A digital camera and an audio recorder are what all investigators should have on hand at the very least. I call it going “old school” and is what I rely on for every investigation. Seasoned investigators will add many more interesting items over time but still lean the most heavily on the camera and recorder. What is an investigation without attempting photos or evp work?

Next in line for the most bang is a video recorder. There are many kinds and honestly they all work. You do not even need night shot but it is a nice feature. Taking video in one hand with a flashlight in the other will produce spooky results. You don’t just want to record in the dark anyway. You can even use your cell phone. Know that using a cell phone to get video can produce very grainy shots where it looks like you may have captured movement but is what we call matixing.

The next investment in equipment is to get an emf detector. There are many to choose from. My favorite is the KII or the ghost meter pro. With either device you can record a baseline reading for a room and then look for spikes. You can also use these devices for communicating. The theory is that the presence of an entity creates an emf disturbance. Asking the entity to touch the light can trigger lights from both devices and sounds from the ghost meter. I do not like the sound on because it interferes with my ability to hear audible voices or movement. Which brings me to the most important piece of equipment…. you!

I will get into other more technical items in the future but let me talk for a bit about what I mean you are the most important piece of equipment. We have the ability to hear, see, touch, taste and smell our environment physically as well as use other abilities if you are attuned into them. Talking constantly on an investigation will ruin your ability to pick up on the environment. You will not be paying attention because you are distracted by what you are thinking, hearing yourself speak, and waiting for a response from others. Don’t use the investigation for socializing. So just let it all go and use your senses.

Are you are passionate about the paranormal and helping others then take another piece of advice from me. Please get plenty of rest before you go on an investigation. It is a great idea to take time before you go out to clear your mind. Meditation or prayer before you go is great to put you in the mindset to tune in your senses. If you are rested you won’t get tired so quickly in the dark

You cannot get anything from the investigation if when you go home you don’t do the tedious task of reviewing what you got. Keeping up with the fact that you are the most important piece of equipment you should review audio, video and photos within 2 weeks. Why are you gathering data if you don’t review it? Why are you at the investigation if not for the purpose of proving or disproving activity? Maybe it is time to take a break from investigating if the passion has left you not wanting to review anything.

I had heard that the area around Bear Creek Park in Houston, Texas is haunted. So I began to research and see what I could find out about the location. I love how history and rumors get caught up with one another where you have difficulty finding the truth. One problem I had with research was another paranormal team had posted something online about a civil war battle taking place in this park. I cannot confirm this story is true. There are tales that north Harris County did see skirmishes. Perhaps one of these stories is where the rumor began. Tall tales can begin their life with a thread of truth somewhere in the mix. Perhaps the town of Addicks which was destroyed in the 1900 storm and was rebuilt only to be flooded again is the cause of the haunting? Addicks was eventually turned into a ghost town and became a reservoir because of the flooding in 1929 as well as 1931. I tried to find where the old town of Addicks was located and even had difficulty with that. There is conflicting information about the location. One map online points to the area by the blue light cemetery and another place says the town was south of I-10 and highway 6.

This area is famous even with all the conflicting information. Over the years teams from all over have gone out and investigated the claim of a haunting. We were there last Saturday to find out for ourselves. What we did know from all of the previous investigations is that tapping occurs when you stop on the bridge on Patterson road. Is the tapping from acorns falling from the tree, real ghostly encounters or the car cooling off? There happens to be 2 bridges along this stretch of road. We decided to test both bridges with the vehicle as well as our other equipment. We heard the tapping on the bear creek bridge. I couldn’t figure out what the tapping was caused from. It was a hot 87 degrees while we were there taking readings. I did not get any meter activations at all that night. I did have one of my temp devices register a cold spot a few times that couldn’t be explained. One member was able to feel a cold spot as well before I started taking readings. We had an occasional car pass. We had a good time hanging out while waiting for any activity to happen. Nothing happened but that doesn’t mean we didn’t capture something. Be on the lookout for me to post evidence if we find any.

Go see the Bear Creek Park Gallery here

One dark stormy night while on an investigation I heard a noise. I turned to see what caused the noise and saw a shadow standing in the doorway. It darted away before I could take a picture. I hoped that the storms stirred things up. Most long time investigators have had some experience with storms generating activity. Everyone knows it is typical to begin a scary story by saying “one dark stormy night”. Why? Is it because we are afraid of storms or is it because there may be something else going on here? One theory is that electricity is needed for spirits to manifest. On active nights I have seen for myself that batteries drain, lights flicker and electronics malfunction. The atmosphere is charged from all the lightning

Let me give you some data on thunderstorms. In a typical thunderstorm approximately 5×10 8 kg of water vapor is lifted and the amount of energy released when this condenses is 1015 joules. This is the same magnitude of energy released within a tropical cyclone. It is also more energy than was released during the atomic bomb in Hiroshima, Japan 1945. Lightning can travel at speeds of 140,000 mph and can reach temperatures approaching 54,000 °F. Lightning can occur with both positive and negative polarity. An average bolt of negative lightning carries an electric current of 30,000 amps. An average bolt of positive lightning carries about ten times that of negative lightning. The average peak power output of a single lightning stroke is about one trillion watts. During a positive lightning strike huge quantities of ELF and VLF radio waves are also generated. All of this energy usually makes for an interesting investigation!

We just had the luck to be at Fort Chaffee during a storm. The clouds were even rotating and diping. Logan called Marc to see if we were under a tornado watch. It turned out to just be severe storms. I was excited to see what would happen now that the environment was charged. The buildings also cooled down which was a blessing. We all noticed more activity after the storm passed then before. We had clear audible voices heard by all, bangs, knocks and cold spots. I have hours and hours of audio to review to see if we caught any evidence. I will soon post an article to my blog on my experiences here. For now I just wanted to share the information about storms

We always stop by Buford “Blue” Duck’s grave along with those of his family. I will give you some history of this famous outlaw below. Near Blue’s grave are a series of headstones marked with half breed which is just sad to me. I cannot imagine being around in those days with the cruelty that was shown towards people with mixed heritage. We have investigated this cemetery several times over the years. Every time we have been there we have had something happen. This night was an especially great night. The cemetery was lit up my the setting moon which was almost full. We all watched shadows move and dart about the cemetery between the trees and headstones. I saw what appeared to be a child who disappeared. We heard what sounded like a group of people come into the cemetery and head towards where we were standing however there was nothing else in the cemetery. One of our members watched a child bicycle across an area that would have been impossible to do and disappear. I have captured photographic evidence in the past and was hoping to collect more. Over the years we have captured evps and photos. We have had meter activations, cold spots, audible voices and personal experiences.

One famous person is buried in the cemetery. This is the grave we always stop by when we investigate there. Bluford “Blue” Duck was born sometime early 1800’s and died 1895 In Cherokee Blue Duck’s name was Sha-con-gah. Blue Duck was said to have been a member of a gang who was involved in stage coach holdups and rustling. It was said he had an affair with Myra Maybelle Shirley also known as Belle Starr in the late 1870’s.She married Sam Starr instead of Blue.The new couple formed their own gang and Blue joined them. They were involved in cattle rustling, horse stealing and bootlegging whiskey to the Indians. One day on June 23 1884 Blue Duck and William Christie were both drunk riding in the Flint District of the Cherokee Nation. For whatever reason they decided to ride up on Samuel Wyrick a young farmer who was working in his field. Blue Duck emptied his revolver into the man. He then reloaded shot towards an Indian boy hitting his horse instead. Duck and Christie were both arrested for the killing by Deputy US Marshal Frank Cochran. Duck was sentenced by infamous Judge Parker to be hanged on July 23, 1886. Christie was cleared of the charge and let go. Blue Duck got an appeal due to the help of Belle Starr. His sentence was commuted to life in prison. He was sent to Menard Penitentiary at Chester, Illinois Oct 16, 1866 as Inmate # 2486. He developed consumption also known as tuberculosis and was given one month to live in 1895. President Cleveland pardoned him on March 20th where he returned home to die. On May 7, 1895 he died. You can find his stone in section D not far from what looks like a dog house. Blue Duck posed for what is a widely publicized photograph of himself with Belle Starr. Author and historian Glenn Shirley, in “Belle Starr and Her Times”, stated that Marcum had hoped to call attention to his client by having him photographed with Belle Starr.

Last weekend we had a full day of running around to different locations. This included picking up Lindsey Ladd from the National Paranormal Society to join us for our adventure. We had a preliminary investigation scheduled for the old Cushing Hotel now known as Cimarron Towers. Due to a cancellation we were able to make it a full evening. Let me begin by giving you a brief history of the town and the building. Cushing is known as the “Pipeline Crossroads of America”. The town’s most exciting era began on March 17, 1912 when an oil boom began. Twenty-three oil companies and five oil-field supply houses located there by 1915. The boom ended however sixteen companies still operated there in 1930. The town’s population had reached 9,301 which was the largest population ever. The need for a hotel was huge thus the Cushing Hotel came into existence in 1928. This was during an era where “Nations Business Magazine” had labeled it an unparalleled prosperity for the area in Oklahoma. In stark contrast the eastern United States most people were standing in line for soup. The area of Oklahoma was dry but farmers had a bumper wheat crop. It was such a big crop that wheat was literally everywhere including blowing in the street. This dropped the price of wheat from .68 cents a bushel to .25 cents in 1931. This made farmers go broke and abandon their fields. By the time 1940 rolled around the town only had 1,500 residents. Most people had left by then and only three refineries were active. The hotel was beautiful but was having a hard time staying open. One of the residents talked about the doorway into the hotel being grand and all the woodwork that was amazing. Today that woodwork is no longer there. The hotel which had once thrived now stood vacant from 1975 until 1983. The hotel had declined during those years and needed to have something done with it. It was purchased and remodeled into what is now the Cimarron Towers for senior citizens and the handicapped. Downtown Cushing is a quaint old town with the same buildings that have stood there for years. It takes you back to a different time until you notice the new cars that line the street.

We began the evening by meeting Andrew who was one of the tenants. He had invited us to come check out the building because of strange activity that had been noticed over the years. We interviewed him first and then he gave us a tour to different rooms and floors within the building. While on tour we stopped in different rooms where we talked to almost a dozen of the residents. Some of the residents did not want to be on camera or named. They had all felt and seen different things. One man had been pushed off of the toilet, was scratched and had seen things on his web cam. While he was away Hank Williams was playing in his room with the web cam recording. When he returned it appeared as if something was in the room mouthing the words to the song “Hey good looking” while bouncing back and forth. One woman reported to hear voices, shadows and had a general uneasy feeling in several of the areas of the building. Several residents reported that their dogs would growl at the hallway. They would get up to look and would find that nothing was there. . While we were interviewing residents I had become physically ill in different areas of the building. I asked others on the team and it was confirmed that we all were experiencing the same feelings. The feelings were nausea, dizziness and headaches. Some places I almost needed to sit down because I was so sick. I noticed Mike grab onto the wall a few times in some areas.

When the interviews were complete we began to investigate the building. We separated into small teams where we went from floor to floor running audio, video and taking photos. The building has 7 floors and has a basement as well. We also investigated the stairwell where we had heard that voices had been previously recorded by a resident. I spent more time in the areas where I felt sick. I saw a shadow once in the hallway appear like it went into a wall which was confirmed by Lindsey Ladd. I took a few pictures that I noticed had something which I couldn’t see well at the time. I watched Lindsey conduct an experiment where she was pulling energy to herself with my dowsing rods. She was asking questions of whatever entity that may bearound at the time and she was getting responses. A few team members had heard laughing coming from within the stairs and nobody had been laughing. One of the residents approached us and communicated to us that he had been scratched while showering. In the end it was a fun night as usual. We got to spend time in a historical location. We need to review all of the evidence before we make a conclusion. It seems at the very least that there is residual energy that seems to be lingering. Certain spots in the building hold more energy than others. From the scratching it also seems that they have an intelligent haunting going on.