This past weekend,
the Fuzband and I went on our very first Paranormal Investigation,
They were an amazing group of people. They took us under their wing and really let us be a big part of the investigation. It felt like we had known them longer than for just a few minutes. What a warm and accepting group, that obviously are eager about finding paranormal evidence. It was great to get to work with them and feel out what kind of investigating that they like to do.
We were at the Old Oconee Jail in Watkinsville, Georgia.
The jail dates back to the early 1900's (forgive me for not having completely accurate information in my memory banks). It was the site of one of the worst lynchings in the nation.
A mob of 50-75 men, heavily masked, forced the Sheriff to unlock the Jail so they could take the 8 prisoners inside and kill them. Several officials tried to stop the mob, but around 2am the mob got a hold of the prisoners and brutally murdered them, after tying them up together by their necks, supposedly. There was one survivor the next morning, a man named Joe.
Across the street from the Old Oconee Jail is the Eagle Tavern Museum. I do not remember the information on this building very well, as it was an added bonus once we arrived, and I had no prior opportunity to do any internet research on it. They say this may be where the Sheriff was staying when the mob stole him out of his room and dragged him across the street to unlock the cells.
They also say there was a doctor that used the basement here to do autopsies and to cremate and boil the bodies in order to collect human bones for study and for trade. There's a rumor that an early prisoner at the Jail made a deal with the doctor, to donate his body to science.
...Provided the doctor's wife baked him ginger snap cookies while he was alive.
Paranormal Investigation Terminology:
EVP: Electronic Voice Phenomena - are speech or speech-like sounds, which are inaudible during recording but detected on electronic recording media upon playback.
EMF: Electromagnetic Frequency - the electric potential, or ability of electric energy to perform work.
Ghost Box: A device used for contacting spirits through the use of radio frequency
OUR EVENING BEGAN AT THE OLD OCONEE JAIL...
Steven, the founder of the group, gave us a walking tour and introduced us to each of the areas. Their equipment was set up by the time we met up with them.
We took pictures around the whole jail before getting started.
I don't have a copy of it yet, but one of the investigators (John) got a strange picture of a shadow and dark mist that appears to be coming out of one of the cells. Throughout the night, Fuzband and John tried to take similar photos and re-create the shadow/mist, but were unable to recreate it by casting shadows or by putting their thumb in front of the flash or the lens.
(Once I do get that photo, I will repost it in a later Edit.)
Everybody took a station.
Fuzband took a cell.
I sat at the monitors.
The group had a lot of great equipment.
There was a light grid up in the attic, with the hangman's noose and gallows.
The group ran a short EVP session, and then we all took a break outside to meet up with Justin, the man responsible for getting us access to both the Jail and the Eagle Tavern Museum.
He took us around the Tavern and let us swing by the bathroom
(right next to an old bank vault where a banker supposedly shot himself)
(inside the bank vault)
THEN WE GOT STARTED AT THE EAGLE TAVERN...
The Fuzband was getting pictures like this above, which at the time we thought might be some mist, or some orbs, but once we were able to take a closer look at all of them, it is obviously a reflection of the duct work above, and all the dust particles in the dank basement.
Still, we did have an experience while in the basement.
We weren't having much of anything at all happening.
All of the EMF spikes were able to be debunked with piping and electrical wires.
Then we started asking for some knocks.
We were knocking, ourselves, as example.
Fuzband had the idea to do the "shave and a haircut" knock,
because it is irresistible to not finish.
As soon as that knock finished
BUM BUM BA-BA-BUM...
The EMF meter went off the charts!
It lit all the way up several times in a row,
enthusiastically Up, Down, Up, Down...
I have that moment on audio, of us reacting to the EMF Spikes after the Shave and a Haircut knock, it's fun to listen to us flip out. Unfortunately the video camera was not facing the EMF detector at the time.
I've also uncovered a possible EVP moment from the Eagle Tavern basement.
It's a voice that is deeper than, gruffer than, and more gravely than any of the men in our investigation group there that night.
One of our investigators was saying he thought we didn't lock the door, and at the time we didn't hear anything, but upon listening back to the audio it sounds like someone is saying - "Hey, close it for pete's sake."
The voice was very low, so we removed the white noise, and amplified the second half of the clip so that the voice is louder and you can hear it a bit more clearly.
Take a listen and see what you think:
http://www.happyrobotproductions.com/ParanormalInvestigations/EagleTavernEVP1.wav
THEN WE WENT BACK TO THE JAIL...
We had an exciting night.
The Fuzband and another investigator, John, started playing poker and talking to the spirits; they had one of the EMF meters with them to register any spikes. There was no EMF in the cell, but when they asked if anyone wanted to be dealt in, the EMF spiked and lit all the way up. And it happened three times in a row... The lights didn't spike up at all during the game, and then the next time they would ask, "Do you want to be dealt in?" It would light all the way up to the red again, then go back down.
Between 12:30am and 2:30ish am,
We sat in this common jail cell, and conducted an EVP session with a Ghost Box (which scans radio frequencies and pulls words to communicate).
The energy was pretty incredible leading up to 2am.
Justin had told us that the other paranormal groups that had investigated this jail had either not stayed long or had not stayed late as 2am (which is when the incident supposedly occured).
I thought that the paranormal energy seemed to increase,
I literally felt like my entire body and legs were constantly vibrating, and later another investigator, Lisa, told me that she felt the exact same thing. And earlier in the evening, it felt like there was electricity all throughout the air. My nerves felt a static shock it seemed like at times. In the jail that night, I thought maybe I was just "amped up" and I kept trying to calm myself, and relax, and get the vibrating and "electricity" feelings to subside. I wasn't ever successful. But it was interesting to find out later that Lisa felt it too.
We had a flashlight that was set on the floor with the cap unscrewed, so that it only required energy to turn on and off. I have always been highly skeptical of that method when I watch the TV shows. I was still pretty skeptical when we were doing right in front of my face, but -- it really impressed me.
The Fuzband and I kept meeting each other's wide-eyed gaze,
Whaaat? Did that really just happen??
The flashlight turned on and off several times on command, and turned on and off in response to Yes and No questions. I have an audio recording of the entire session, and the group got a video of the session as well.
The Ghost Box session was interesting. It was my first time working with a Ghost Box, and I have read many articles about the theories behind them. We mostly heard words that we thought said: "Help" "Running" "Stop" "Sally" "Step" "Seven" "Joe" & "Come"
We heard other words, and many times it was difficult for us to determine what the words were. During the EVP & Ghost Box session, we began hearing knocks throughout the Jail. There were knocks in the far corner, where there was no attic space, so we knew that it couldn't have been another investigator up in the attic. We caught at least one of the knocks on audio.
I asked the founder of the group if this interaction was typical with the Ghost Box device. He said that every time has been different. Many times it has not worked at all. One time, the voice was clearly a young girl - and that every word was in that same clear, young voice. This time, it lasted longer than he had ever seen it. It usually fades out after a little while. But it seemed to get stronger and stronger for us, up until just after 2pm. Many questions were answered with the Ghost Box and the flashlight was operated on its own. I can't wait to see the video that was taken during that session.
When we felt that it was over, we thanked the spirits and asked if it would be okay to come back again. The Ghost Box pulled the word "Yep" or "Yea" quite clearly.
We asked what we should bring back next time.
The Ghost Box pulled the word "Rum" pretty quickly.
So next time, I'm bringing some Rum.
All in all, it was an extremely awesome experience for the Fuzband and I.
We drove all night home, which I'm not sure we will do ever again, but still we had an amazing time. I didn't expect anything to happen, and I was literally taken aback by some of the things I saw and heard. I truly didn't expect to come away with stories, but I feel like I was literally just IN an episode of Ghost Adventures or Ghost Lab. It was incredibly surreal and I'm super excited about the possible EVP we captured. It doesn't sound like anybody else's voice that was there with us, it's a completely different quality.
I can't wait to see if we can get the chance to do it again sometime!
But until then...
Love & Paranormal Evidence,
Misses Ghostache
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