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UNION STATION -
OUR METHODOLOGY
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An investigation methodology involves two elements...(1) the overall approach
and philosophy of the investigators and (2) the specific steps taken during the investigation. For this investigation,
we are
OVERALL APPROACH AND PHILOSOPHY OF THE INVESTIGATORS
There were slight differences in the approaches that Dave Bryant, Bill Wagner,
Mike Cross, Barbara Todd, Luke Stinson, Laura Fischer, Stew Blackwell, Debbie Parker, Ryan, Mark Stinson, Jen Wagner,
Tommy Craig, Shawn Geabhart, Trish Felix, Jamie King, Sarah Dobbins, Steve Downing, and Debbie Downing individually
brought to the investigation at Union Station. But one thing remained very consistent...
We were constantly searching for a natural explanation for anything that happened that appeared to be out-of-the-ordinary.
For something to be considered paranormal, all natural explanations must be examined and excluded as possibilities.
There were some great examples of this methodology during this investigation.
- We were interested in the reports we had received of the perceived sounds of
a large crowd bustling about the Grand Hall and Festival Hall, even when these halls were virtually empty. We spent
a fair amount of investigative time in these areas, recording video and audio, taking photographs, measuring temperature
and EMF levels, and conducting ghost vigils. The fact that these areas of the station were still open to the public
troubled us at first, because we felt it would negatively impact our investigation. But in fact, having members
of the public present in the Grand Hall and Festival Hall closely replicated the conditions under which people
experienced the reported paranormal activity. We noticed that the combination of the room aucustics, the sounds
of the massive heating system blowing, and the activity of just a few people walking around and talking...all combined
to sound much like a large crowd bustling about. We're not 100% confident that this is the true cause of the reported
phenomenon, but we found the sound quality in both large halls to be very interesting. See the Strange Events section
of this investigation report for more details.
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- It was reported to us that people feel very uncomfortable in the bathroom at
the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. They sense an unseen presense and feel as though they are being watched in
this area. Our electromagnetic field (EMF) readings in the bathroom area were extremely high due to a power-box
and power conduits in this area. Exposure to high levels of EMF can cause a person to feel paranoia, a "sense
of presence," and the feeling of being watched. See the Strange Events section of this investigation report
for more details.
- We found that the sinks (and occasionally the toilets) in the women's bathroom
off of Festival Hall appeared to turn on (or flush) on their own. Once we observed this happening, we began closely
examining the sinks (and toilets) for the possible cause of this apparently spontaneous activation. The sinks (and
toilets) were designed with built-in IR beam motion sensors. We confirmed this fact by observing the otherwise-invisible
IR beam in Nightshot mode on our Sony camcorders. We then began testing these IR motion sensors to see if we could
trigger their activations by means of camera flashes, flashlights, and physical movement. We did this both close
to and far from the sensors, and attempted to trigger the odd behavior of the sinks (and toilets) by natural means.
When the investigation was over, we researched the sinks (and toilets) looking for reports of similar odd behavior.
See the Sink Mystery section of this investigation report for more details.
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So while we all differed a little in our approach or motivations, our standards
and scientific approach were consistent throughout the investigation.
As we gathered evidence, every piece of evidence or reported activity had to be put into context and evaluated
in relation to the rest of the evidence or reported activity. This is something we do on all our investigations.
SPECIFIC STEPS TAKEN DURING THE INVESTIGATION
We have never tackled an investigation location as large, as spread-out, and as
varied as Union Station. In many ways this investigation was even larger and more complex than our Missouri Town
1855 investigation. We decided early on to take several large teams of investigators into the location, but we
knew that a highly organized approach was necessary for this to work. Below is the plan we created and how we followed
it during the investigation:
- One of our investigators read a book on Union Station, and several of us performed
web-research on Union Station's history...and the paranormal stories and legends connected to the location. See
the History and the Historic Photos sections of this investigation report for more details..
- Working with Andi Udris and Betty Paulson of Union Station, we conducted two
pre-investigation visits to Union Station. During these visits we met with Denise Morrison, an archivist and regitrar
in the Union Station Collections Department, in order to gather some additional historical information. We also
conferred with Patti Swanson, Union Station's Volunteer Manager...in order to get in contact with individual volunteer's
that may have had paranormal experiences at Union Station.
- Through the volunteers we contacted, information gathered for us by Betty Paulson,
and our own research, we were able to collect together a large number of paranormal reports, stories, and legends
connected with Union Station. Having such a list is key to planning the actual steps of your investigation. See
the Background section of this investigation report for more details.
- We assembled a list of 18 Ghost Vigil investigators and members that were able
to go on the investigation. We split this group into four teams, each team having as its leader an experienced
Ghost Vigil investigator...Stew Blackwell, Mike Cross, Shawn Geabhart, and Jamie King. I remained independent of
any one team, so that I could coordinate the teams' hourly rotations, ensure the collection of valid evidence,
and guide the television news crew through the investigation location. For more details on each of these investigative
teams, see their Individual Investigation Album sections of this report.
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Stew Blackwell
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Mike Cross
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Shawn Geabhart
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Jamie King
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Mark Stinson
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- All 18 Ghost Vigil investigators and members met an hour-and-a-half before the
investigation at a nearby restaurant. We talked about the investigation, ate some food, and put ourselves in the
right frame of mind for an investigation.
- When we arrived at the investigation location, we brought in our equipment, set
up a base-of-operations in the Grand Hall, and gathered each team together. We met with the Union Station staff
members, integrated them into the teams we had planned for them to accompany, and began the investigation by 8:15
PM. We wanted to get started as soon as possible.
- Each team leader worked from a notebook and marked maps they had been given,
containing all of the locations within Union Station they were supposed to investigate, what time they should be
at each location, and what their primary responsibilities were at each step along the way. For this investigation
to work, everything had to be planned out in detail and the team leaders needed to guide the process and keep their
teams on track.
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- One of the four teams (Team King) was dedicated specifically to exploring areas
of Union Station that were untouched by the renovation. The other three teams (Team Blackwell, Team Cross, and
Team Geabhart) covered four different investigation areas, moving between areas on one hour rotations. Each of
these rotating groups had a different set of responsibilities at each area they investigated. Below is the master
schedule.
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8:00 - 9:00
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9:00 - 10:00
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10:00 - 11:00
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11:00 - 12:00
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5th & 6th Floor & Attic
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Team King photos and exploration
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Baggage Tunnel
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Team King photos and exploration
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Team Blackwell photos and exploration
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Chocolate Factory
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Team King readings, photos
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Pierpont's
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Team Cross, readings, audio recordings
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Team King readings, photos, ghost vigil
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Grand Hall / Massacre Site
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Team Blackwell setting up stationary cameras, readings, photos
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Team Geabhart ghost vigil, experimentation
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Festival Hall
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Team Geabhart readings, photos
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Team Cross ghost vigil, experimentation
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Team Blackwell readings, audio recordings
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Team Geabhart ghost vigil, audio recordings
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Railway Express
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Team Cross readings, photos
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Team Blackwell ghost vigil, experimentation
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Team Geabhart readings, audio recordings
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Team Cross ghost vigil, audio recordings
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- In addition to this team schedule, it was necessary to schedule one individual
every hour to closely watch our equipment at our base-of-operations and to observe the stationary camera monitor
for anything strange that might appear. We rotated this position out of the team rosters, so that no one was stuck
watching the cameras all night.
- The investigation went very well. At the end, we all gathered together at our
base-of-operations to transfer all of our digital photos to one laptop, and to collect all of the Hi-8 and 8mm
video tapes from our investigators. Team leaders and individual investigators turned in all of their notes to me
for inclusion in this investigation report.
- Once we had packed up all of gear and cleaned up the area we had used for our
base-of-operations, we thanked our hosts and headed home.
We are very grateful to Andi, Betty, Bob, Roy, Bill, Denise, Patty, and the rest
of the staff at Union Station who provided us with information and assistance in support of our paranormal investigation.
It was an amazing experience...
-Mark Stinson
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