Feeling a little afraid in your own house? Have a talk with it.

As a teenager, I experienced a lot of strange things in my mother's house that no one else did. It scared me and I didn't know what to do. I hid, covered my face with blankets, etc.

One day my mom told me to have a talk with the house, tell it how I felt. You want me to do WHAT??, I thought, but did it anyway. Can't hurt, right?

I talked to the house later that day. I told it I was afraid of all the things that were happening, and that I didn't want to feel that way anymore. No one should feel that uneasy in their home. I also told it I didn't want to experience these things ever again.

...and I never did after that. (Even today when I visit, nothing happens.)

In fact, I had gone so long without experiencing anything paranormal, that I had convinced myself it didn't exist (to ease my fears), until I grew older and curious enough to start researching and find out the truth for myself...

Chances are, ghosts, whatever/whomever they may be, just want to make themselves known and communicate. Imagine if no one could see you and you wanted to tell someone something.. they're not responding to light taps on the shoulder (because they're not paying attention), so you'd probably try harder, right? Maybe try pushing them? Eventually, the people you're pushing are going to notice and probably feel uneasy. Does this role reversal sound a little familiar?

If you and/or your family are too skittish to deal with this regularly, talk to the ghost.

Tell it you know it's there, that it had made itself known to everyone involved, and although you'd happily share the house with it, it is scaring you and you don't want to experience that fear anymore. Establish boundaries that seem fair, and voice them. That's it.

I'm not going to claim that's going to fix all situations as far as home hauntings go- it will, ideally, help with intelligent hauntings. This will have no effect on "replays", as those are moments in time that, you guessed it, replay on a regular basis.

If you continue to feel harassed and afraid after talking with your 'ghost', perhaps this situation may need investigation. Try to keep calm and contact a paranormal investigator (or group) you trust for assistance.

Beardslee Castle - Little Falls, NY

In Little Falls, NY lies Beardslee Castle..

"THE SPIRITS OF BEARDSLEE CASTLE 
 In the mid 1700's, during the French and Indian War, a fortified homestead stood on the property where the Castle is now located. The Mohawk Valley was the central supply point for militia along the northern borders of the colonies. Munitions and powder were stored at the homestead. Late one night a band of Indians crept into the home and made their way into the tunnels where the munitions were stored. Legend has it their torches ignited the powder and the Indians were blown to bits. 
Could their spirits, here long before the Castle, still linger here?"
- Beardslee Castle website - READ MORE ->>

Beardslee Castle has been featured on Ghost Hunters (Syfy) and Haunted History (The History Channel).

It is said that the ghosts that reside there love to 'pose' for photos.

Could this be a ghost?

I hope to arrange a trip for the guys and I to check it out sometime in the near future. It looks like a beautiful place.

Have you been to Beardslee Castle? Post a comment here or on Facebook or Google+ and tell us about your experience.

What are orbs?

According to Wikipedia:

"The term orb describes unexpected, typically circular artifacts that occur in flash photography—sometimes with trails indicating motion—especially common with modern compact and ultra-compact digital cameras."

Orbs in photos can be due to a number of things, and they appear the way they do because they are reflections of something out of focus.

Orbs can be:

• dust particles, pet dander  
• rain, snow, mist, etc. 
• insects 
• pollen 
• something on the lens of the camera 
• etc, etc, etc. 
• And if none of the previous could be proven, maybe, just maybe, "ghosts". And I use the term lightly. 

Many people are quick to believe that orbs are spirits in their photos, and that's just not always true. Do tests with the camera, try to recreate the effect. 

To cut down on the amount of unwanted orbs in your photos, I suggest using a non-compact camera, something that takes quality photos and video. Also, make sure you and any investigation partners are aware of where they are shining their flashlights, so not to create false positives, very similar to a photo technique called light painting. 

And remember, don't declare a place haunted based on orb photos alone. They are not always reliable. 

If you have any orb photos you'd like to share with us, please post them on our Facebook or Google+ pages. We're looking forward to seeing them.

[Guide To Choosing A Good Paranormal Investigative Team]

Seneca Lake Drums / Guns Of The Seneca

It's true that you can hear loud booming sounds over Seneca Lake in the summer evenings. These booms have even been known to produce shockwaves that have rattled dishes in the cupboards of various homes.

The Native American Indians believed these sounds to be the drumming of the ancestors, evil spirits, or divine messages.

According to Wikipedia:
"Seneca Lake is also the site of a strange and currently unexplained phenomenon known as Mistpouffers. In this area, they are called the Seneca Guns, Lake Drums, or Lake Guns. These are mysterious cannon-like booms and shakes that are heard and felt in the surrounding area. The term Lake Guns originated in the short story "Lake Gun" by James Fenimore Cooper in 1851. Many believe that they are caused by giant air bubbles from deep in the lake bursting on the surface, which is not believed to be true. Others equate it with Indian folklore. The most likely explanation is due to sonic booms from military aircraft, though this does not explain the sounds heard during Cooper's time."

Another explanation people have for this phenomena is tectonic plates moving under the surface, but there is no evidence of this.

If there were giant gas bubbles erupting, wouldn't we be able to see and observe them?

So for now, the Lake Drums, or Guns of the Seneca still remain a mystery.

This is not the only place you can hear them. This phenomena is said to occur closeby in Cayuga Lake as well, and Connecticut, and on the coast of North Carolina.

Seneca Lake Monster?

There have been numerous stories and reports of a mysterious large serpent monster living in Seneca Lake, in New York.

"Native American Indians found Seneca Lake to be a mysterious place on many levels. They told of rumors that it was a bottomless lake. They also believed that the monster that lived in its depths was a force not to be trifled with. The first European Americans who encountered this area brushed off these stories as merely being the superstitions of a primitive people."
- Walter Gable - The Sea Serpent of Seneca Lake

Some photos and videos have surfaced over the years, and a whole lot of stories.

I do fully believe the following images to be fake, not that they were necessarily staged, but perhaps the photographer was unaware of what he/she was looking at. There are a lot of very large fish in that lake, as Gary (my fellow investigator) has seen personally.

This does not, however, mean there is no Seneca Lake monster. There just isn't any substantial evidence to say that there is.

If you think you caught something, please share it with us on Facebook and/or Google+.

*The images in this article are not my own. If you have the legal rights to these images, please contact me so I can credit you.

A list of reported lake monsters - Wikipedia

What Are Ghosts?

photo by Steve Donna Omeara

One common misconception about ghosts is the idea that they are spirits. People also debate that they are hallucinations, misperceptions, replays, etc. But the truth is, ghosts are a multiple cause phenomena, meaning different sightings have different causes.

Some ghost sightings are caused by hallucination, misperception, coincidence, etc, and this explains how, in different cases, they display very different characteristics. A witness may supposedly interact with a ghost caused by hallucination, but with misperception, this will not happen. 

So with that said, there is a problem in looking for a single explanation for all ghost sightings. Overall, the evidence is very contradictory, and this makes it impossible to come up with a single testable theory to explain everything. But if different explanations are considered, we can now realize that "ghost" actually refers to a number of phenomena that results in people seeing human (or animal) figures.

**Did you know:
Very few ghosts can be easily identified as an actual person, past or present. And although the 'spirit' theory is a popular assumption, there is little evidence to support the idea that ghosts are people who were once associated with a haunted location.

[Guide To Choosing A Good Paranormal Investigative Team]

Civil War Prison Camp - Elmira, NY

Today I did a solo investigation at the Civil War prison camp in Elmira, NY (Hellmira), which is rumored to be haunted by the Confederate soldiers who died there. Armed with only my camera (too much noise for EVP, and the live electrical wiring underground will cause false EMF readings), I walked around the area where the soldiers with polio and other serious illnesses were sent to die.

I took several photos while I was there, and recorded video. I did have some personal experiences- a gut feeling that occurs in the same place every time I visit, seeing things in my peripherals, and my camera stopped recording for no apparent reason. However, I did not gather any solid evidence, and this is not enough to work with.

Results:
Inconclusive. Further investigation necessary.

Further Reading:
Guide To Choosing A Good Paranormal Investigative Team

Kings Park Psychiatric Center - Long Island, NY (Pt2)

More photos from Kings Park Psychiatric Center! 

In my first post, I wrote about my experience and shared a couple orb photos. And after reviewing everything again, I found more.. 

**I ruled out a lot of "orb" photos as insects. These were different.

I took the following photos as I was walking the dark path through the grounds at night. I threw many out under the assumption I caught the reflection of insects or dust particles, but these two shots caught my eye. In the first, I captured an orb. (*Note the position of the piece of trash in these photos.)

After catching a glimpse of the orb on my screen, I immediately snapped another photo. It was gone.

Day or Night?

If a place is truly haunted, it doesn't matter whether you investigate during the day or night (unless, of course, the haunting specifically happens during the night). I have collected evidence in both light and dark conditions, as many others have too.

So don't let the tv shows fool you- it doesn't have to be dark to get results.

[Guide To Choosing A Good Paranormal Team]

Ghost Story: American Legion Haunting

I worked as a bartender at the old Waverly, NY American Legion several years ago.

One night as I was locking up the walk-in cooler in the back, I heard, "Hello? Hello?" coming from the bar area. It sounded like an eighty year old man looking for a late night drink.

I walked back out to the bar to tell the old man we were closed for the night, but there was no one there. I called into the other room, as well the bathroom, but no answer.

I dismissed it as I was tired and hearing things, and continued on to the kitchen to turn off the hotdog cooker.. Then I heard a crash.

I ran back out to the bar to find an unwashed glass shattered into three pieces- one piece where it sat, one further down the bar, and another across the room.

At that point, I was too freaked out to stay and finish my job, especially with the portraits of all the deceased veterans staring back at me. I left the back lights on and ran out of there.

I got some shit for leaving the lights on the next day from my boss, but I didn't feel comfortable talking about what had happened, so I just accepted it and tried to forget the night before.

Jackson Sanatorium - Dansville, NY

This is the trip that changed everything for me. 

A photographer friend of mine got some EVPs while exploring the abandoned Jackson Sanatorium in the past, so I figured I'd try my hand at it and came back with some amazing results. 

All I did was explore the building with my camera recording (HD video). Meanwhile, many things happened.. 

Note: 

1) This clear whisper I captured several times has not been edited. This is exactly how I recorded it. 

2) I did not hear the voice until I checked my footage later. Isn't it awesome how it said things, then I repeated? [read more: clairaudience] 

3) At the time it felt very much like someone was giving me a tour, though I was alone. I did not feel frightened, just intrigued and wanting to see more, despite the dangerous condition of the building. 

4) Chris did not hear the BANG! that sounded like a door slamming, and none of the doors in the building were capable of doing so- they were broken and falling off their hinges. When I went to walk toward Chris's voice, it seemed as if I was drawn back toward the sound of the slam, and later led higher up into the building. I saw the roof, with no EVPs, but the view was beautiful. 

5) The voice returned one last time in the basement, when I was looking for my flashlight. We then continued to explore in the dark, looking through curtains, clothing, and old sauna boxes, with a chair inside and a hole for the head. What a find!  

So is Jackson Sanatorium haunted? 
Yes, and it can be considered an intelligent haunting. 

This was most definitely a successful trip, and the one that made me want to keep searching for more. 

What do you think about my experience? 

Like what I was wearing in this video? Check out my style blog for more... 

Further Reading: 

Guide To Choosing A Good Paranormal Investigative Team 

Kings Park Psychiatric Center and Mount Misery Road - Long Island, NY

This trip happened to be a fluke on my part, which added an extra 3 hours each way, and we had to fight crazy NYC traffic…

I must state that when my friend Chris and I went last summer, I was a nonbeliever. Strange things have happened in the past, but I ruled them out as I was delirious from not sleeping.

We did bust a few local rumors about Mount Misery Road. (...or did we?**)
1) That underpass at which your car is supposedly dragged uphill? That's a downhill slope.
2) There was a van full of kids hanging out near a wooded area, obviously there because of the urban legend. As we were about to get out and ask for a quick interview, the local police showed up. (I'm sure the locals called in about the suspicious looking van.) We were asked a few questions, then told to move along. As the cop walked away, his head was fully intact. Obviously not the supposed ghost cop.
3) Mount Misery Road is in a beautiful neighborhood. Not at all creepy.
**As we were driving around, we noticed an older road that is now blocked off and signless. Could that be the old Mt. Misery? Is that why GPS took us into the woods?

 It wasn't a total bust. 

Although the sun was about to set, Kings Park Psychiatric Center was closeby.

 My goal was just to explore the place and get some photos and cool video footage. I got more than that.

 It was an easy drive in, and there was a bar right across the street. Turns out the area around some of the buildings is a historic park, then there are more buildings across the road, fenced in. We were not about to go hopping fences at dusk, so we explored around the park area.

 I was recording most of the time, when I wasn't taking photos. And while I got little with my camera, Chris managed to capture colored orbs around me, which happened to be when I felt a change in energies. My camera, however, did not save the video I recorded at the time this happened, and I could not come up with an answer why. It was working fine, plenty of space on the SD card, and near full batteries.

 Chris also got plenty of photos with white orbs in them, but I am automatically ruling them out due to the bugs and dust and pollen, etc.

These photos are different. They are larger, bright, and colorful.

Is Kings Park Psychiatric Center haunted?
Judging by what we gathered, my camera fail, and personal experiences, I want to say yes. However, there is still the possibility that this could be debunked.

**UPDATE**
More photo evidence here!