Harley House Investigation - May 2009

This report comes from SWPRG

Written by Cindy Heinen

Sunday, 06 September 2009

HARLEY HOUSE INVESTIGATION - May 2009

May 29, 2009
Southern Wisconsin Paranormal Research Group
Director: Jennifer Lauer
Investigation Leads: Cindy Heinen, Eric Brant
Team Leads: Troy Hartman, Derek Arneson
Audio/EVP Specialist: Cindy Heinen:
Equipment Manager/ DEAD System Technician: Eric Brant
Technical Assistants: Dennis Dobson, Chris Carter

SCOPE OF THE REPORT

• Investigation Description
• Equipment List
• Location and History
• Reported Phenomena
• Baseline Report
• Video and Camera Analysis
• DEAD System Report
• EVP Analysis
• Geology Report
• Personal Experiences
• Conclusion

INVESTIGATION

Because of the scope of the investigation two teams of 5 investigators each were used. Each team had a lead to direct them during the investigation. In addition to these investigation teams individuals were used in specialized jobs including running the data logging system, audio, and technical support.
As is the policy of the SWPRG, the investigation teams do not know the history of the location or the reports of paranormal phenomena. This insures that any experiences that happen during the investigation or analysis of evidence done afterward would not be influenced by previously known information.
The official investigation started approximately at 9PM and ended at approximately 3AM.

EQUIPMENT

• DATA LOGGING
DEAD System (Triaxial ELF magnetic field meter with PC interface, HOBO temperature datalogger, GM-10 radiation detector from Black Cat Systems, Tri-field Natural EMF meter modified to be data logged.)
• HANDHELDS
EMF Meters (analog and digital) including MEL 8704 MAG-TEMP, 60 Hz Blocking EMF Meter, Trifield EMF Meter (AC), Trifield Natural Meter(DC/Natural), Digital 3 Axis EMF Meter
• Ion Counter
TIFF7000 Digital Thermometer/Pyrometer
• VIDEO/CAMERAS
Night vision infrared cameras (4), quad processor, monitor and a variety of personally owned camcorders and still cameras.
• AUDIO
Fostex FR-2 Field Memory Recorder(Stereo/24 bits/96 kHz) Mantz PMD221 Portable Cassette Recorder Audio Technic AT804 dynamic microphones (2) Schriber Acoustic SA-125 condenser microphone (1) Variety of handheld digital and cassette recorders

LOCATION

One acre rural parcel which included a old, dilapidated farm house, a recently built club house, large post and beam barn, 6 outbuildings including a granary, chicken coop, tool sheds, machine with a stage area. The property is on a rural road and is surrounded by farm fields.
There are high power lines near the property. The owners say they have never experienced any arching or noise problems from the lines. Paranormal experiences predate the construction of the power lines.

RECENT HISTORY

The property is owned by a large group of people who will be referred to in this report as the clients. The clients leased then bought the property approximately five years ago. The property was bought from a woman whose family had owned and used the property as a hobby farm in the 1960s.

HISTORY

Documents show the house was homesteaded in 1851. It originally was 41 acres all on one side of the road. It was used as a farm by several of the owners over the course of its history.
Although we do not know how many people have owned the property over the years, the clients leased the purchased the property bought from a woman whose family had owned and used the property as a hobby farm in the 1960s. The property had been vacant for many years and showed signed of maintenance neglect but no signs of vandalism.
Upon purchase of the property the clients were told by the seller that the property was extremely haunted and always had been. She personally had many paranormal type experiences at this location.

REPORTED PHENOMENA

APPARITIONS

• Farmer 1
Walks out of the door of the farm house, floats then fades away.
• Farmer 2
Full body apparition. Walks through barn
• Soldier
Dressed in full Confederate uniform and has been seen watching over people sleeping around fire pit. Seen by a client and the owner they bought the property from.
• Women (Emily)
Partial apparition, no legs. Comes out of the kitchen of farm house and drifts in general direction of original outhouse. They think this might be Emily whose parents owned the farm. She also lived here with her husband who was an unsuccessful farmer. She is said to have died in the house of throat cancer.
• Black Robed Figure
This apparition was seen carrying a red lantern. It was seen once by one of the clients while leaving the clubhouse at 11 PM. He said the figure walked out into the road in front of him. No one else saw this.

PERSONAL EXPERINCES

• A client’s son (30) was alone, sitting at the bar in the farm house.
The napkins on the bar swirled around by themselves. There was no obvious reason the napkins should have moved.
• A client brought a woman back to the farm house late one night.
Once in the farm house this woman proceeded to have a conversation with a chair in the corner. The woman was able to convey some personal information about the client and his sister who had died. He had just met this woman so he could not figure why she would know such personal information.
• A woman visitor to the clubhouse claimed she felt something go through her when she entered the clubhouse. She described it as, “a coldness that passed right through her". She was very upset and the experience made her cry.
• A female client of the club states she was touched twice while sitting in the club house. This happened on in January of one year at 4 AM near the bar.
• A client came out to mow the grass. He was alone on the property.
He put two warm beers into the refrigerator by the bar in the farm house. He mowed the grass and after two hours came back into the farm house to retrieve his beer. He saw that one of the beers was sitting on the bar and it was ice cold. No one else had come to the property while he was mowing the grass. He was very upset and left.
• The first time the clients came to the property one female client was looking towards the farm house and said she saw something that looked like a women's skirt go across the porch and into the old front door of the house.
• Batteries in devices like cameras seem to drain at this location.
• A girl was out at night taking pictures of the property and inside the barn with her father's camera.
Whenever she went out to take pictures the camera (Canon Rebel) would deprogram. She would bring it into the clubhouse and they would set it on the bar and it would reprogram itself. She did get a few pictures that showed orbs and mists.
• The women they bought the property from claims she had many
  paranormal experiences here including being locked in the chicken coop.
• Some members feel presences during the day but most activity happens at night between 1 AM and 3 AM. No specific weather conditions.
• At least five different clients have had paranormal experiences at the location.
• They have been visited by neighbors and farmers who have lived in the area for generations. These people reinforced the claims that the location was and still is considered haunted. The people in the area actually stay away from the property.
• In the late 80's the curator from a museum was going to purchase the property.
He started to clear the property by cutting up some trees that had fallen. He found he could not stay at the property because he was overcome by feelings of remorse, neglect, dread and depression. He decided not to buy the property.

BASELINE READING REPORT

Barn baseline EMF readings averaged .2 mg with it rising to .5 Mg by an overhead light and electrical outlet.
House Outside Perimeter .2
Power cord going into house
House inside 0.2 - 0.3
0.9 Power cord in corner of living room
Shed by house
Outlet by bench 0.5
Florescent light 20.4
Ceiling light bulb 3.2
Outhouse In/out 0.2
Outside locations
Campfire pit 0.2 - 0.3
Outside clubhouse 0.2

"Old" outhouse area 0.2
Garden Shed
Wall behind turkey 8 (electric boxes, outlets)
Backside .1 - .3
Electric cord in back of room 2
Machine Shed 0
Unusual Readings
Clubhouse
9:10 Lights flickered in clubhouse at EMF pulse 2 - 21/2 Mg
Ions count at this time was: Positive 10 - 20 / Negative ions: There was a steady increase from 20 to 80 then the reading went down again.
9:17 EM (Magnetic) Pulsing 4mG
9:24 EM pulsing 1.5mG
9:25 Flickering of lights cease.

VIDEO AND CAMERA ANALYSIS

NIGHT VISION INFRARED QUAD SYSTEM

The infrared quad system was set up during the investigation. The camera placement was as follows:

• Outside facing the old out house area
• Outside facing the porch entrance of the house
• Inside the barn
• Inside the house bar area

Two investigators at a time would watch the quad system and write down the time something unusual occurred, what the occurrence was and what camera it was seen on.
Analysis of this quad log against the videos turned up nothing that could not be explained as some something natural.

PHOTOGRAPHY and HAND HELD VIDEO

Aside from an unverified photograph taken by an investigator at the pre-investigation no unusual photographs or video were taken during the investigation.

DEAD SYSTEM ANALYSIS

The DEAD System for this investigation consisted of a Triaxial ELF magnetic field meter with PC interface, HOBO temperature datalogger, GM-10 radiation detector from Black Cat Systems, Tri-field Natural EMF meter modified to be data logged. The readings from the sessions are time stamped and data logged onto a computer.
The DEAD System was used during the controlled EVP sessions. Environmental data recorded during these sessions was time stamped and looked at for any unusual readings.

BARN EVP SESSION

During the EVP session there were fluctuations in both the EMF and radiation throughout the sessions (see Audio report). A control run of the DEAD System was done after the EVP session and upon analysis of that session it was noted that there was no significant movement in the EMF or radiation during this control run.
It is of interest to note that when one particular female client would speak during the EVP session there would be fluctuation in the radiation. This fluctuation did not occur whenever anyone else spoke.

HOUSE SESSION

Again it was noted that when the same female client spoke during the session there was movement in the radiation.
There were no other significant readings.

HARLEY HOUSE AUDIO ANALYSIS

1st AUDIO FILES Recorded between 9:49 and 9:50 PM Barn
This set is from the beginning of the barn session. The group heard what we thought was the buzzing of insects. This audio might just be insect buzzing but the recordings do not resemble the buzzing the team heard. There are hypothesis in the EVP field that suggests that EVP is formed from back ground noise such as the sound of a fan running or any type of low volume noise containing may random audio frequencies. There have also been cases where a faint buzzing was heard but upon play back of the recorders voice were heard in place of the buzzing. It is not within the scope of this report to confirm that either of these scenarios are at play in these files. This suspected EVP, although interesting, did not pass all the conditions set by the SWPRG to be considered a verified EVP.

TRANSCRIPT

0 - .6 Barns seem to be very important features of this area, this location, this property. .6 – 12.3 Silence (Insect buzzing?) 12.3 – 16.3 Now there is buzzing behind me but I swear it must be some sort of insect. 16.3 – 18.6 Silence 18.6 – 20 You hear that? Yes 20 – 25 Silence 25 – 29.1 Just note that may be like June bugs or May beetles. 29.1 – 32 Silence (Possible EVP) 32 -36 Well anyhow, barns are very important...

AUDIO FILES WAV

01a F Barn 950 Complete file 01b F Barn 950 Standard hiss reduction version of suspected EVP

DEAD System ANALYSIS

EMF - At 9:50 the Y axis of the EMF had a .23 MGs spike. At the same time the Z axis spiked to .68 MGs.
RADIATION - Between 9:49 and 9:50 the radiation leveled off for the only time during the session.
The possible EVP that were recorded during this session are of poor quality (what is classified as C quality). Although it is impossible to determine if this recorded audio are true EVP it is interesting to note the environmental changes that happened at the time of these recordings.
2nd AUDIO FILES Recorded 9:53 PM Barn
This is the second group of files from the barn. This is from later in the session but before Rose started talking and before the bottle snapped. It can be heard on both the cassette and digital.

TRANSCRIPT

.5 How large was your family ……when you lived here?
8.2 Click from DEAD system
9 –10 Possible EVP (Mumbling)
12-13 Possible EVP (Voice calling)
14:1-16:8 Did your parents also live here with you? Your mother?

FILES

02a F Barn 953 complete, Complete unedited file

02b F Barn 953 segment Standard hiss reduction segment of suspected EVP

DEAD System ANALYSIS

RADIATION - From 9:53 to 9:54 the radiation dropped from 21 to 12.5
The possible EVP that were recorded during this session are of poor quality (what is classified as C quality). Although it is impossible to determine if this recorded audio contains true EVP it is interesting to note the environmental changes that happened at the time of these recordings.

3rd AUDIO FILE Recorded at 9:57 Barn
At 9:57 during the EVP session, the group heard a loud pop. One of the investigators found a plastic soda bottle that was sitting behind us. The sound could have come from the pop bottle if it had been compressed then released. Some investigators commented that the atmosphere in the barn just prior to the pop felt like it was ramping up.

AUDIO FILE

03 pop 957

DEAD System ANALYSIS

EMF - At 9:57 the Y axis of the EMF meter spiked at .3 MGs which was the highest it spiked throughout the entire session. At the same time (9:57) the Z axis also spiked reaching .75 MGs which also was the highest for this axis during the session.
RADIATION - During this same time the radiation also measured at the following levels:

• 9:56 – 11.5
• 9:57 – 14
• 9:58 – 15
• 9:59 – 8
• 10:00 – 7 (This was the lowest radiation reading of the session. At this point the radiation began to rise again.)

HOUSE AND CLUBHOUSE EVP SESSIONS

No unusual audio was recorded during the HOUSE or CLUB HOUSE EVP
sessions.

GEOLOGY REPORT

submitted by Gina Bina

Interesting information on the minerals found in the area of the investigation

• Calcite Is Luminescent (gives off light) and appears florescent
• Illite Barely detectable levels of radiation
• Marcasite Very Magnetic after heating and is high photoelectric
  properties
• Pyrite Magnetic after heating and high photoelectric properties
• Quartz Triboluminescent and is a conductor of electricity
• Sphalerite Luminescent and appears florescent and is also triboluminescent and has high photoelectric properties.
What does this all mean, well there are minerals present that will give off luminescent light. Triboluminescent means that when these minerals are crushed or broken light is given off. Also if the area was heated at some time in history as far as any quarries in the area or by industry or even when the high powered electrical lines were installed in this particular area it could have increase the magnetism in this location. The electromagnetism of the high powered lines can “heat” up these minerals to increase the magnetism and this could be a cause of the battery drain that was experienced. Photoelectric refers to the emission of electrons that will in turn produce incidental light. This was very interesting data for this investigation.

PERSONAL EXPERIENCE REPORT

While personal experiences, if not backed up through some secondary source, are difficult to prove, the SWPRG feels they are important to the overall understanding of an investigation.
In this particular investigation is it interesting to note that different investigators reported similar experience at different times throughout the investigation. Since the investigators were not aware of the history or reported phenomena of the location we fine these types of similarity worthy of review.

SOUNDS

A variety of unusual sounds were heard throughout the night by different investigators

• Pop sound during EVP session in the barn. Upon investigating the location of the sound one investigator found soda bottle that probably had been compressed and made the pop when the compressed plastic pushed out. There were two unusual things just before this pop happened though. One was that the investigator conducting the EVP session felt like energy was building just before this pop. Also the data logging system indicated radiation or EMF activity at this time
• Three investigators heard what they thought were children laughing outside of the clubhouse at 1:20 AM.
• Several investigators commented that they heard sounds in the main room of the barn and outside of the barn. These audible sounds were described as hissing, growling, scraping, and sliding.

SIGHTS

• Shadow forms were seen by several investigators.
• One investigator said they saw fluctuating and darkening masses towards the ceiling of the barn. This happened during the first data logging EVP session.
• A lead investigator was sitting by the fire pit looking towards the house when he saw a shadow figure walk across the doorway. He inquired of the three investigators who were in the house if they had seen some one walk by this doorway. They indicated that there had been no one in the room where this doorway is located.
• While standing by the outhouse an investigator noticed a shadow come from between the club house and chicken coop.
  

Equipment Experiences

• Two separate investigators had focusing problems with their personal camcorders.
• Five investigators experienced battery drain in their cameras or camcorders throughout the night.
• Increasing then decreasing negative ion counts and EMF pulsing during the time lights started flickering in the club house. The clients commented that the lights had never flickered in the clubhouse before. The reading are listed below.

9:10 Lights flickered in clubhouse
EMF Pulse 2 – 2 1/2 mG
Ions Positive 10 - 20
Ions Negative 20 with a steady increase to 80 then reading
went back down then up.
9:17 EM (Magnetic) Pulsing 4mG
9:24 EM Pulsing 1.5mG
9:25 Flickering of lights cease.

CONCLUSION

This was a large investigation with many locations to be investigated.
In the end it turned out to be a solid investigation that turned up some thought provoking information.
While it is difficult to prove personal experiences without back up documentation, it is intriguing that multiple investigators had similar experiences at different times throughout the night. These personal experiences were reported by newer as well as very seasoned investigators. The sighting of shadow figures, feeling presences and the feeling of being touched were all reported.
As mentioned in the geology report, the mineral make up of the area may in some way play a part in the battery drain that was experienced throughout the night. Camera malfunctions not related to battery drain are still being investigated.

After review of the DVR quad system, personal camcorders and photographs no anomalous images were found. Our experiences in haunting investigation find this not to be unusual.
Audio phenomenon was not something that had been reported at the location. While we did record some unusual sounds, their poor quality and clarity makes it difficult to determine if they are paranormal in nature. What is very interesting though is the environmental reading fluctuations that happened during the time these sounds were recorded. It also should be noted that in the barn, where the audio was recorded, no unusual environmental readings were recorded during a control DEAD System session.

The pop from the water bottle is intriguing based on investigator's feelings right before the pop and the environmental readings before, during and after the pop. While this could be a paranormal event it may more likely be the results of Recurrent Spontaneous Psychokinesis (RSPK) which is produced by a living person. We speculate that this may be the case and suggest it may be based around the female client or a particular investigator who was present at the session.
That the female client might be the agent is suggested by the increase in unusual environmental readings, especially radiation, whenever she spoke during the sessions. Two investigators at the session also commented, before this report was written, that they felt shifting in the barn's atmosphere when the female client became involved in the sessions.

It is difficult to determine if a location is definitely haunted by only conducting one investigation. Multiple investigations are generally needed to make a solid determination. But by utilizing a large team and adhering to set protocols for the investigation it was hoped we could gain as much usable information as possible during this one investigation. Fortunately, compared to many investigations there was a fair amount of activity during the night and we had a large amount of data to look at. The activity at this location may be a mix of misinterpreted natural phenomena, residual and active haunting phenomena and RSPK.

We would suggest a follow up investigation with a small team of investigators that would use specific equipment that can measure one's ability to influence the environment, continue to explore the audio phenomena of the location and utilize a different set of infrared photography equipment in an attempt to capture some of the visual activity that was reported during the investigation.

Submitted by Cindy Heinen
July 2009
EVP Specialist/Lead Investigator
Southern Wisconsin Paranormal Research Group