into the front room - the point at which he felt the pain. Immediately following that on the recording we detect a soft, light voice saying "Help". This is at 7:39, or nearly exactly 30 seconds before the point where I mentioned "check back".

Lorriane Irby from the Ft. Mifflin office discussed this with us the next morning, and relayed to us information she did not tell us the night before. Namely that Elizabeth Pratt is historically said to have hanged herself, but was revealed by a medium's visit to the fort the previous year, as most likely having been murdered in that room. Lorraine asked what we believe we captured as an EVP, and we said the word "Help". She nodded and said that that had been heard before, most notably by John Zaffis - who Lorraine said obtained one of his best EVPs from that room on his investigation.

Our EVP recording is attached.

The entire recording was examined in AUDACITY ( audio software ) and no similar sound to this EVP is heard. It is distinctly different than the voices of John or Mark or any of the surrounding noises captured on that or other recordings we've reviewed so far.

Union Cemetery

Sat, 28 Jul 2007 23:09:07 -0400

The story of Tillie Smith’s murder is the most famous tale from this cemetery. We walked through the entire property in about an hour stopping periodically to record for EVP capture. Nothing. We did enjoy finally seeing Tillie’s grave. Knowing the story behind it makes it all the more interesting. To this day people are honoring her memory. There were plastic flowers in her arms, and small gifts left at her feet. PHOTOS