Private Residence Investigation, Toledo, Ohio

Location: Somewhere outside of Toledo, Ohio

Date: Saturday night, November 1, 2003

Moon Phase: Half

Solar Weather: M class solar flares, geomagnetic storms

Investigators present: Hillary M., Shonda A., guest investigator Sandy.

Equipment: Olympus C-3000 digital camera, Kodak DC280 digital camera, RCA digital voice recorder, Sony digital video camera with Nightshot, Extech EMF meter, Olympus 2000 Digital Voice Recorder, Sony Digital-8 Handycam, Extech IR thermometer, Sony Mavica digital camera

History: The original structure of the home was built in 1848, on land that had been a camp for the German and Dutch workers building the Miami and Erie canals. The house was added onto several times through the years. At one time the house was used as a doctors office.
  The current owner bought the house in 1977. She and her family lived there for a few years before the strange occurrences began happening. The homeowner's son, Kelly, currently lives in the house with his family.

Unexplainable occurrences that have taken place within the home include the following:

-When Kelly was a child, he often saw apparitions of a little girl and a little boy.
-Kelly's brother would be chased by the entities, and always felt as if he were being watched. He will no longer enter the house.
-Voices have been heard in the attic.
-Kelly has been in the basement, and heard someone running across the floor upstairs, although he was alone in the house.
-Kelly and others have been scratched in their sleep.
-A huge mirror, which sat on the dresser in the master bedroom, was often moved around by unseen hands. Once, the owner heard a thump in the room. When she went in to investigate, she found the mirror turned around on the dresser…nothing else on the dresser was disturbed.
-Doors have been heard opening and closing.
-Cold spots have been felt at the top of the stairs and in the children's room.
-The stereo and CD player turn on by themselves.
-A phantom purring has been heard in the upstairs bedrooms.
-The dog has growled and barked at something unseen.

  The current owner and residents have used a Ouija board in the house several times, however, this began long after they noticed the activity in the home. While researching the house, the owner was told that someone had fallen down the steps between the first and second floors, and died at the bottom. They have noticed that the activity increases in the autumn, between late September and early December, and that it tends to peak in the early morning hours between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m.

Investigation: We arrived at the house at 8 p.m., and immediately asked to be given a tour of the whole house. Sandy and I then began taking EMF readings and control pictures, while Shonda interviewed the homeowner and residents. The first floor had an average temperature of 75 degrees while the second floor had an average temperature of 78 degrees. Abnormal EMF readings of 2.2 to 3.8 were obtained in the living room, three bedrooms and upstairs hallway/stairwell. We were unable to trace these readings to any notable source, and the readings often jumped up and down and moved around the area. Also noteworthy, when Sandy first entered the children's room upstairs, she got what she phrased as "serious goose bumps" and felt the hair on her arms stand up.
  At 8:45, the owner of the house left with everybody but her son, Kelly. At 8:50, we began an EVP session in the living room. Shonda sat in the doorway between the living room and the kitchen, Sandy sat on the couch, and I stood in the opposite corner. Almost seven minutes into the session, I watched a large dream catcher, which was suspended from the ceiling, turn clockwise 90 degrees. We were unable to find a draft or air movement that would cause this. We also did not see the dream catcher rotate at any other time during the investigation. A few minutes later, I began to have problems with my camera. I then got a picture of an orb next to Sandy on the couch. Shonda, whose flash went off a split second after mine, stated that she also got the orb next to Sandy…from the opposite side of the room! I then asked if whoever was with us could make a noise. Almost immediately, I heard an unidentified noise behind me. At 9:18, Shonda, who had taken Sandy's place on the couch, stated that her camera would not take a picture, although her batteries were fully charged.
  At 9:21, I set up my video camera at the bottom of the stairway, and we moved to the second floor. As I stood at the top of the stairs, I felt a sudden heaviness in my chest. This feeling did not subside until I left the second floor forty minutes later. Six minutes into this recording session, I heard a rustling sound in the third bedroom, which did not show up on the recording. This room was the room from which the attic could be accessed. Kelly told us later that there may be birds in the attic, which may be the source of the noise I heard. As Shonda stood outside the bedroom door, straining to hear the rustling noise, she very clearly heard the doorknob to the bathroom door turn right behind her. A few seconds later, we heard a noise downstairs as someone came in through the front door and walked into the living room. The individual, who turned out to be a member of Kelly's family, left a few minutes later. About that time, we began to smell women's perfume very faintly. The scent grew stronger and stronger, and the three of us moved around the upstairs frantically trying to locate the source. About ten minutes later, we discovered that it was not paranormal at all, but just the perfume sprayed on by the visitor in the downstairs bathroom, slowly wafting up the steps to the second floor.
  At 10 p.m., I set up my video camera upstairs in the children's room, and Shonda set hers up in the kitchen, looking into the living room. As we began the session, Shonda saw two orbs on the LCD screen of her video camera, one moving from left to right, and one moving from her position forward into the living room, crisscrossing in midair. Later, as I stood in the kitchen/living room doorway next to Shonda, I heard a clear fluttering noise in my right ear only. The only thing in that spot was the stereo, which was not turned on. The fluttering noise could, conceivably, be described as a kind of purr.
  Although we recorded for another twenty minutes, the activity seemed to wane. At approximately 10:30, we packed our equipment and left the home.

Conclusion: During our 2.5 hours that we were in the house, we did obtain a few moving orb pictures, although not as many as we have in some other locations. We obtained at least three orbs on video, one in the children's bedroom and two in the living room. I also recorded a very strange sound when my video camera was recording at the base of the steps. We have not been able to identify the sound. Three other possible EVPs were recorded that night.
  Considering the pictures, video, recording, and EMF readings that we got upstairs, we believe that area to be the most active in the house, especially the small area at the top of the stairs. In this area, and in the stairway, I recorded some very strange fluctuations on the EMF meter. The reading kept jumping from a background reading of .2 up to 3.8 and back down again. I spent ten minutes trying to track this energy and find a natural source for the reading within this small space, but to no avail. This is also where Sandy felt her hair stand up, where I felt the heaviness in my chest, and where Shonda heard the doorknob turn by itself. We all suffered from an overall uneasiness in this area as well.
  Due to the video footage obtained, we believe that there are at least two spirits within this house. We have no reason to believe that these entities are negative, however, since we did not experience anything negative while there.
The homeowner has invited a second paranormal group to investigate the home. We encourage this investigation, however, we suggested that the homeowner not reveal our results to the second group until that group comes to an independent conclusion. At that time, we would be happy to consult with this group to compare our results.

Thanks to Helen, Kelly and the entire family for allowing us to conduct a formal investigation of their home.

Submitted by Hillary Murdoch