Here I would like to share a few recent Personal encounters. These are not investigations

and are being recounted exactly as they happened strictly for your reading enjoyment and

to suggest that there are many things left in our world that defy explanation.

The TV show “The ghost whisperer” is currently very popular (at least based on my wife’s opinion of it) and this had me wondering just how common this ability might be in real life people. As if to answer my wonderings a recent event has led me to believe its much more common then one might think. Often times I believe that this ability is purposely concealed because of fear that the generally skeptic public will label the person as “A crazy”

I base this assumption on an actual case that I have recently

become aware of. My wife works as a private sitter for a very sweet young lady of 91 years; her advanced age has not in any way dimmed her very sharp mind.

This lady had told my wife previously that all her life she has seen people that are not there, this was something so common to her that she didn’t find it to be unusual.

I would not classify her as a psychic or a medium as she has never communicated or received messages from the spirit forms see perceives, she simply “sees them”

While I do not use mediums with my own investigation group “Heartland Indiana Paranormal Investigations” www.hipighost.com I do believe that there are people who are more sensitive and better attuned as receivers to the paranormal. My choice not to use them is simply because it’s impossible to scientifically qualify their impressions of a place without extensive historical research on the location.

 

As to the story of my wife’s employer, her daughter seems to have also inherited her ability to some degree, currently in her early sixties however she has told her mom not to tell people about the things she sees for the same reasons mentioned above.

I shall refer to my wife’s 91 year old employer as “Ida” to protect her identity, Ida lives in an apartment complex designed for the elderly which was built on ground that once held a large Catholic hospital. Since my wife began working for her she has told my wife on several occasions about a variety of people that she has seen in her apartment. One of which she said was dressed in a Nuns habit interesting considering the structure that previously occupied the land.

 

Just today there was an occurrence that was pretty amazing to me and led me to write this documentation of it.

Ida’s daughter has a boyfriend that lives in the same apartment complex as her mother, I’ll refer to him as Alan, Alan is a skeptic and has no interest in the paranormal, It is also important to note that he has for some time been fighting a courageous battle against cancer that is slowly taking its toll on him. Today he was visiting in Ida’s apartment and as he stood to leave Ida startled him by yelling out for him to watch out for the little boy; Alan patiently told her that there was no one else in the apartment. But Ida insisted “He’s right there! He’s following you” Alan left but returned later in the day and asked Ida to describe the little boy she had seen. She was quite clear on it describing him as “having reddish sandy hair and being dressed in dark pants, a blue vest with a white shirt.”

  Her description seemed to my wife to upset Alan, She soon learned why. Alan confided in Ida and my wife that he had once had a son in a previous marriage, He had never mentioned this to anyone in his life today including Ida, her daughter or my wife.  His son had died at the age of three over 30 years ago. Alan went on to explain that when they laid his son to rest they had dressed him in black pants, a blue vest and a white shirt. Alan asked Ida what she though this might mean?  With a “matter of factness” that comes with great age she told him, “It probably means you’re going to die Alan, but that you shouldn’t be afraid because your son is waiting for you.

 

This account is not a made up story, but a transcript of what took place as told to me by my wife who was there in first person. I have changed the names for reasons of privacy; all other details are presented just as they were told to me.

Steve C

Heartland Indiana Paranormal Investigations

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Maybe to clarify I need to share that my Mother in law who owns and lives in this house has been diagnosed with cancer,  They have found a 12 centimeter tumor on her kidney and because of complications from a previous quadruple bypass and congestive heart failure the doctors have told us that neither surgery, kemo or radiation are options.  She is handling what lies ahead probably much better then I could myself.  This explained I wished to share the activity that has recently been taking place in the house.

This to me appears to be completely separate from past activity that I have documented in earlier writings.

Just last week my Mother in law attempted to enter a room in the house only to find the door would not open, after recruiting my son to help her force the door, it was discovered that a chair had been positioned in front of the door which had blocked it  from being opened.  My mother in law first though that my son who currently stays in her home had for some reason moved the chair into that position, and failed to return it to its proper place.  My son assured her he had not moved the chair and that in fact it would be impossible to place the chair in front of the door and then still be able to exit the room. An odd occurrence but by itself nothing earth shaking and so it was simply allowed to pass,

Several days later My wife Debra who has always had a natural sensitivity to the paranormal exhibited by her seeing the soldier in Gettysburg and the lady in the Farnsworth house as well as many other past encounters, Was in her Mother’s home when she caught a glimpse of her father Jack as he walked past a doorway, Though it was only a brief glimpse it was detailed enough that she noticed he was wearing a gold sweater and appeared to be brushing the front of the sweater off with his hand. A habit he had and his normal way of dressing before he passed over some 10 years ago.  The appearance was solid appearing by Debra’s description and real enough to cause her to cry out, that quickly it was gone.  As Debra told us of this happening I began to consider that perhaps these events were related to my mother in laws quickly failing health. A sort of “Past loved ones gathering to help guide one newly crossing over”

 

Today yet another event took place, this one providing actual Physical evidence!  My son who is currently staying with his grandmother to help out called me this morning, the room he occupies used to be the maids quarters and as he left his room to take a shower before work He had heard a very audible click after he had pulled the door to his room closed. Returning from his shower he found himself to be locked out of his room, the locks on this door consist of the non locking door knob, a dead bolt that must be operated by a key, and a slide bolt mounted inside much higher then the knob or dead bolt.  

Upon arriving to help him re-enter his room I found the only way I could get access to the room was by forcing a small outside window about 2’ x 2’ and crawling through it, no easy task for a 6’2’’ 260 lb guy, to complicate it even more, the only window that could be forced open had a Television and stand in front of it requiring me to do an alternating leg balancing act that would have made any circus contortionist proud!   After finally gaining access to the room I found that the slide bolt was not only turned down into the “locked” notch but as I drew it out I paid particular attention as to how much of the shaft was inserted into the jam hole, the lock was ¾ of an inch into the hole on the door jam.  Now there is no possible way that the door could have been shut if the slide bolt was extended ¾ of an inch, it would have struck the jam preventing the door from closing. There was also no way the slide could have accidentally slid itself over that distance and then rotated down to the locked position as the door was pulled shut.

 

Considering these three recent events I cannot help but feel that my departed father in law has somehow returned to reassure and comfort his wife as her time to join him draws near. I think he is trying desperately to make his presence known to us so that my mother in law will know that there is something beyond, that the end of physical life is not the end entirely.

 

While I do not intend to do a formal investigation of the house with my team due to my Mother in laws condition, I am planning with help from  my wife and my son to set up video and audio recording equipment in the attic of the house, This has always seemed to be a hot spot of activity,

We may even look at setting up a web cam to cover the attic if time permits.  I feel that if the activity is a result of my father in law trying to make his presence known then this equipment will give him an avenue to that end.

 

After My mother in law passes the house is going to be sold to settle the estate so this will likely be the last investigating performed in this residence.

I hope to share anything we are able to capture on audio or video.  Please don’t hesitate if you have questions to ask about this, the more minds that look at a situation the more possible explanations that may turn up.

CcRider

 

These first events took place this past June 2005 during a family vacation to the

Gettysburg Battlefields in Gettysburg PA. This was our first trip to this location and

we were looking forward to seeing new areas and enticed by the history of paranormal

events that have been reported there.

The first odd event took place our second day there while exploring the shops in

The town, My wife and I along with my daughter and mother in law were

returning to our car after shopping and we walked past a bed and breakfast called

the Farnsworth house. We had heard that this was reputed to be one of the most

haunted homes in Gettysburg and while my mother-in-law and I stopped to listen

to a gentleman that was setting on the porch relating the house history to a

second couple standing there, my wife and daughter continued on the block or so to

where our van was parked. It was late afternoon and there were few people out and

about except the few small groups of ghost tour groups standing on a few of the

street corners. Nothing seemed unusual until later as we traveled back to the camp

ground my wife asked us what we had though of the confederate re-enactor.

We had no idea to what she was referring to and asked her to explain.

She and my daughter told us that as they stood by our car waiting for us to

join them, they had been approached by a man coming across the street dressed

in a traditional confederate military uniform, My wife had noted the clothing was

very worn and ragged looking and was also struck by the mans teeth which

she noticed as he smiled were blackened and in very poor condition.

My wife tells us that at the time she though it odd that anyone would hire

a guide or re-enactor in such ragged physical condition.  As he approached

them he spoke to my wife and daughter saying "Pardon me ladies, do you all live

round here?"  My wife still thinking to be a re-enactor who perhaps was needing

directions to someplace said "No I'm sorry but maybe that man up there setting

on the porch would be able to help you."  at that the soldier thanked my wife and

according to her walked up the street to the Farnsworth house where my mother in law

and I were still standing.  She tells us that while he never seemed to speak to

the man on the porch he stood right next to us as if listening. What makes

this unusual is that at no time during this event did myself or my Mother-in-law

see anyone in uniform, let along standing right next to us. as stated before the

streets were fairly deserted and we find it difficult to believe that we could have

both failed to see this soldier. While I always try to maintain a healthy skepticism

I can offer no explanation for this event.

Indiana monument at Gettysburg PA

As mentioned above we were interested in the Farnsworth house with its history

and viewed the bullet holes that remain in its walls to this day resulting from attempts to

take out the snipers that were held up in the homes attic during that famous battle.

We eventually decided to take a room there for the night and after being told that two

of the regular haunts of the place were a Mary who was a midwife that had failed to

save a baby born under her care and is now reported to appear in guests rooms as if

checking on their well being. The other is a small boy child who was ran over by a

wagon in the street fronting the house.

Our first unusual experience was several times catching the smell of roses, this had

been in the past associated with the Mary apparition. While I was not inclined to do an

investigation this being a family vacation, I do admit the smell was so strong that

I did search the room thoroughly for any holes or openings where such an

aroma might be sprayed into the room to perpetuate a hoax. My examination found

nothing that could have been used for this purpose.

After stowing our luggage in our room I decided to video the house interior with

the new digital camcorder that I had received only a month before.

As we were staying in the Sweney room I first videoed it then exited through

the door filming the long narrow hallway to the setting room. As soon as I entered the

 hallway the focus in my view finder became totally distorted. It appeared much as

if you would miss adjust the vertical hold on a television set. I continued down

the hallway and just as I entered the setting room it snapped back to perfect

focus. I was only able to film a minute or so in the setting room area due to

the fact that the battery on my new camcorder had went from full charge to dead

in a matter of five minutes filming.  Since this time I have never had any reoccurrence

of the focus problem or short battery life with my camera.

During our night in the room I slept well, only occasionally getting up to check the

faucet in the washroom as I would hear what appeared to be water running.

There was never any water on when I checked.  At about 3:45 AM I was awaken

from a sound sleep by my wife's scream, She then told me she had awaken to see

and elderly lady with a gray shawl and hair done up in a bun standing at the foot

of our bed leaning over as if looking at her. I was able to return to sleep after

this however I believe my wife decided to remain awake the remainder of

the night. The next morning at breakfast we spoke to the couple that had stayed

in the room adjoining ours.  They informed us that they too had several odd

occurrences. The water in their wash room had inexplicably turned itself on several

times during the night. and when they awoke in the morning the man had found

his wallet which had been in his pants pocket at the time he retired had been

moved onto the floor and its contents scattered about as it they had been played

with by a child.

Again here I am only recounting the experiences, could this have been a case of power

of suggestion? seeing what you anticipated seeing? or perhaps a vivid dream in the

experience of my wife? I cannot say, I cannot offer an explanation, I can only affirm

that these things were experienced by us.

This was an experience that I had while working in a previous job at a

coking plant,  This is basically a large building that is pretty much an oven

where powdered coal is loaded into long narrow channels through holes

in the buildings top and then heated until it forms coke. A hard rocklike

substance that burns much hotter then the coal itself would. A short time

before I worked there a young man had been working in the storage bins

for the powdered coal that were suspended above the building. as he walked out

onto the surface of the coal without a safety harness it gave way. He fell some 70

feet into the bin and had the powdered coal caved in on top of him killing him

instantly.  There was until the factory closed and was tore down

a large metal patch welded onto the side of the coal bins where they

 had to cut an opening with a torch to recover his body. The top of the ovens where

I worked were extremely hot due to the  cooking process and it was common for

those of us working in that area to climb out on

 the 12" steel beams that ran along one side of the building to escape the heat.

During night shifts this work area was a pretty spooky place in its own right and

this was amplified when ever we would have a rain as the water would evaporate

from the hot surface of the buildings top and the rising heat would send it

spiraling upwards in dancing steam tornados. On many occasions I and others

working there would catch glimpses of a person setting out on the steel

through the swirling mists, always out of the corner of our eyes and when

we would turn to identify who it might be there would never be anyone there.

Could this have been an optical illusion produced by the rising steam and

late hours of work? or could it be a worker who unaware that his life was lost

sets cooling off waiting for his shift to end. Or just maybe this could be

of the recording type occurrence where an event may have been stored

in the stone and steel of the old structure and when ambient conditions

were just right it triggered it and those sensitive to such things would see

an action replayed just as if an old movie were being ran.

I can tell you what happened, Its yours to decide what the explanation

might be

~

Steve Caldwell