Location:Ease Diagnostics
- Lackawanna
County, PA Former state
insane asylum for the mentally and
criminally insane
InvestigationDate 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 Hawk
– A 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.