Paranormal Investigation and the Like

Importance of Historical Research (and even client background)

I want to start off by talking about this crazy case we had in Bristol, Connecticut, which is just outside of Hartford. We were contacted by a man, his girlfriend, and their little boy. The man was desperate for our help, expressing concern for his son who was being terrorized by the alleged paranormal activity. With the case involving a child, it became top priority. So we packed up all our equipment, loaded our vehicles with gas, got all our team together, and took the fairly long drive down to Bristol.

We had left early so my father could do some research regarding the area and the house at the town hall. It was closed, but were informed we could find some archives at the library. There, we discovered the archives were off limits to the public at that time of day. Disappointed, we settled to simply use one of the library comupters and find as much information as we could on the Internet.

The main history we needed was information on the previous owners of the house, which included the client's relatives. But we got something much more interesting... The client came up on a registered sex offenders list. He was arrested last year for unlawful surveillance (things like putting hidden cameras in locker rooms and recording people in the bathroom). We obviously were not going to hold it against him, or judge him for it. It was in his past and he seemed to be moving on.

BUT went all the way down there just to be yelled at by the client and told to leave for a reason I will explain.

Before an investigation begins, we have them sign several privacy and disclaimer forms. Our leader then explains exactly how the investigation will work for a second time (first, it is done prior to the investigation over the phone, then once more in person, to make it very clear). At the mention of our use of video, he starts getting angry, telling us we absolutely cannot use video recorders at all. Calmly, we explained that that piece of equipment is an essential part of the investigation. The client then tells us that we would have to leave if we can't comply. So we did leave.

All of us were so pissed off that he wasted our time. At first, we didn't understand why he would demand such a thing. Then it was pretty obvious. He isn't allowed to have video cameras in his possession for a long time due to his charge, and was probably nervous he would get caught with them on his property and would end up in trouble again. It is fine for him to worry about that. But he knew we would have video recorders -- what ghost hunt doesn't? He certainly could have told us beforehand during the phone interview, before we took the long drive down there, that we couldn't use cameras.

In conclusion, every group should not only do historical background, but also client background as well. (I guess some would say what we did is an invasion of privacy... But he's a sex offender and his name and information is publicly available.)

As for historical research... It is encouraged to uncover as much information as we can, including but not limited to the year the house was built, the previous owners, any deaths/murders/suicides that were committed in the house, or any other interesting fact about the house, like if it was used as part of the Underground Railroad for example (maybe the spirit was a slave travelling through, but died in it). Around here, we even look into local Native tribes who might have, in the very distant past, used it as a burial ground. There's plenty of sites here where there are Indian mass graves, on top of which neighborhoods have been built.

It is especially good to have the names of past residents. That way, during an EVP session, we can call upon specific people and try to have them respond, thus confirming exactly who is responsible for haunting the location.

In one case, which I'll detail later, I asked a spirit what its name was at the start of an EVP session. Afterwards, as I was reviewing video from that session, I found we actually caught a reply! It was a deep, raspy voice, and it was kind of hard to make out. But we listened to it probably a hundred times, and were able to make out a name. To be sure we were not just psyching ourselves out, we asked other people who knew nothing about the case to listen to the recording. They were able to make out the exact same name. It just so happens the name we caught is the name of the man who had built the house. We were able to determine, using that plus other pieces of evidence, that the original owner was haunting the house.