Minnesota lounge offers fare not on the menu
"Can you give us a sign?” Investigators said into the dark.
At Two Harbors Blackwoods Lodge, employees, some fearing identification, say they have already seen proof.
"A security camera blinked on, there was nothing, then all of a sudden we had an apparition that was floating about yay-high off the ground,” the employee, wishing to remain anonymous, said while putting his hand near hip-level.
"Is what they're experiencing really paranormal or can it be explained by a more logical sense,” PROPHET investigator Brian DeLong questioned.
Employees continue telling tales of hauntings.
"[A waitress] was over here [by the tables] and right here she saw a little girl,” the employee said.
"You're thinking only three cameras maybe?” an investigator asked DeLong.
“Probably five,” DeLong said. "And, then one at the very bottom where supposedly a girl would be laying."
As the story goes, way back when Blackwoods was still an orphanage, a little girl slipped down some stairs and snapped her neck. Her ghost, affectionately known as Sarah to staff, now apparently roams the building.
Although employees have never had a problem with Sarah, she still has free range of the entire kitchen including access to dozens of sets of knives.
"Some people,due to Hollywood and stuff, automatically start thinking demonic," DeLong said.
"Do you not like this area?” Investigators asked the darkness. "The stairs are kind of dangerous. Maybe we should shut the door."
Using infrared cameras, sound recording equipment, and electromagnetic frequency meters, PROPHET members say they can search out the entity causing anxiety.
"Things moving, just the occasional odd feeling of not being alone in a room,” DeLong said.
Near the bar, a flashlight clicked on and off during the search.
"I think we got that captured pretty good,” DeLong said review video.
Next, PROPHET captured an audio-recording which they interpreted as saying “fall”.
It was recorded by the killing stairs. But, without any dramatic evidence, results can't be fully conclusive for Blackwoods employees.
DeLong, however, has a warning.
"Every now and again, you'll catch a shadow that ain't supposed to be there." - www.fox21online.com
This restaurant located in the heart of Two Harbors, Minnesota, has a few unseen patrons who like to roam around the premises. While this location has a short past history since it was built in 1994, that doesn't mean that it isn't a home to ghosts.
Located a short drive off of scenic highway 61 along Minnesota's North Shore, Blackwoods Restaurant offers its visitors a ghostly experience in several ways.
One ghost is said to be a lady in white who mysteriously disappears in front of your eyes! Several staff members have been spooked by this mysterious female and have no explanation for her residence in the restaurant.
Other employees have claimed to hear phantom footsteps in the restaurant when no one else is around. The odd thing is that these footsteps often follow the staff member around the building.
A former book keeper at the establishment felt that the ghost followed her home one night. When laying in bed, her husband claims to have felt the impression of a body getting into bed next to him. Assuming it was his wife, he turned over and said hello, only to his surprise that no one was in bed!
The waitressing staff has had experiences of what they claim to be someone breathing on their neck with a very cold chill.
One of the cleaning staff members at the restaurant claims to have seen this young woman in the restaurant during her shift one night. The apparition appeared to have wiped her hand across the top of one of the tables as if she was inspecting the cleanliness of that table.
Another member of this cleaning staff has had an experience while organizing the coat hangers on the coat rack. She turned around and found out that her organization was ruined by unseen hands as they were all pushed to one side of the rack. - www.minnesotaghosts.com
Comment to the article: Nothing was mentioned in the article about the spirit of the little girl... I've heard all those stories, and I've experienced the cold chill on my neck as well, but the largest part of my Blackwoods experience involved the little girl. From what I have heard around Two Harbors, there was once an orphange in that location and a little girl fell down a staircase to her death. Apparently, this girl targets women with long hair (which I have, and it was definately involved...) and she even has a name, Sarah. I didn't know this during my visit (lucky for me, my name happens to be Sarah!!!), but I found it out later. This little girl is a troubled spirit, but I don't think that she is harmful. She is not as powerful as the spirit of the woman, but she is still a spirit none the less. After my visit, I had several strange dreams involving a young girl that I believe to be the spirit of Sarah. She wears a yellow dress and her hair is long and dark. In the dreams, she was clutching a blonde baby doll in a dirty white dress. She never spoke, but she looked extremely sad and very lost.
This Two Harbors bar harbors more than just employees and patrons. In the early 20th century, the Blackwoods Bar and Grill's building was an orphanage. Rumor has it that a young girl living in the orphanage fell down a flight of stairs and died. Reportedly, the spirit of this little girl likes to make contact with long-haired women. The staircase remains in the building, as of 2010.
Another ghost allegedly dwelling in the Blackwoods Bar and Grill is a woman in a long, white dress. She appears as a transparent figure and then fades. She has been seen on the top floor of the building as well as in the dining room after hours, trailing her fingers across a table top. Other mysterious occurrences include unexplained footsteps and voices, as well as dishes falling randomly from shelves and hangers being shoved from side to side on the coat rack. - www.ehow.com
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Spooky sightings in Cassiobury Park, Watford
watfordobserver - Spiritualist Jamie Burnell claims to have found "compelling evidence" of paranormal activity in Cassiobury Park and is now looking to investigate more locations in the Watford area.
Jamie was encouraged to investigate the popular Watford park after viewing a photograph in the Watford Observer earlier this year.
Since then, the 29-year-old has taken similar photographs and is adamant it is not just a coincidence.
The Watford resident said: "I'm 95 per cent certain that Cassiobury Park is very, very haunted. From a rating of one to ten, I would say it is a good eight.
"Paranormal is the only word to describe the photographs. I feel excited if not a bit apprehensive when dealing with this kind of thing but you can't be scared when dealing with the paranormal."
The spiritualist has created a Facebook page called the "Watford Paranormal Group" where those interested can see the pictures taken in Cassiobury Park.
Many of these photographs include orbs, which are balls of light that are caught on camera and which some believe are spirits and paranormal energies.
Jamie said one of the photographs has an unexplainable mist surrounding him just as he was speaking about the old English urban legend of 'Spring-Heeled Jack'. He believes this mist is Jack's spirit and also claims the ghost of Lord Capel can be found in Cassiobury Park.
Following the success of the last investigation, Jamie is now looking to research other Watford areas such as the All Saints Church in Leavesden and the Leavesden Hospital cemetery, where Jamie said he has heard a voice asking "who are you?" through an Electronic Voice Phenomenon (EVP) recorder.
Lord Capel
The ghost of Lord Capel is said to be a regular visitor of Cassiobury Park. It is told that Capel was a Royalist fighting for Charles I during the Civil War, and eventually surrendered to General Fairfax. According to legend, Capel was beheaded in 1649 and his heart was buried in Cassiobury Park, although the location was lost over time. Many have claimed to have seen his headless spirit at night in the park, especially about March 9, though some have seen him with a head of long hair and a large moustache.
Spring Heeled Jack
Spring-Heeled Jack is a character from old-English folklore with the ability to jump abnormally high. It is said that he had a terrifying appearance - claw like hands, distorted facial features with eyes “as red as fire”. One report claimed he was tall, thin and wore clothing of a gentleman. The alleged sightings of the “devil-like figure” were promenent during the Victorian era, especially in the suburbs of London where his capability to make great leaps came in useful to make a quick getaway.
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Team investigates the paranormal at Southern Vermont College
benningtonbanner - Speaking before a packed house of spooked Southern Vermont College students, members of the Vermont Spirits Detective Agency presented their findings Saturday from an overnight investigation of the college grounds the night prior. Reluctant to say definitively whether or not they encountered the paranormal at Everett Mansion, the investigators nonetheless experienced cold sensations, disconnected voices, and strange smells during their stay. The latter of which, SVC students were able to account for on Saturday.
Friday’s investigation was conducted by agency members Matt Borden, Bryan Hallett, and Gloria DeSousa, joined by recent newcomer Hannah Hawley, and the Peacock family of North Hero: Bill, Joanne, Sophie, and Willie. Of approximately 30 investigations the group has done to date, the Peacocks’ abandoned building in North Hero was one of two, Borden says, that was, without a doubt, haunted.
Friday night at Everett Mansion
"As a group, we had a very interesting night," Hallett said. The college’s Everett Mansion, circa 1910, and surrounding grounds have built a reputation over the years worthy of paranormal investigation, with purported sightings of the spirits of a black-hooded monk, Edward Everett himself, and multiple wives. SVC students relayed encounter after personal encounter to the paranormal investigators Saturday, some eerily similar to what the group experienced themselves Friday night. But haunted?
"Unfortunately we can’t say," said Hallett. "There was stuff we question, but nothing we’re willing to say," definitively. The group spent an hour wandering the campus grounds, four and a half hours at Everett Mansion, and had not yet had time to review all of their digital audio and video recordings.
Static infrared video shot overnight played during Saturday’s presentation, facing the audience and giving them a taste of the more tedious side of the profession. "A lot of paranormal investigation is fairly boring," said Borden, who began the group several years ago after professing a wish to start an agency while on-air as a contestant on the TV show "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" with Meredith Vieira.
Soliciting for personal experiences from students in the audience, Hallett said that the difficulty of paranormal investigations was separating the rumors from the truth. "If you go in with the preconception that [the building] is haunted, then you’re going to see it everywhere," he said. "Matt and I take all of these stories, and keep them in mind, but we don’t expect anything to happen."
Hallett said that they typically ignored floating orbs recorded on video, and used electromagnetic force (EMF) detectors for the most part to discount hauntings. The rears of refrigerators, alarm clocks, and old houses with wiring grounded to water pipes are all potential sources of high EMF fields, Hallett explained, which, with prolonged exposure, can cause paranoia, hallucinations, and strange sensations.
Friday’s investigation saw the team split into two groups, employing digital infrared video and audio recorders, "looking for things we really can’t explain," said Hallett. At Everett Mansion there were unattributable mumbling sounds, phantom sights, and odors -- none of which seemed to be digitally recorded. Paradoxically, "when we do hear something\, it won’t be recorded," said Hallet. "And when we don’t hear anything, it is."
At least one inexplicable phenomenon from the SVC investigation was laid to rest on Saturday, when the group alluded to a smell in a specific area of one room in Everett Mansion. A student asked if it smelled anything like cat urine, which, in hindsight, it did. That would be the cat, the student said, that steals into the building at night.
"That might explain some of the noises," said Bill Peacock, the designated sceptic of the group.
The most disquieting experience of the night went to Hallett, who felt a deathly chill on his back in room 203 of Everett Mansion -- the same room and experience recounted by the SVC security guard who let the group in earlier that night. "It was the coldest feeling ever on my back," Hallett said. "I felt wired, very uncomfortable, nervous. I had to get up and move around." His skin was cold to the touch, the window exhibited no draft, and it was, Hallett professed, "one of the coolest things to happen to me" during an investigation.
Unable and unwilling to rule one way or the other in regards to SVC’s hauntings, the group spoke of more evocative past experiences. These included electronic voice phenomena (EVP) of a distinctly Scottish accent, recorded from the Peacocks’ abandoned house, before anyone knew of a previous Scottish owner. Borden played the best audio EVP the group has yet to record, a voice command to "get out," and another, unmistakably the sound of a child humming the song "Happy Birthday" -- sounds not to be mistaken with your average earthly house cat.
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Spirit Rescue International - Surrey, UK Haunting Investigation - Updates
UPDATE: Friday 11/19/2010
OK folks...the evidence is starting to trickle in. The master bedroom seems to be the main area of activity and possibly contains a portal. Jamie and Barry left a recorder in the master bedroom....I was able to listen to the first part of the recording and found the following sounds and one discernible EVP.
Master bedroom 1 - this was a recording of over 20 minutes condensed down to the parts where sounds and the EVP (3:34) were heard. Note the heavy footsteps / banging throughout the room. I have felt that the attic area above this bedroom is active as well....it seems that some of the sounds are emanating from the attic.
Master bedroom - EVP - this is the EVP isolated from the longer clip. Irene and I believe there are 3 spirits / entities in this house. The identities, perceived through the RV, are believed to be a father (died in 1986) and daughter (died in 1993) as well as another entity that is a male who is most likely causing the problems and disturbing activity. We will go further into this scenario and the history of this location after we examine and present the evidence...Lon
UPDATE: Saturday 11/20/2010
I listened to the remainder of the audio recordings...the following are from the child's bedroom. I am assuming that this was also the bedroom of the daughter who had died. More on her later:
Child's bedroom - there are 3 EVPs and numerous clickings and bangings. There is also a 'pinging' at one point...sounds like somethings hitting a bottle or glass.
Child's bedroom EVPs - there are 3 discernible EVPs edited from the longer clip....best listened to with headphones.
The following was recorded in the sitting room:
Sitting Room - a few interesting noises including (I presume) an EVP
Sitting Room - EVP - hard to make it out
Please don't copy or reproduce these recordings - ℗ sound recording copyright - SRI
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| The entity perceived in the RV and suspected of causing the activity is circled |
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| The entity watches Jamie taking photos in the master bedroom © Copyright - SRI - All Rights Reserved |
I gathered enough information about this being during the RV to realize that it is most likely an earthbound spirit that latches on to the living and the dead. Frankly, I was stunned when Irene pointed the photo out to me....I recognized it immediately and told her so. Nonetheless, Irene is happy that she's dealing with an earthbound...Lon
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| The original image |
Please don't copy or reproduce these photos - © Copyright - SRI - All Rights Reserved
There is much more to be done before a clearing is attempted.
Follow the investigation at Surrey, UK House Haunting. You must register in order to read the SRI Cases forum. Go to the Spirit Rescue International website and see what our unique services provide. Need help? Then take the first step towards genuine peace of mind...contact us at SRI Contact Form or forward an inquiry to Lon at Phantoms and Monsters.
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