GhostHelp.Net

Farnam Manor Investigation: I

2010-04-03T20:44:00.000-04:00

We (Ohio Paranormal Investigation Network) conducted our first formal investigation of Farnam Manor in Richfield, Ohio on March 6, 2010. Our hopes were high as we had collected some great EVPs while just touring the building a couple of weeks prior. We had collected numerous personal stories from the owners, Tim and Kathy, and were excited to investigate this inviting old building in detail. Our focus was also to collect investigation evidence for our presentation at the Farnam Manor Spirit Tour, which was a fundraiser for the Farnam Foundation to help raise some money and awareness for this historical building.

The investigation began slowly as we had to wait for the owners to get us into the building as they had thought we would be there on a different day. We ended up conducting our team meeting in our Equipment Manager's truck while waiting. A few of us were a bit hungry and we decided to send out one of our investigators for food. Even though the Cleveland Cavaliers, Barnum and Bailey Circus, and many hundreds of concerts used to take place less than five miles from this location there are few places to eat, especially fast food nearby. The Cleveland Coliseum was once located on route 303 and Interstate 271 in between the cities of Cleveland and Akron just down the street from where we sat. It was torn down in 1999 and is now just a field returned back to nature.

Once we got into the location we began to haul in all of our pelican and other cases, spools of video wire, extension cords, body bag (yes, we have a bag large enough for a body), and all of our other needed equipment for documentation purposes. We decided to set up shop in the center area of the building, which was the main dining room area. Not too much had been documented there, other than a seance that was conducted there about two years prior. After getting much of our cameras set up and wires run we realized this location was bad because of the sound that was created in this room was heard all over the house (which is very wide open inside to begin with).

We spent a lot of time making sure everything was ready before we began our actual investigation and really didn't start until 9 P.M. We conducted five separate EVP based vigils with the various investigators as well as the owners, who we wanted to have involved since they are already "part of the environment". Bob, our equipment manager, was armed with his laptop which had EVP maker installed and running. We had four separate digital recorders placed near a few of our infra red cameras. I carried a digital recorder to monitor the events as they happened and I used two others to conduct various attempts at capturing EVP in various parts of the house. We had a command center person who watched our 6 IR shots continuously while taking notes on internal and external noises and walkie talkie traffic.

We were very optimistic that we would walk away with something that we would be able to show to the crowd that would be gathering at the Manor later that month. After spending several days reviewing my three digital recorders I found nothing. We also found nothing on our video surveillance, as well as all of the other digital recorders we had set up throughout the location. We were a bit surprised, but understood that we more than likely brought out too much technology at once. In future investigations we promised to break out the equipment piece by piece. We will also put our command center off to the side of the Manor near the entry way which will keep the tech out of the majority of the home and may help allow the spirts to be seen.

At our private investigation/fund raiser on March 27 we used seven IR cameras, yet fewer digital recorders (due to the extra investigators that attended the event creating noise). We were suprised to see a curtain moving upstiars. One of our investigators was outside on her phone and saw the drapes move apart. She quickly came inside and discovered no one had been upstairs at the time. We had noted movement from another set of curtains in that room, which we quickly discovered was from the heat vents. The one in question is also close to vents, but we observed the drapes as the heat went full blast and they didn't move a whisker. We have this on video and will be reviewing it as time allows. We also caputed some potential EVPs during our group vigils, but the contamination possibility was high.

We are also going to conduct some mini vigils during the day with two investigators. Our sensitive/pyschic Erica has already spent time alone this week collecting audio and we will soon up the ante with more recorders as well as video to capture the whole EVP collection experience.

Below is the video presentation we put together for showing at the Farnam Manor Spirit Tour showcasing our first investigation of the Manor:

Punderson Manor Video

2010-02-13T12:04:00.000-05:00

I have produced a short video outlining the history of Punderson State Park and the Manor as well as discussing our investigation. This is somthing I will do a lot more of, obviously only with our public type investigations. It used to be message boards, chat rooms, and web sites, but now social networking and video is the way people want to see what you are doing. So, we will do our best to provide a balanced approach with our information and allow the viewer to decide.

Punderson Manor

2010-02-01T17:38:00.001-05:00

On January 23, 2010, Ohio Paranormal Investigation Network was able to secure multiple rooms of the "old" section of Punderson Manor in Newbury, Ohio for a paranormal investigation. It was quite an enjoyable evening with plenty of time to set up as well as investigate (for various reasons!) and there were plenty of interesting things that happened to everyone that night.

Currently, we are finishing up our review on the evidence, but are working on a few technical issues that popped up during our investigation that we will publish in the near future as well. Why all the secrecy and no detail? I am working on a video that will showcase Punderson Manor State Park as well as our investigation while providing some background history.

The video isn't meant for us to brag about what we found, but hopefully provide some reality behind the stories that are out there as well as to bring the information up to date. Also, you just might learn a little something technical from it!

Stay tuned! We will be providing video segments from all of our "hunts" we have scheduled this year and we will be sharing a bit more of our public cases as well as permission from them dictates.

Goodbye to 2009

2009-12-16T14:57:00.000-05:00

2009 was an exciting year at Ohio Paranormal Investigation Network. While things were hit and miss throughout the year, the year as a whole was very exciting.

As the Director of O.P.I.N. since 1996, I have done what I could to keep the group grounded and away from the spotlight as necessary. Our culture as a paranormal investigation field has changed dramatically over the last few years and it has become necessary for groups like ours to come out of their shell and become visible to the general public. Years ago this was trouble in the making, now it is the standard way of doing business.

Our main goal has always been to educate as many people as possible through our knowledge and experience, whether they are a client or someone listening to us in a library. We are taking this goal to the next level by letting everyone know what we are up to. It doesn't sound like a big deal, but in years past many groups kept their public affairs private. We are making many efforts to mingle with others from our field and the general public in public events to help keep the reality of what we do intact and keep the misinformation from the internet and television from influencing our field too much.

This year members from O.P.I.N. have participated in two paranormal conferences as speakers; the Ohio Paranormal Convetion in Dayton, Ohio and the Northeast Ohio Paranormal Conference in Rootstown, Ohio, both events were top notch. We will be attending these events next year and may put more of these events on our calendar in 2010.

Due to cut backs in spending we were only able to do two library presentations this year. My goal was at least four, but many libraries were either not doing these types of presentations or finding local talent to fit their needs. Both of our appearances (Grafton and Westerville) were done without asking for any compensation and both were very well received by those who attended. We have spent some time creating educational and mind-opening PowerPoint Presentations to share with the public with these events and we hope to have more events in 2010.

O.P.I.N. was also happy to participate at the Lake County History Center's public ghost hunt event which took place in November (see the following blog posts). This gave us a chance to work with other groups, help the public while educating them, and giving back to historical places in our home state.

A majority of the rest of the year was spent helping clients with private investigations, which have become fewer and fewer each month due to the influx of groups. I'm not complaining about this as this does lighten the workload for everyone and does free us up to get involved with other projects we have not had time to do in the past. The ghost field has been growing since I became involved back in 1996 and the growth seen since the "Ghost Hunters" television show era is actually only a small bump in the influx compared to the decade prior.

On a personal note I was able to get a paper published in the Journal of Anomalous Sciences, a quality Journal aimed to bring the amateur movement of paranormal investigaiton into the eyes of the professional scientists. I joined ParaNexus, a professional organization of individuals with long term goals very similar to my own, and have become a Director for the state of Ohio. I have had many personal projects I have been working on since completing my first two books in 2008. I hope to debut some of these new ideas in 2010, including some more reading material. O.P.I.N. is also poised to have a busy and successful year with many new adventures in planning. Stay tuned as we will be discussing some of our upcoming projects in the works for our team.

Lake County History Center Public Investigation 11/13/09

2009-11-14T22:55:00.003-05:00

O.P.I.N. was invited to help assist in a public investigation of the Lake County History Center located in Painesville, Ohio. The building has stood since 1876 and has never been investigated by anyone despite numerous claims as well as a rich history of suffering and even death. The site was the home of the first hospital in Lake County (infirmary) and became a home for the mentally ill and the homeless (the literal "poor house"). The Lake County Historical Society (formed in 1938) took possession of the building in 2007 and is in the process of refurbishing the building for a Victorian showcase, exhibit and education area, library, reception hall and more.

I was sent an email from Cathi Weber, who operates the Willoughby Ghost Walk tour (as well as the Willoughby Area Paranormal Education and Research Society Meetup group) asking if I were interested in helping with an event that would help raise funds for the society's efforts to refurbish the building. I jumped at the chance to help with history as well as the educate the public at the same time. The event came together quickly and was sold out just as fast. There were well over 75 people in attendance who either got their feet wet with investigating a historical building or had the opportunity to investigate with other veterans from a number of other teams in northeast Ohio.

I was also able to enlist the help of O.P.I.N.'s Lead Investigator (Carly Cassidy) and Equipment Manager (Bob Davies) to help lead groups of people through the building as well. In addition to our group there were also members of Paranormal Researchers of Ohio and Investigators of the Past who helped educate those who attended.

Not only were the investigators treated to guidance to veteran investigators, they were also treated by a presentation by Paranormal State guest Michelle Belanger. Not only did she take time to teach, but she took time to help guide various groups through the basement area (where a jail and slaughterhouse were located) and helping educate them in their psychic selves. Jackie Williams, also a psychic, gave a brief presentation and also helped guide groups through the second floor.

It was a fun time to mix, mingle, share some stories and help educate those who have an interest, but have not been able to get information from those of us who do this for more than fun. We certainly hope to be a part of future events in this awesome building or in other locations like this in the future.

See Carly's message below:

Lake County Historical Society

2009-11-14T22:02:00.002-05:00

On November 13, 2009, I had the pleasure of leading a group on a ghost hunting expedition benefit for the Lake County Historical Society. I would like to thank all of the wonderful people who participated. I had an amazing time and a wonderful group of people to lead. Thank you all for making it a memorable experience for me.

Welcome to the Blog home of O.P.I.N. @ GhostHelp.Net

2009-11-06T20:14:00.006-05:00

I have been operating this group since 1996 and have had some success and failures along the way. The group has been booming with investigators and investigations some years and at times I have been doing this on my own. It's been an up and down "career" as the leader of a paranormal group, but I wouldn't want it any other way.

So often you see these groups pop up and claim to be the greatest thing this field has ever seen, I don't think that's us, but hopefully we can and have made an impact on someone out there and we are continually striving to make more of an impact one person at a time (and hopefully the overall field in due time).

The culture of paranormal investigation has changed dramatically over the 13 years I have been involved. No one cared what we were doing back then and it would have been pointless to blog about it. Now, it's almost a necessity to communicate with the general public what is going on within the walls of the group. I have spent many years ignoring newspaper requests to cover this group, declined public participation in many ways in order to keep the group grounded and focused on what's really important; the client. But, times have changed and people want to know what goes on with a group like ours and I feel that we can teach through sharing our experiences.

I invite you to follow along with my new "journal" for the Ohio Paranormal Investigation Network where I will share the ins-andouts with what we are involved in as time permits!

(Photo above shows our equipment table at the Northeast Ohio Paranormal Conference in October, 2009, in Rootstown, Ohio.)