Haunted Houses: Finding Proof Your Home is Haunted
By: Dawn Colclasure (dawn@theshadowlands.net)
Lights flicker on and off, strange rappings can be heard at a window at
night and the family pet gets nervous when entering a certain room. But
does all of this mean your home is haunted? Does this fit the profile
of a haunted house? Not exactly, but before you try to look for proof
your home is inhabited by ghosts or spirits, the first thing to do is
make sure that it isn’t.
“One of the things is to rule out logical things like is there a
problem with the electrical wiring? The plumbing? Do we have a
possibility of animals up in the attic or the basement? Are there tree
branches hitting the home and does the home have a history?” explained
John Zaffis, a paranormal investigator of 32 years and Director of the
Paranormal Research Society of New England (PRSNE,
http://www.prsne.com/) in Stratford, Connecticut. “What I mean by that
is, (have) there been any murders, suicides or natural deaths that
might have occurred in the home? These are the most important things
that I look for and before I would even consider a home being haunted.
A lot of these things have to be ruled out.”
Once this has been done and there’s still a good chance there’s a
haunting taking place, Zaffis added that evidence can be obtained to
verify this. “It is possible to obtain evidence. This is why we go in
and we do our investigations. We set up cameras, we do audio recordings
and we do several other sorts of things to be able to find out our
evidence and we look at our evidence to see if we have anything that is
legit that we might possibly base our investigation on.” Zaffis noted
that certain indicators would point to the possibility of a home being
haunted, such as “if we picked up something (on) the video cameras or
if we were there and witnessed something happening in the home – lights
going on and off, appliances going on and off – or that we were able to
detect that there might be hot spots or cold spots in the home that
were not logically proven out or we couldn’t find a source why they
were happening.”
“I basically have the opinion that anything is possible,” said Lisa Cox
of MAJDA (http://majda.net/). “I always try to keep an open mind. All
of us in the paranormal investigative arena are trying to obtain
scientific proof of a haunting or that an area is inhabited by spirit.
We are in search of that one fantastic photograph or video of an
apparition that cannot be discounted. However, I find that EVP
(electronic voice phenomena) (is) very convincing, especially when one
gets a direct answer to a question that the investigator is asking.”
Anne Palagruto, a paranormal investigator of 7 years and former
Co-Director of the South Jersey Ghost Research in South Jersey, as well
as the former Director of the South Jersey Ghost Research Kids and the
Philadelphia Institute for Paranormal Research in Philadelphia, is
cautious about calling her evidence “proof.” “It is possible to obtain
information such as abnormal EMF readings or temperature changes that
cannot be traced to a natural source, however that does not mean proof
of a haunting,” she said. “We can say that the scientific data obtained
is consistent with data obtained in places reported to be haunted.”
Entering the world of paranormal investigation can be daunting. To a
layperson with no prior experience with the paranormal or who is
skeptical of the existence of spiritual entities, the prospect of
taking it upon themselves to look for proof that their home is being
haunted can raise questions about whether doing so would be wise. One
of these questions is whether one should possess an extensive knowledge
on paranormal investigating or if any special equipment will be needed
for the job. As to whether a person looking for proof their home is
haunted should be an expert on this subject, Cox is skeptical.
“Personally, I do not feel that there is such a thing as an expert in
this field of study. After all, how can one be an expert on the
unknown?” she said. “There can only be the experienced investigator.”
As for what equipment will be needed, Cox advised one very important
tool: “One MUST possess common sense first and foremost. An open mind
is also essential.” Zaffis added, “You really don’t need to be an
expert but it does help if you have the availability and the resources
at hand to be able to work with people that have been experienced in
the field. One of the best ways to learn how to do investigations and
document things is to work with people that have been in the field for
a while.”
Palagruto is sure to point out that, while no one can really be an
authority on the unknown, there is some kind of knowledge that a
layperson should possess before they embark on their own investigating.
“In order to use the data found as evidence of a haunting you must be
knowledgeable of all equipment being used and the proper way to use it.
You must understand the science behind the findings such as
understanding what an electromagnetic field is, what is normal and what
is not, and how conditions in the environment (besides ghosts) may
affect readings and/or instruments used.”
While not the last word on discovering whether a home can be haunted or
not, instruments used by paranormal investigators to determine if a
home is haunted can definitely be helpful. A woman may notice furniture
moving around and voices in another room then say that her home is
haunted. “An open mind can be used in place of all equipment in order
to prove a haunting to yourself. Sensitive people can see, feel or
communicate with spirits and no EMF reading or photograph is needed to
prove it if you truly believe,” Palagruto said. Cox added, “I rely on
my personal all-over feeling about the area/place. My own intuition can
normally tell me a lot.” Still, the readings and visual recordings
provided by equipment can serve as scientific data that a haunting may
be taking place. “The equipment is necessary to document any findings
if possible,” Cox said. “MAJDA uses a night shot video recorder,
various cameras, (both 35mm and digital,) as well as digital recorders
attached to a very sensitive external microphones. We also have various
instruments that can measure electromagnetic fields and temperatures.”
Besides such equipment, Zaffis noted that the most basic of tools are a
good idea to use in investigating whether or not a house can be
haunted. “If it was a pers that lives in the home and they’re
suspicious that there might be something there, a lot of times I
recommend to people to document the different things that are occurring
in the home. Keep a journal on the things that are happening. Also, I
recommend that they let a tape recorder run in different areas of the
home if they are hearing voices coming from certain areas and not to
ask questions or to provoke anything in there. Just let it run.”
While keeping in mind what they should do in searching for proof that a
house can be haunted, the investigators pointed out important things a
person should NOT do. “One thing to be very cautious of when you go in
to do an investigation, in the beginning stages of this, a lot of times
we might not know what we are exactly dealing with so I always suggest
that you never go in and start provoking, asking a lot of questions of
the spirit that’s in the house or any type of communication until
you’re pretty sure on what you’re dealing with,” Zaffis said. “A lot of
times, when people get involved with this type of work and they go in
and they try to communicate, clear a home, the entities within the home
can attach to them and they start to have major paranormal problems.
I’ve dealt with a lot of people over the years that have done this and
it ended up scaring them so bad that they never did any further
investigations.”
Cox offered the following tips: “Always ask for protection from your
spirit guide to guard you against harm, just in case you may be dealing
with a not-so-pleasant entity. Watch who you trust for advice,
especially if they are charging you in some way.(There are many
scammers in this field.) Find a good reputable group to give you some
pointers, and never ever do your investigation alone.”
Anyone watching a movie where a character decides to be the hero in
facing an entity haunting their home by pulling out an Ouija board or
demanding that the spirit do something to prove they are there would
see the next thing certain to happen: A negative, even harmful, result
taking place. This is, unfortunately, one of the most common things an
inexperienced person would try to do in establishing proof their home
is haunted and definitely something that should be avoided. “People
should know that using Ouija boards or séances to try to prove
there is a spirit present can lead to some big problems,” Palagruto
said. “Using these tools can call some undesirable entities into the
area and they can be pretty hard to get rid of sometimes.” As for using
material gleaned from books or the Internet, the investigators offer
words of caution. “You must be extremely cautious when reading
different things in books or on the Internet,” Zaffis said. “There is a
tremendous amount of information out there today that has gotten people
into a lot of serious situations. The one thing I always try to
recommend is to try to associate yourself with people who have been in
this field and they can teach you things to understand how to protect
yourself and what to do if you get yourself into a situation that is a
very, very serious haunting.” This doesn’t mean what you read in books
or on sites such as the Shadowlands should be ignored. Zaffis noted
that “there is good information out there” people can learn from, yet
the best option is to learn and work with an perienced paranormal
investigator before taking on the task of searching for proof that a
house is haunted. Cox validated this reasoning when she noted: “As with
anything else, if you do not know what you are doing, you would be wise
to ask someone with experience.”
This can only leave one option open to a person who is experiencing
paranormal activity in their home: Seek help from qualified paranormal
investigators. Too many dangers, some fatal, can occur to a layperson
trying to discover this proof themselves and investigators have the
further advantage of knowing exactly what to look for in their
investigations. “I’ve experienced a lot of things over 32 years in
homes,” Zaffis said. “I’ve seen a lot of things occur within these
types (of) homes. By the time I get involved with doing an
investigation, I pretty much already have it where I realize that more
than most likely they do have a haunting occurring. What I mean by
this: I usually can weed through the cases that come in and usually
know if something is legitimate or not.” “People without experience can
sometimes do things that may cause undesirable activity to increase
without knowing that they are doing it,” Palagruto said. “If a person
doesn't mind having spirits around but wants confirmation, it is still
better to call a professional to help identify the spirit and confirm
it's presence with scientific data rather than try to contact the
spirit themselves.”
Cox added, “(O)ne should most definitely contact a reputable group to
assist in an investigation. Usually, when a person suspects that their
home is haunted, it probably is.”
So the investigators are called in, the tests are run and evidence is
obtained. The home’s resident may even have some evidence of their own,
such as journal entries, tape recordings of video tapings of paranormal
activity is taking place. Then a person skeptical of the whole thing
suddenly steps in and decides that all of the evidence is worthless and
that there’s no such thing as a haunted house, or even that ghosts
exist. While this very notion can dishearten, even frustrate or
intimidate the home’s resident who must live with this strange activity
every day, it’s important to remember that there will always be someone
ready to dispute the data at hand. “Much so called "evidence" can and
has been disputed,” Cox said. “Hard evidence is still in its infancy in
the scientific community. Perhaps as the veil between the planes thin,
we will be able to experience more phenomena that can be documented.
There’s always those who simply cannot accept that there can be a life
beyond the death of the physical body and that the soul lives on."
Zaffis agreed. “No matter what you show them, they will do everything
that they possibly can, and will, to discredit your evidence.” Still,
Palagruto offers hope in the face of these skeptics. “What we get on
film, tape or instruments does not have to be proven. It is concrete.
As long as the equipment is used properly and all contamination of
evidence is eliminated (for example, by checking for high power lines
when using EMF meters), the evidence is valid. We do not have to prove
that the temp dropped at a given time. The thermometer proved that.
However just as we study a great number of haunted places so we can
compare data, there are skeptics going to great lengths to prove that
hauntings do not exist. There have been udies done by psychologists
that say the effect of magnetic fields on the brain causes
hallucinations that can be mistaken for apparitions. That ghost
sightings are really in a persons mind. However although it may be true
that magnetic fields cause hallucinations, I think it does not prove
hauntings do not exist. The only way that study would be used as proof
would be if every person in the study had the same hallucination in the
same exact place. Then it would explain how people who do not know each
other can see the same thing in the same place over a period of a
hundred years without knowing anything about the location beforehand.”
As Zaffis pointed out, “To a skeptic, you never have enough evidence.
To a believer, we have an overabundance.”
Paranormal investigators have learned, through experience, some of the
better ways to go about investigating whether or not a home is haunted.
“I think the best way to go is to have a good team of investigators who
both are well trained in equipment usage and a cross section of
personalities,” Palagruto said. “To have nonsensitive people as well as
sensitive people will give data that is both scientifically and
spiritually obtained, and that is important since we are dealing with
an area that actually IS both science and spirit.” “Gut feelings and a
few good photos wouldn't hurt,” Cox said. “Backed up, of course, by
video, recordings and such.” “The easiest way for me is to interview
the people in the home, people that have experienced things (who) do
not live in the home,” Zaffis said. “Look at any evidence that the
family might have and the most important thing on my end is to be able
to spend time in the home—but that does not necessarily mean that we
will gain evidence by being there. Sometimes I can go back several
times before I do get any evidence but it does not necessarily mean
just because myself or researchers with me did not experience something
that the family does no have a haunting. They (the spirits) will do
everything they can to hide themselves when people come in from the
outside.”
This capitalizes on one common situation a paranormal investigator can
be faced with when attempting to establish that a home can be haunted:
The game of cat and mouse. “Finding nothing is all the more reason to
go back,” Palagruto said. “The investigators are only there a few
hours. It is easy to miss something if it is not occurring at the time
if the investigation. For this reason it is easier to say that a house
is haunted than to say that it is not. Sometimes it may take a few
trips before we can say there are no spirits present.” Cox agreed with
this. “(T)here were times when
a house has had a reputation of activity, and after hours of
investigation, produced none. But that still does not mean
anything-spirits are not active at ‘our convenience.’” Zaffis is all
too familiar with the cat and mouse game in finding proof of paranormal
activity. “This is very common, that this will occur,” he said. “That’s
why a lot of people that get involved with doing this type of research
get very discouraged after going into several homes and nothing
actually happens.
You have to remember, spirit has no confinement. It can come and go.
And when they feel the area they’re in is being threatened by someone
on the outside, they can go dormant very fast.” To counter this in an
attempt to establish that a haunting is taking place, Zaffis and his
team usually follow up on their visits. “What we try to do at that
point is to spend an overnight in these types of homes to see if we can
witness something at that point. That’s why sometimes I will go back
several times.”
When everything is said and done, though, and a house is judged to not
be haunted, two possibilities to explain later paranormal activity
exist. “If this happens, I would begin to suspect poltergeist activity,
which is not a ghost at all but a form of psychokinesis,” Palagruto
said. “This is more commonly found in when an adolescent, teenager or
middle-aged woman is at the center of the activity. Sometimes removing
the suspected person for a period of time will cause the activity to
stop, only to start again when the person comes back.” Zaffis noted
that another possible explanation might be the reason for later
activity in the home. “Sometimes the spirit can be dormant. We have
what we refer to as seasonal hauntings,’ certain times of the year the
haunting will kick back up and last for a few days and then stop again.
We have a situation sometimes when people move in and out of homes,
certain individuals can trigger the hauntings and things can start up
again and certain people can move into a home and not experience
anything at all.”
If such a situation arises, Cox offered some advice: “(I)t will always be helpful to contact someone with more experience.”