I have had so many responses to posting an article on swimming in the Newport edition. Although you do not hear many stories of haunted swimming pools they do exists. I have previously posted an article about swimming in Lake Ronkonkoma on Long Island. This is a fantastic spot for investigating. Now let me share with you some other locations.

The Mineral Springs Hotel in Alton, Illinois has many stories. The old staff had heard unexplained sounds which include music playing, glassed tinkling, voices and laughter around the pool which is located in the basement. The basement area is the most haunted area of the location. There is the live ghost cam you can watch online that shows the first class swimming pool on the Queen Mary. In this very haunted location there is a little girl who can sometimes be seen holding a teddy bear. Women have often been seen wearing 1930’s swimming suits and there are reported sounds of splashing as well as wet footprints leading from the around the pool to the changing rooms.

There is a swimming pool in Scotland that renfew council owns that is known by many to have a lady in white as well as the apparition of a little boy who they believe died in the pool 80 years ago. There is a video going around that has been captured of him on video as well. They claim what you see in the video is figure of a boy floating in and out of the wall at the stairs. I believe this to be an artifact of the light that you see in the video. This does not mean the pool isn’t haunted. I just don’t believe it to be proof

In New York City there is a swimming pool in McCareen Park. The pool was built in 1936 and was able to hold up to 6,800 swimmers. It is believed this is where a little girl drowned because she is seen roaming the area at calling for help. Some people have only heard her crying for help. There are no records for a little girl drowning but there are others who have died at this location. Paranormal teams have captured temperature drops, electro magnetic fields, anomalies on videos/photos as well as EVPs.

I once read that personality driven churches die if the pastor is away.
Purpose driven churches keep growing. One church that is set up like this grew
by 800 while their pastor was away. Our group did just this when we left our old
group. We changed from being personality driven to purpose driven. It only makes
sense to do it this way. Everyone on the team is important. We set up the bylaws
to give everyone the same rights. Some teams revolve around their leader. Our
group revolves around the whole team. We are a very close group just like
family. When we bring in new people we are careful. We look for people who are
like minded and open to new ideas. Any member must be able to stand on their own
representing the whole team. At the moment we are looking for a few people to
join the team.

Are you interested in being a member? Do you think you have what it takes to
be on a paranormal team? Do you like to travel? If you answered yes to these
questions send an email using our contact form

What should you include in your email? Your name, age, address, phone number
and answer a few questions. Why do you want to be a member of society of the
haunted? What experiences have you had in the paranormal? It is a great idea to
add a photo of yourself. Please feel free to add anything else you like for us
to take into consideration.

Feel free to use
our application form.

Tonight I am sitting here in Houston watching live coverage of the storms in Oklahoma. I have been making telephone calls to family and friends making sure that everyone is safe. It is amazing how many devastating storms that have been this year. It seems to have avoided Oklahoma for most part and struck other states. For those that live within Oklahoma it is very normal in the spring to have a tornado watch with possibly a tornado warning on any given night. Therefore it should be no surprise that sometimes the weather does not cooperate while ghost hunting. I was reminded that I have had the experience of being at a location when the tornado sirens go off. The phone then begins to ring with warnings from children, family and friends. Everyone wants you to know that you need to get into a safe spot. Sometimes the calls are to let you know the sirens are going off where you live. Everything I just described happened to my group one spring.

One night I was at a residential location when things began to get interesting. We heard noises including what sounded like someone talking. It was setting up to be a a great night as the sky got overcast and it had begun to storm. Everyone in the paranormal field knows that storms stir up activity. I was excited to see what the rest of the night had in store for us. All of a sudden the tornado sirens go off. We were all looking at one another trying to figure where to go and what to do. First thing we did was to turn on the television. We then
realized we were in a watch area and had a particularly bad cell coming. At that time there were no tornados on the ground that they were aware of. They were urging for everyone in the path of the storm to take their tornado precautions. Then my phone began to ring and  I couldn’t ignore it.

On the other end of the phone were my terrified children. They were talking fast telling me that the sirens were going off at our home. They also called me to ask what to do because their dad was not home yet. I told them to get into the bathroom with our animals. I was informed that they were already in there. I am grateful to have very smart, weather aware children. I told them to keep the TV on the channel with the doppler radar going so they would know what was happening. I also told them I would be home as soon as possible. Everyone in the group had received phone calls at the same time. The storms were building up where we were going to keep getting hit by them. For safety reasons we decided to quickly pack up everything and head home. We could always make arrangements to come out on another night. In between the storms we all left to go home. On the way home the kids kept calling to see how far away I was. I did make it home to the kids relief. There was no tornado on the ground at my house that night. The moral of the story is to always check the weather before you go anywhere.

Most of the calls I get as the case manager are from clients who believe they have a demonic entity in their home. I begin my series of questions to see if what they have may be demonic. The responses are usually that they see shadows and hear noises. I probe further with many questions. I usually find that what they have sounds like regular sprit activity and can possibly be debunked. I want to help them and so I tell them my thoughts on what they may be experiencing. They feel relieved by the conversation and thank me for listening to them. I feel bad that they feel like they cannot speak about this with anyone as they will be looked at like they are crazy.

Religion can play a part in people believing they have a demon. Some religions believe any paranormal activity is demonic. This is an absurd belief. The house could be settling, a mouse playing in the walls or many other reasons could be attributed to sounds. Not all sounds are demonic. I had a caller one time tell me she caught a demonic voice on her recorder. I asked her why she thought it was demonic. She told me it was because it sounded evil. I listened to the recording and did not hear anything evil. I did hear someone say “get out”. I explained to her that because I was not there for the recording I cannot tell her what made the sound. Perhaps her boyfriend was playing a trick on her? Perhaps it was real but I was not there to confirm this. To date there is no device that we can run an audio clip through and it give us data back verifying it from the other side or from a boyfriend. If it was a real evp is did not sound demonic to me. She became agitated with me for not telling her it was demonic.

Some people do not believe in hell, the devil or demons. The devil would like you to not believe in him. It gives him greater room to play in so to speak. It is dangerous to not believe or not to have an open mind. Just because something is not tangible does not make it not real. I can tell you that I have had personal interaction with demons. I understand that because you have not had that same interaction you are skeptical. There are people who have had interaction with demons that had their eyes opened. It is life changing to realize there is something else out there. I have investigated with people who believe there are no demons however they believe in spirits. To say nothing is demonic is the same as saying everything is demonic.

I go into each situation with an open mind. I try to find the rational explanation for what is going on. My group will use every means to figure out why the door is opening or the sound is happening. We do find explanations that have nothing to do with life after death. Sometimes we have clients who are disappointed that it isn’t a spirit or isn’t demonic. I once had client call in other groups who also came to the same conclusion. She was very upset and decided to believe everyone was blind to her activity. Sometimes people need to seek counseling because they are hallucinating.  Some people do not know or believe that they are hallucinating.

There are things we have found that we no explanation for. These things are neither demonic nor earthbound and do not fall into other known categories. I am not going to get into the other categories right now though.  My advice to clients is to be open to what we find. We want to help you figure out what you have going on. We will offer an explanation and advice that may be different that what you thought you were going to be told.

So you want to go ghost hunting? There are certain things you need to take into consideration before you go out. You must first have permission from the homeowner/landowner or you are trespassing. There could be a fine and/or jail time if you are caught. We always get permission before we go anywhere. If you have never gone out before you need to be aware of certain dangers. Most buildings that are in a state of decay are not allowed to be explored because of these dangers. Some dangers are no floors, fallen walls, hanging wires, wildlife, broken glass and other hazards are there and you can get hurt.

I have a really good friend that fell over 30 feet and fractured her back one night while ghost hunting. She is paralyzed and was told she would never walk again. She is still in physical therapy and is hoping for a miracle. I will never forget the day I received the phone call with the chilling details. It could happen to anyone! She lost her balance while walking on a beam. Many people think that will never happen to me as I am really careful. I want to you know it could happen and you can’t be careful enough!

I knew a professional team that one night while crossing a bridge didn’t realize how far it was to cross. They heard a train coming and tried to outrun it. One of the men pushed another female team member off the tracks before he was hit and killed by the train. That was the last act of his life. Saving a friend was truly a beautiful thing for him to do. If they would have known how far the bridge was and that a train was coming they would not have gone across. Why risk your life? Always be aware of your surroundings. Yes these things could happen to you!

Here is a video on the dangers of urban exploration

http://www.youtube.com/user/HauntedChef#p/u/5/9eGSKemwtaQ

I get calls almost daily from potential clients. The calls almost always involve stories about their photographs containing orbs. They have read that these orbs are really spirits and they are calling because they are scared. They sometimes talk about them with co-workers, friends or family who also tell them that orbs are spiritual and possibly demonic. I now have to explain the truth about orbs to them over the phone. Sometimes the truth is disappointing as it is really not as dramatic as they thought.

Orbs can be dust, moisture or other contaminant within 6 inches of the camera lens. It can also be from within the lens. Contaminants can be hair, bugs, fibers, sand, dirt and various other particulate. Sometimes what looks like an orb is really a light from someones flashlight, a street light, someones face and is not paranormal. You need to understand that because an orb can be caused from these other things you cannot offer an orb photo as proof of the paranormal. Scientifically based groups who are researching the paranormal will never say an orb photo is spiritual.

Photos which are unable to be explained by logic and reason are looked at more closely. These photographs are usually offered to show the public the possibility that they are paranormal. We look to professionals from different professions to try to explain what the anomaly might be. There are photos which have never been explained. Usually these photographs are not of orbs.

There is another explanation for what orbs might be. They could be the energy of a spirit, a guide or an angel. There are whole websites dedicated to exploring orb phenomenon. Perhaps one day we will be able to scan a photograph and tell the difference between dust and energy. Until we are able to tell the difference between them I cannot show you a photo with an orb and tell you this validates that the paranormal is real. I have taken thousands of photos with orbs. I have not thrown the photos away as they have some value.

Here is a video with examples of orbs and what was known to cause them. Some of the photos are unexplained

http://www.youtube.com/user/HauntedChef#p/u/4/eY5qRmF-2Jw