The Pennsylvania Paranormal Association - Research and Investigation



    BACK
File No: 09-12-023
  
Location: Ease Diagnostics - Lackawanna County, PA
Former state insane asylum for the mentally and criminally insane

                             

 
 

 



Investigation Date and Duration:

June 28, 2009 Arrive 5:00pm / Depart 11:00pm


Reported Activity:

Activity has been reported over many years but just within this past year two completely unrelated delivery men have witnessed a man wearing a hat standing at one of the windows on the third floor above the entrance door on two separate occasions. The business was closed at the time and no one was inside. Another person reported seeing a man wearing a hat in the second floor hallway near the break room. Loud bangs, described as sounding like a large table being overturned, was heard coming from the third floor while only two employees were in the building at the time. Upon inspection, nothing out of the ordinary could be found on the upper floors. Employees reported several accounts of being the last ones to leave at the end of the workday and upon returning the next morning, they would find a closet door near the entrance to be opened when the same employees closed it tightly the night before. A motion sensor alarm system has frequently activated in one particular area with no known cause only to be completely replaced with a new system that still activates with no apparent cause. Lights have gone off and on by themselves. Other people, including employees as well as visitors report a variety of strange feelings in the first floor area near the entrance to the restrooms. These are just a few of the reports from over the years.
         

Location Status:

This four story building is currently being used by a commercial business. It was built in the late 1800’s as a poor house then state insane house as it was called then. The 1st floor remains in its near original form complete with solitary confinement cells for the criminally insane. Many inmates have reportedly died by their own hands here.


 

Equipment:
DVR System with four IR cameras
Digital Cameras (3)
Digital Voice Recorders (8)
EMF gauge (3)
Camcorders w/night shot (4)
IR Boosters (4)
Flashlights
Motion detectors (3)
Laser (1)
Thermometer (1)  

Investigators Present:
Mark           Paulette
Lauren         Bob
Ken             Jenn
Hawk 



Location Weather:
Cloudy with rain Daytime Highs – 70's.
Geomagnetic Field: Quiet
Solar X-Rays: Normal
PWO: High

Technical Notes:
Computer equipment was active on the first and second floors. Power was turned off on the third and fourth floors except for some electrical outlets powering exterior lights.




AUDIO and EVP (Electronic Voice Phenomenon):
VR1
(Digital Voice Recorder: Stationary in 1st floor, solitary cell area hallway) No physical evidence captured on this device at the time of the investigation.

VR2 (Digital Voice Recorder: Stationary in 2nd floor, east wing, left laboratory) At 8:10pm, this device captured an anomalous bang within the lab. No one was present in this area at the time. 


VR3 (Digital Voice Recorder: Stationary in 3rd floor “couch room”) No physical evidence captured on this device at the time of the investigation.

VR4 (Digital Voice Recorder: Stationary in 3rd floor, east wing hallway near old restrooms) This device captured the following anomalies while under observation of a DVR camera with no movement noted:
 - At 7:49pm the sound of possible footsteps were captured with no one present on this wing.


 - At 10:08pm the sound of a possible voice that sounds like “Wow” was recorded as Ken and Paulette walked down the hallway. The sound did not appear on the camcorder they were holding ruling them out.

 - At 10:14pm this recorder captured an EVP that sounds like a man whispering while Paulette and Ken are present in an old restroom.  They  did not whisper nor did they hear the sound at the time it was recorded.Our investigators debate what exactly is being said but it sounds like “I think we have friends with us....”.  The last part is uncertain.  The EVP begins at 35 seconds just as  Paulette  says, "Soap".

VR5 (Digital Voice Recorder: Stationary in 3rd floor, west wing hallway) No physical evidence captured on this device at the time of the investigation.

VR6 (Digital Voice Recorder: Stationary in 2nd floor, east wing hallway) No physical evidence captured on this device at the time of the investigation.

VR7 (Digital Voice Recorder: Stationary in 1st floor, renovated hallway) No physical evidence captured on this device at the time of the investigation.

VR8 (Digital Voice Recorder: Stationary in 4th floor, kitchen area) At 8:34pm this device captured anomalous knocking sounds on the 4th  floor with no one present on this floor at the time.





VIDEO:
DVR Cam1
- (Viewing 3rd floor main hallway) No physical evidence captured on this device at the time of the investigation.
 
DVR Cam2 (Viewing 1st floor solitary cell hallway) No physical evidence captured on this device at the time of the investigation.
 
DVR Cam3 (Viewing Viewing 4th floor hallway) No physical evidence captured on this device at the time of the investigation.
 
DVR Cam4 (Viewing 3rd floor, east wing hallway) No physical evidence captured on this device at the time of the investigation.


Camcorder #1 – (Mobile with investigators) This device recorded three thumps that sound like heavy boot footsteps on the 3rd floor, west wing hallway. Mark, Hawk and Paulette were present at the time and heard  the three thumps and reacted to it. Hawk makes a comment that it came from to the right of where they were standing.  All three investigators were wearing sneakers but were standing still. Also note, just prior to the sound, Ben, our investigative dog stops panting as if alerted to something. The thumps start at 28 seconds



Camcorder #2 – (Mobile with investigators) No physical evidence captured on this device at the time of the investigation.

Camcorder #3 – (Mobile with investigators) No physical evidence captured on this device at the time of the investigation.

Camcorder #4 – (Mobile with investigators) This device picked up an EVP at 10:14pm  that sounds like a man whispering while Paulette and Ken are present in an old restroom on the 3rd floor of the east wing. They did not whisper nor did they hear the sound at the time it was recorded. Our investigators debate what exactly is being said but it sounds like “I think we have friends with us....”. The last part is uncertain. The EVP begins at 18 seconds just as Paulette says, "Soap". 




                                                                                                                           


Photographs:
No photos of evidential value discovered.




EMF (Electro Magnetic Field):
Standard baseline readings were taken throughout the building with expected spikes near electrical sources. No anomalous EMF’S detected.




Investigator Feelings / Experience:
(Note: Personal experiences can not in itself determine paranormal activity in a location, unless documented by video or audio equipment) 

Lauren and Ken while on the 2nd floor in the main portion of the building, both Ken and Lauren heard what sounded like footsteps coming from the central stairwell. Upon checking with teams, no one was on the stairwell at the time.

Mark, Hawk and Bob – while present in the “couch room” on the 3rd floor, Mark made a comment that if anyone was present with them to call Ben, the team dog, out in to the hall way and make him react somehow. Ben stood up, walked out into the hallway and then ran down the main stairwell to the basement where Lauren and Ken were. The timing was unusual as for the fact that Ben is a trained police K9 and never leaves his handler, Hawk, except for this event.

Lauren and Ken – While present in the basement, Lauren asked if there was anyone with them to do something to let them know they were there. Ken then made a statement that they could talk to Ben and within seconds, Ben came running down the stairwell to their location.

Hawk and Bob - While present in the basement, solitary cell area at the bottom of the stairwell, Bob and Hawk both reported smelling cigarette smoke. No one at this location was smoking and it dissipated very quickly.

Paulette - While present in the “couch room” Paulette was sitting on the couch looking towards a nearby window. At one point a black object moved in front of the window pain and moved from the bottom toward the ceiling blocking out the window pain and disappeared.

Mark, Paulette and Hawk - While on the 3rd floor, west wing in the hallway, Mark and Hawk heard a thump right in the area they were standing in. No source could be found for the thump but when the team camcorder video was later reviewed, three distinct thumps were recorded that sound like heavy footsteps. Refer to Camcorder#1 above.

Mark, Bob and HawkA cold spot was felt by all three investigators in the basement, solitary cell area near the bottom of the stairwell in which a measurable temperature difference was recorded. Room readings were 72.9 degrees Fahrenheit and the temperature dropped to 66.4 degrees Fahrenheit in the area of the cold spot. Here is a clip of the actual footage. 




Conclusion:

This was the second investigation at this location. During the first investigation, which consisted of two nights, investigators had several personal experiences and a possible EVP was recorded on the 4th floor. Unusual K2 EMF meter activity was noted on several floors along with a strange growl sound in the basement and footsteps on the 4th floor.

Upon our return, our investigators had far more personal experiences this visit which include hearing footsteps, smelling cigarette smoke, seeing moving shadows and feeling cold spots. Almost everyone present reported some type of unusual activity. Upon our review, we were able to identify several anomalous voices captured on voice recorders and camcorders that were not heard by investigators at the time. Several other anomalous noises were recorded on voice recorders that were made while no one was present in the area.

Based on the history of this property and the events that occurred during our investigation over the three nights along with personal experiences and recorded data, THE PPA feels that there is activity going on at this location and a haunting is present. THE PPA also consulted with a psychic medium. She visited this location with investigators and the client after the physical investigation was completed. The medium independently confirmed a haunting was taking place. Although psychic information is not considered factual evidence, it is sometimes used by THE PPA to corroborate and validate information and with this particular investigation, much of the information was validated.

 

Copyright © 2014 The Pennsylvania Paranormal AssociationTM All rights reserved.
All content is the property of this website and The Pennsylvania Paranormal Association
TM