Shawnessy
Thursday February 23, 2006
Investigators present: Ryan, Tom
Length of visit: 2hours 40minutes
We were contacted by the homeowner of this early 80's four-level split because of reported noises associated with a deck remodel during the summer of 2005. Before this remodel, nothing had happened that could not be explained in a logical manner. However, since removing and rebuilding the entire deck, the homeowner and her child have experienced several incidences of being watched, hearing footsteps and a general uncomfortable feeling in certain parts of the home.
The team arrived at 19:15. Neither Tom nor Ryan thought they would make it partially due to the heavy snowfall that day, resulting in standstill traffic in most areas and because they were coming from the other side of the city. The homeowner was impressed by the CAPI team showing at all and invited them in to her home.
After dispensing with the pleasantries, they went over the Private Residence Questionnaire. CAPI developed this questionnaire to help eliminate various non-paranormal explanations for reported phenomenon and to record specifics of what the homeowner has experienced. While going over the questionnaire, Tom loaded some film into his camera and, after finding some of the incidents included temperature variations in the master bedroom, asked Ryan to place the standing thermometer there. When the questionnaire was completed, the team discussed each of the instruments they brought and were using for this investigation. CAPI does this to help the homeowner (or any client) understand what each instrument does and what is recorded with them. We also discuss how our intuition is used alongside this instrumentation.
We then took a quick tour of the home. Both the homeowner and her daughter have experienced the feeling of being watched while at the computer on the third level. This feeling seemed to come from the stairs leading down to the third level (and up to the top level) and the hallway to the daughter's room. Other places in the home where the daughter has felt she is being watched include the kitchen and her bedroom. Also, both have heard unusual noises that sound like heavy footsteps in the hallway on the top floor. To test if someone walking in the top floor hall could be heard in the computer room below, Tom asked Ryan to "walk heavily" through the hallway. There were no discernable footsteps heard. Ryan decided to stomp his feet though the hall to see if that would make noise. It did, but not the "walking across an upstairs apartment floor" that was described by the homeowner - it was a house shaking thump-thump that made the homeowners dog begin to bark.
The homeowner knew that no unusual noises and feelings they had described could be from a person coming into the home because of the family dog. The dog begins to bark as soon as anyone enters the yard. This was demonstrated as a flyer delivery person walked past the home and the dog became frantic. The homeowner told us that no one could enter the home without the dog "spazzing out" - something we experienced first hand at the beginning of our visit. This knowledge made us wonder what may be happening in this welcoming home.
Another test to determine if any unusual noise may be attributed to something explainable included a trip to the basement. We asked the homeowner to turn the heat up a little so the furnace would start. We wanted to eliminate heating ducts expanding or contracting as a source for 'footsteps'. While waiting for the furnace to begin its run, Ryan and Tom asked if there had been any unusual feelings or noises associated with the basement. The answer was no. The furnace started with the familiar whoosh of natural gas igniting. As the burners heated up, we listened for any noises. Many older furnaces tend to burn for a few minutes before the fan starts and forces the heat throughout the house. It is during this time that ducts can expand and make some banging noises. We detected no expansion noise. After the furnace had completed its cycle, we listened for the contraction of the ducts. There was very little noise during this event, and definitely not the sound of footsteps. This eliminated the furnace and duct system as a possible cause for unexplained footfalls.
We moved to the daughter's bedroom and Tom took two pictures within seconds of each other. Upon reviewing the photos, he realized that one of the two pictures did not turn out at all. In fact, it was completely black. At this same time, the daughter recalled an evening shortly after the new deck was installed (which is just outside her window) when she heard footsteps on the deck and saw a shadow on the window. She immediately told her parents, who could find no evidence of anyone in the yard. The dog also did not bark or show any signs that someone was near the house. This incident scared her and she stayed in the spare room on the top floor (directly above) for about a month. The team decided that this would be their next stop.
The spare bedroom was like most - a repository for unused items that collect over time until one day you ask, "How did all this stuff get here?" In the centre of the room was an old bed acquired from family friends who had no room for it, a Stairmaster with running shoes on the steps and an old handcrafted chest. Tom, thinking he has a sense of humour and therefore finding it funny to do so, took a picture of the runners on the Stairmaster. At the same time, Ryan placed his hand onto the chest and immediately saw an older gentleman and small girl standing together admiring this chest. He also sensed a strong loving connection between the two. He asked the homeowner about the chest and was told her grandfather made it for her when she was very young. Tom wanted to continue to the master bedroom to check on the thermometer and take a few more pictures. As he did, followed by the homeowner and daughter, Ryan stayed in the spare bedroom taking compass readings. He found an interesting anomaly on the bed - the compass would deviate over 20 degrees on several parts of the bed. He made note to tell the others later.
Meanwhile, Tom took pictures in the master bedroom and noticed that the standing thermometer did not show a great decrease from its initial reading (only a drop of about 2 degrees Celsius). But the room felt significantly colder than the rest of the house. Using the non-contact digital thermometer, he swept the room but found no major temperature variations. Puzzling.
Ryan rejoined the others as they all went to the kitchen. The daughter reiterated that she sometimes felt watched from the central stairway while in this room. Tom and Ryan went back to the stairs, took more compass readings, but did not find any anomalies. Tom suggested sitting in the living room and relaxing for a few minutes as this sometimes allows whatever may be present to show itself. Quite often, when you want something to happen it does not and it is when you are doing other things that an entity or spirit becomes noticed. Tom also asked where the exact location was that the two pictures sent by the homeowner containing orbs were taken and he took two for comparison purposes.
It was during this down time that Ryan remembered the compass anomalies in the spare bedroom. He and Tom went and took separate readings with two different compasses. The initial results were replicated. To determine if these readings might be influenced by the springs in the mattress, they went to the master bedroom and placed the compasses on that bed. No major deviations were recorded. As an extended experiment when he got home, Tom took readings on his own bed and found no major compass fluctuations. Ryan and Tom returned to the spare room and, for a third time, replicated the compass anomalies. Tom took pictures of the anomalous readings, but the photos of the compass itself are fuzzy (everything else is in focus).
At the end of the evening, the homeowner asked when the team would return. Tom asked if they were planning any more renovations, because that seems to be when more activity occurs. He was told that more work was planned for the spring and that CAPI would be contacted when this work was complete. We look forward to revisiting this lovely family in their welcoming home.
