I've never thought much about reports of ghosts and hauntings. I tend to treat reports of haunted places the way I would a report of a hornets' nest nearby that I can't see. If ghosts are there, keep moving; if I don't bother them, they probably won't bother me.
Patch has been working on a series about haunted venues in the Chicago area. As part of the series, I followed a paranormal investigative team that was studying the in Clarendon Hills.
From 11 p.m. to 4 a.m. last Saturday morning, I followed the investigative team as they recorded parts of the building with specialized cameras, asked questions of whatever entities might be there and set up audio recorders to pick up anything we couldn't hear with the naked ear.
The team from All City Paranormal would sift through the hours of footage that was recorded in order to isolate any messages or images that would provide information on the reported existence of a spirit at the Country House.
Last night, I listened to the first of the recordings.
At one point that night, Lisa Jahnke, one of the lead investigators, stayed on the second floor to take photographs in the dark, while the rest of team moved to the first floor. She told me many of the images she's gotten during their investigations have been obtained this way. I stayed with her to videotape her working.
The audio recording in this story was made during that time period, but I cannot be sure of the exact moment the team's recorders picked up this audio. I have matched up the audio to video I shot around that time in the room, but do not believe I have on video the exact moment the audio was recorded.
On the audio recording, you can hear Lisa saying, "I'm going to take a couple of pictures ... in this room." Everything after that, specifically the loud whisper on the recording, has been identified as electronic voice phenomena (EVP). It has been determined that the whisper did not come from anyone in the room or anyone on the investigative team.
Although people always have reported that the ghost they see at the Country House is a female, the voice on this recording sounds like a male to me. I'm not going to write here what I think the voice is saying; I'll let you listen to the recording to make up your own mind. I have, however, included what I and the other journalists thought among the poll choices below, as well as what several team members at All City Paranormal think. Give it a listen, and let us know what you hear.
This recording probably will not make it into the , which is scheduled to run the week before Halloween.
*Note: The video being shown and the audio recording are not in sync. The video and audio were recorded on two different pieces of equipment. It was necessary to edit them together during the production process.
Science is "self correcting." Theories are discarded if and when better theories come along. Science advances by building on its own successes and discarding its failures. Review the last five hundred years - you will see steady improvements in science. It saves lives, cures disease, delivers men to the moon. And it continues to improve. Ghostbusting is "self seeking." It starts with an assumption: "There must be ghosts up in here cuz it looks so spooky." Then seeks "evidence" (weak and unconvincing as it may be) to support it: "Oh, man! That vaguely human sound - recorded in a noisy building full of humans - must be a ghost talking!" Aside from the misuse of technology, ghost-hunting seems to remain right where it started; relying on non-logic, fear, superstition, ignorance, grief. Lives saved or improved; zero. Now for the "can you prove..." argument. I could ask "Can you prove Hawaii isn't overrun by zombie Sasquatch plumbers?" According to the cited "logic," no, not scientifically. So it must be possible. Woot! Who needs evidence or rationality of any kind? Anything is possible! Yippee! Tomorrow I'm riding a unicorn to work! And yes, inexplicably, there are research groups, composed of real scientists that work in this field. Putting an awful lot of time (and money I'd rather see spent on cancer research) into this. They are called parapsychologists, and in the past 130 years of looking they have proven - exactly nothing.
Do you want to discuss why millions of people "believe" that Jesus existed/exists or that the bible is God's word? Where is the Science???
http://www.naturalnews.tv/v.asp?v=E49D8A116BD9040C8C4674A2D8A91391
The logical fallacy here is the "appeal to authority." Things aren't true, just because an authority says so. The police aren't parapsychologists or scientists. Because they have (very infrequently) fallen for a scam, does not mean the scam is real. If your two options are "dead or alive" anyone has a 50% chance of guessing right. If given a few details from the police, those chances improve. The number of people tricked into believing something doesn't make it real either. The ancient Aztecs performed, by some estimates, thousands of human sacrifices a year. They believed the gods were appeased, and kept the universe from collapsing. There was complete consensus, even the sacrificial victims agreed. I don't imagine anyone would want to resume that practice, no matter how convinced the religious and political rulers, or an entire society of "credible whitnesses" were. Of course, people are free to put their faith in psychics, read tea leaves, consult the I ching, cast chicken bones or whatever. But, back to the topic at hand - there is still no scientific evidence of ghosts. None.
Vanderbuilt University researchers were inspired by the Poling case, to take a look at children like Hannah, who have a predisposition to mitochondrial disease (similar to autism), to see if there was any link between their illness and vaccination. Thomas Morgan, [is] a clinical geneticist and assistant professor of pediatrics at Vanderbilt. “We showed there is no association between vaccination and the illnesses these vulnerable children experience,” Morgan said.
Regarding faith, that is a horrible analogy. Why don't you ask your minister or parish priest what the churches stand on the paranormal is?
Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof. I've written here because I believe it is a matter of public interest, and to address what I see as a negative cultural influence. The shows and articles I'm concerned about, teach young people to distrust science. Worse, many attempt to pass off as science, a false pseudoscience. They potentially affirm the mistaken belief that opinion is equal to fact. We all grew up with scary movies. We knew they were make-believe. A new breed of "paranormal investigator" shows, films, & articles, claim to bring us evidence of real ghosts. This is a profound difference. The primary role of fiction is to entertain, the primary role of journalism is to inform - to report the facts as objectively as possible. I prefer those distinctions remain clear. I'm not blind to the fun of scary stuff. I give candy to ghosts, goblins, witches & ghouls every Halloween. But I wouldn't give a single piece of stale candycorn to a "paranormal investigator" who showed up on my porch, arguing that ghosts, specters or poltergeists are real. I think this a valuable discussion - to "make up your mind" you need to hear both sides. And for the record, I love the Country House - great food, great service!
I never believed in haunted houses until I lived in one. Rationalization and logic go out the window when your five year old starts telling you details about her "ghost friends" using vocabulary far beyond her age and education, and vernacular from days gone by. We don't have a TV, so it wasn't like she was picking it up from re-runs of "Little House on the Prairie."
James, All City Paranormal Research