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Ghost Rush debrief that some people wanted.

Started by MichaelF (FPIE), April 01, 2008, 11:33:07 AM

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MichaelF (FPIE)

Hello everybody,
Some people wanted a writeup on how Ghost Rush up in Sacramento went, so here goes. I want to start out saying that there was a wide range of views at GR (Ghost Rush,) I 100% respect all of those views, but am admittedly on the fence on some things.  I mean no disrespect at all to anybody, they were all great people.

Part one

The first night was mostly just people checking in and such, there were about 50ish people at the conference, maybe 20 were part of an organized group, the rest were independants like me.  Later on that evening, they had a question and answer panel discussion with the main speakers.  It was a fun time, but not much of substance was discussed.

Saturday consisted of workshops where people "taught" about different things, such as debunking, equipment, and investigations.  Most of it was at a pretty basic level, designed for people with no clue about Paranormal investigations at all.  In the afternoon, the main speakers did their presentations.  While again the presentations were very interesting, I can't say that I "learned" all that much.  The main exception was Konstantinos presentation on making spirit contact using a TV feedback loop, that was totally new to me.  Don't get me wrong, the other presentations were awesome, but were pretty basic.

Now to make a brief sidetrack.  At this point, I was a little disheartened to be honest.  I came to the conference in the hopes of learning more about the paranormal and investigating; and at the same time meeting new people with similiar interests.  Keep in mind that I drove 7+ hours to get there and the weekend would cost about $500, so I was regretting coming a little.  It wasn't that the info was bad, it just wasn't anything new, and was pretty basic.  By no means do I want to come off as a seasoned investigator or expert or anything, because I'm not.  There were lots of great people there to meet as well, but the problem is that everybody (even the independents) were there with somebody; I think I was the only one there alone.  So when people split for dinner, drinks, or whatever, I found myself alone.  Don't get me wrong, people were very approachable, and you could talk to them.  However, everybody had their own things going on and I felt like I was interrupting them.  I strongly reccomend that if you go to any event like this in the future, you certainly come with somebody.  Even if nobody in your group knows anybody there, at least your not solo.

Actually I almost forgot something.  Early Sat, I had a reading done by Tiffany the psychic there, while I'm still really undecided about the validity of psychics and such, I have to say it was a very interesting reading, and some stuff she said hit really close to home.  With my validity comment, I'm not dissing Tiffany or other psychics at all; it's just that my logical and scientific side still holds me back from pressing the "I believe" button all the way down until I work some issues out myself.

So by early Sat evening, I was a little dissapointed, there were some high points, but I was regretting coming a little.  This all would change, as you will read in part two, which covers the investigation.

200 years ago, our communication over computers would have been deemed magical and we all would have been burned at the stake.  200 years from now, explanations for what we call Paranormal will be in Science Textbooks.

MichaelF (FPIE)

#1
Part Two, the investigation

On Sat night, we split into 4 groups of about 11 - 13 people, each group had people from API (American Paranormal Investigations) guiding them.  API was running the GR event, and they had done an investigation there before, so they knew the lay of the land, the stories and such.  They DIDN'T tell us anything that they had found before or any of the stories really before we started, they wanted us to find out what we could on our own.

Now I need to take a little break here to discuss some of the different mindsets of people that were there.  There were a lot of "sensitives" there, many were with API who clearly uses them as a tool; others were freelance.  Their abilities were wide ranging and varied.  Then you had the scientific minded people, the "if it didn't happen on camera, it didn't happen" people.  Then you had people who ride the grey area in the middle.  On the investigation, everybody was thrown all in together, and it was an interesting mix.

At this point, since I will be talking about personal experiances, I guess I need to jump into what my particular mindset is.  I'm pretty deeply rooted in logic and science, before I believe something, I need PROOF that it is real.  Yet at the same time, throughout my life I have had some experiences that make me sometimes believe that I may have some supernatural skill.  You wont ever catch me calling myself psychic, sensitive, or anything though.  Maybe my experiences were real, maybe they were just coincidence or intuition, I don't know.  Until I am able to beyond a doubt prove with pictures or some other instrument that I have some ability, I'll continue to ride that fence.  No offense to sensitives out there either, I'm not saying I don't believe you, but next time have them throw something at my head  ;D .  I must say though that Jason, Ann, Tiffany, and especially Maria (thanks for the talk,)  working with you guys was great and gave me much deeper insight then before.  While I still believe that in the end, actual tangibile evidence is the way to go, I have more faith in sensitives helping to gather that evidence.

So let's get into the actual investigation.

Let me start out saying that the groups were utterly massive, 11 - 13 people is way to many for a real investigation.  I didn't even bother to break out my Voice Recorder.  Even pictures and such were hard with so many people moving around.  Luckily we had a few places to investigate so the groups got to spread out a little.  The following events were as they happened, feel free to be skeptical, I know I am, but I'm going to relate all of them as truth.

We started out walking down the main street past the park, then we stopped at the park for some pictures and such to see if anybody "felt" anything.  Then we moved on towards the Union Hotel.  As we moved down the road away from the park, I did get this feeling that something was watching us move away from the park.  Specifically on the corner, under a certain light that was dim.  I kept this "feeling" to myself, but I did snap a few pictures though.  Remember this for later.

As we moved into the Union Hotel, one group went upstairs while our group went downstairs.  I did have a very Ghost Hunterish moment as I filmed Kris Williams on my Nightshot Camcorder, it felt like I was watching TV. ;D  So we moved into the kitchen, where there was suppossedy some activity.  For a while, there was nothing, certainly nothing concrete.  Yet one of the sensitives said she felt the presence of a little girl, so a conversation ensued.  This conversation was done using Dowsing rods and feelings by a few sensitives.  The main woman making contact was a schoolteacher, so maybe there was some affinity there.  It was determined that the girls name was Sarah, she was about 4, and she died of an illness in the hotel.

During all of this, I neither felt or saw anything, I did take lots of pictures though, and filmed all of it.  I caught nothing on either.  However, as all of this was going on, I kept looking over my shoulder (I was in the back) into the room behind us, I had that feeling of being watched again.  I probably snapped 12 pictures of that room, one of which is interesting.  I wouldn't ever call it evidence or show it to a client, but I would like to hear some thoughts.

Pictures will get posted as soon as I get home, can't get to photobucket at work.

So after the kitchen, we moved into the backyard.  It was pretty uneventfull, except for some cases of battery drain.  We had two peoples batteries get drained in our group, the other group did as well.  I think there were about 5 or 6 people who had this happen in the backyard.  Resisting my urge to go get my truck battery (so you want power!) we moved inside and upstairs.

Before we went upstairs, Jason (our API leader) told us that one room up there had a lot of activity, we couldn't go into the rooms, but we could be in the hallway.  Without telling us which room was "active" he wanted us to see if we could figure out which room it was.  Now here is where some kookiness commenced.  As you walk up the stairs, the air does feel kind of heavy, and there is some odd pressure.  As I walked before each door, seeing if I "felt" anything, one of the doors did feel strange.  The best way I can describe it was that it was kind of like walking through mud.  There was definitely a feeling like something didn't want you in that room, it wasn't a malevolent feeling, just more like a warning.  So then Jason asked us which room it was, and a few of us pointed at that one.  He said that was the room that was very active.  Now the logical side of me can't help but think that I read his body language for which room it was and my mind "made" me feel stuff at that room because I knew it was that room.  It was kind of odd though how all of us did pick that room.

So were all standing in that hallway, hoping for something to happen, suppossedly the other group had somebody get touched and a sleeve pulled up there.  I was dying to get something like that on tape.  Jason went on to explain that it is believed that the little girl downstairs mostly hung out up here, she died here of some illness.  It is also believed that her mother haunts here as well to protect her.  It suppossedly is the mothers desire to protect her child that makes you want to stay out of that room.

At this point another API sensitive from the other group came upstairs, she gave us some more info about their previous investigation and what the other group saw.  As she was there talking, something very strange happened.  Suddenly she shouted "No!" to something unseen, then the following happened.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L80cTz0H_7w

I turned my camcorder on as fast as I could, I missed the "No," and about 5 seconds.  Kicking myself for not having it on, but I wanted to ensure I had enough Battery power for the whole night, nothing was going on.  :(

Now, I have seen videos and TV shows of people channeling before, it always seemed really fake and corny to me before.  Seeing it in person from somebody I now know and trust (thx again for the talk again Maria,) it was really different.  Not ready to hit that "I believe" button yet, still need more proof, but I'm much more open minded about it now.

After this episode upstairs things were pretty quiet the rest of the time at the Union Hotel, we moved on to the St George hotel.

At the St. George it was much more low key.  I took lots of pictures and video but didn't really capture anything tangibile.  There were two "hot spots" though.  One closet did have a suppossed Vortex or energy spot in it.  The guide for that room said she could see sparks and energy spikes in it.  There were some strange EMF readings that would come and go in the closet though.  Personally there was a little odd feeling in the closet and I felt a little light headed, but nothing solid or major.  Nothing on Camera or Video, just those EMF spikes.

In another room, Ann was using Dowsing rods to communicate with a ghost they called Mr. Frisky. They call him that because supposedly he likes to grab and pinch women.  That night downstairs was my first experiance with Dowsing rods, this time was better, because there were only 4 of us in there, and I could ask some questions.  It was very interesting watching the dowsing rods spin and fly all around, also answering yes and no for questions.  Other then the dowsing rods moving, I didn't see (or feel,) anything else in that room.  I'm still on the fence with Dowsing rods, they wern't visibly moving their hands or anything, but I still need a lot more "proof" before I press that I believe button.

By this time it was pretty late and we were done for the evening, so we all went back to get some sleep.  All in all, all I really got was one interesting picture and a video of Maria channeling.  Neither of which I would call "proof" of anything.

The next day we got together in the morning to go over evidence and talk about the night before.  As far as I know no firm evidence was captured, a lot of people wanted my channeling video though.  One more interesting thing did happen though.  Sunday morning Ann told us about their previous investigation and some of the "ghost stories" around the places we were.  Some of them were similiar to what we had happen to us; one thing in particular surprised me.  Remember that streetlamp that I said was dim, that it felt like something was watching us from?  Well "suppossedly" there have been sightings of a soldier standing there on guard.  I just thought it was odd that with no knowledge of this, I "felt" something.  Of course since I didn't get a picture it doesn't mean anything.

So to wrap this up, it got really long.  Basically the investigation was very interesting and a lot of fun.  While the logical side of me can come up with other explanations for stuff, some part of me isn't so sure.  I think that I will certainly point my camera in areas I "feel" something more often then I do now.  I also ended up meeting some cool people who I plan on keeping in touch with.
200 years ago, our communication over computers would have been deemed magical and we all would have been burned at the stake.  200 years from now, explanations for what we call Paranormal will be in Science Textbooks.

PPI Brian

Hi Mike,

Sounds like it was an interesting event. Here's a link to the German Instrumental Transcommunication website: http://www.vtf.de/index_e.shtml  and here's a link to an article from the American Association of EVP on ITC: http://aaevp.com/articles.htm 

ITC researchers have been using these techniques for many moons, and some of them have captured some very interesting "evidence". Although I have read a great deal about this subject, I have only lightly dabbled in field experiments of this type. I find the Q & A EVP sessions provide much more compelling evidence of paranormal activity than an open receiver tuned to static.

I am anxious to hear about the group investigation in Volcano, CA.

Regards,

Brian Miller


"Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence."--Carl Sagan

MichaelF (FPIE)

Ok here are two pictures from the event.  The first is the first picture I took, it gives you the layout of the room.

http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg11/Lilkinsly/DSCF0004.jpg

Now I was trying to take 3 pictures of the same area so I would have comparison photos, but on this second photo, I hit the button before the flash was ready.  So basically, it's a picture in total darkness.  Well not total.

http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg11/Lilkinsly/DSCF0005.jpg

I tried to replicate the photo with no flash, and was unable too.  There were no visible light sources in the room either.  It also looks like there is a reflection of the light in the window behind it.  One thing to be aware of is that by viewing the EXIF info, you can see that the shutter speed was 1/2 a second on the "dark" one.  So the smearing effect could have been from the lgiht moving or my hand shaking.  I still can't explain the light though.  Doesn't it look a little like the lights you guys got in the storage facility?

I would never consider this evidence of anything, but I did find it interesting.  Any photography experts able to give some insight?
200 years ago, our communication over computers would have been deemed magical and we all would have been burned at the stake.  200 years from now, explanations for what we call Paranormal will be in Science Textbooks.

MichaelF (FPIE)

Any thoughts on the light in that picture?  I'm sure there is some photographic reason for it.

Sorry that the rest of the write-up was so long, probably sucked to read.
200 years ago, our communication over computers would have been deemed magical and we all would have been burned at the stake.  200 years from now, explanations for what we call Paranormal will be in Science Textbooks.

dwalters

No...don't be sorry for posting that much. It's wonderful!

As far as those lights in the photo. I want to say light drag so badly, but there is nothing there with a light source. The only thing I can think of is if your camera spits out an amber colored light before taking the flash. It could've been a reflection of that causing the drag. I'm not too sure...it could be a camera malfunction as well though.

I don't want to call it paranormal though.

MichaelF (FPIE)

My camera doesn't put out a light, I took a few other photos without a flash, all were perfectly dark.  Could be a malfunction, but I have had the camera for a while, never seen it do that before.

I totally agree with calling it light drag, due to the long shutter time, it would totally make any light look like that.  But as you said, there are no lights there.

I wouldn't want to call it Paranormal either, but I can't explain it.
200 years ago, our communication over computers would have been deemed magical and we all would have been burned at the stake.  200 years from now, explanations for what we call Paranormal will be in Science Textbooks.

dwalters

Quote from: MichaelF on April 08, 2008, 03:55:24 PM
My camera doesn't put out a light, I took a few other photos without a flash, all were perfectly dark.  Could be a malfunction, but I have had the camera for a while, never seen it do that before.

I totally agree with calling it light drag, due to the long shutter time, it would totally make any light look like that.  But as you said, there are no lights there.

I wouldn't want to call it Paranormal either, but I can't explain it.

Then that's it...it's just "unexplained" :)