RETURN TO STRAWBERRY HILL - STRANGE EVENTS

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Please check out the other sections of this investigation report listed under "Analysis" for unusual evidence we gathered, and our in-depth and comprehensive analysis of that evidence. This section of our investigation report deals with the many interesting events that we encountered during the Return to Strawberry Hill investigation. We were constantly searching for natural explanations for these events, for every natural explanation must be examined and excluded before you begin to consider something paranormal. That being said...even the events with natural explanations can have a psychological impact on you. Here are the strange events and our analysis of each of them....   STRANGE FLASH OF LIGHT IN HALLWAY Laura was operating the video camera and the group was moving from the Dormitory Hallway into the Servants' room on the 2nd floor. Laura commented to the rest of us that she had seen a strange light flash across the viewing screen of the Sony camcorder. She described it at a "line of light," and suggested it may have been light playing off the lens when our host, Francie, turned on the light in the Servants' room. We immediately attempted to recreate the light she had seen on the viewer, but recreating the scenario. We again approached the Servant's room in the dark and attempted to switch on the light at the same point that Francie had done so. We did not review the tape at that time, because Laura had provided a reasonable explanation for what she had seen. We simply made a note to review that portion of the tape later to confirm Laura's conclusion about the light source. Click Here to view a clip of that video....   Its clear from reviewing the video that Laura's conclusion that it was a light effect on the lens when the light was turned on...was completely correct. ANOMALOUS ELECTRO-MAGNETIC FIELD READINGS The 3rd floor of the Strawberry Hill Museum has an atmosphere to it that is all its own. On our initial visit to the 3rd floor for the night, we began getting strange readings on our EMF meters. Our first readings spikes occured when we were in the Empty Room outside the James Cruise closet (See the Background section for why I call the closet by that name.)   The readings were high (7 to 10 mG)...and at the time I was picking them up, I was standing in the middle of the room, holding the device at the same level as my belt. I attempted to track the EMF levels back to their source, but was unable to follow the readings to the floor, ceiling, or walls. In an older building like the Strawberry Hill Museum its not unusual to get high readings, due unshielded electric wiring running throughout the house. But we are usually able to track the readings back to the wiring that is causing them. Next we moved into the Ballroom area of the 3rd floor, and I began to get high readings on the EMF detector again. But, these readings were much more typical in that they were easily tracked back to their source. As I moved the EMF detector upwards, the readings became stronger. And just by looking at the photo to the lower right, you'll see the clear cause for the high EMF readings...lots of unshielded, old, out-of-date wiring running on the ceiling. But this just underlines the question of why I could not track the high reading I was getting earlier back to their source. KNOCKING SOUNDS IN THE NUN'S HALLWAY During a vigil in the north end of the Nun's Hallway on the 2nd floor, Stew and Shawn heard knocking sounds. They both commented that they had the strong feeling they were being watched...and were feeling a sense of presence from the south end of that same hallway. Shawn commented to Stew at the time that he had a mental image of a child down at the south end of the Nun's Hallway, hiding from them...but watching them closely. This was just an impression he had in his mind. Keep in mind, that neither Stew nor Shawn are normally subject to flights-of-fancy, and tend to be fairly skeptical. So I found their reaction to this vigil to be fairly interesting. It was during this same vigil that they heard a male voice speaking softly. See the Unexplained Voices section of this investigation report for more details. MORE SOUNDS IN THE NUN'S HALLWAY During a vigil in this same area, the north end of the Nun's Hallway, Dave, Mark, and Laura heard creaking noises in the last room on the right (east). They sounded like footsteps. At 11:40 PM, Dave entered the room ahead of Mark, and heard what sounded like "footsteps" from above him. He said it sounded to him very distinct, "like the scraping of a foot on the floor above him and the creaking of footsteps. Mark heard these same sounds, but was not fully in the room at the time, and did not hear them as well as Dave did. We searched the room for a natural cause for the sounds. After a few minutes we located a noisy window, that was moving with the wind. But the sound this window was making did not appear to match up with what Dave reported hearing. While we cannot completely rule out this cause for the sound, we continued to look for a natural cause what Dave, and to a lesser degree Mark, had heard. So we then responded to the attic that is over the Nun's Hallway, and took photographs, video, and EMF readings in the attic above the room where we heard the sounds. Nothing unusual was found in our analysis of our photographs, video, or readings. Having completed an analysis of the unusual events we encountered at the Strawberry Hill Museum, we can now say that none of these experiences provide conclusive evidence of paranormal activity during our 4-hour return investigation. While our numerous experiences were interesting, and many remain unexplained...they do not constitute conclusive evidence. Anecdotally, this return investigation was much more eventful than our first. Make sure you read the Active Chapel and Unexplained Voices sections of this investigation report for more reported phenomenon and our analysis of those events and experiences. -Mark Stinson

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