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Case: Ravenswood – Chicago, Illinois
BACKGROUND A married woman had questions that she could not answer regarding her home. She contacted Plains Paranormal. When queried about the concerns that she had concerning her coach house - style apartment, she stated that she often felt uncomfortable in the corner of the family’s rear bathroom; a space adjacent to the toilet. When questioned further about the nature of these feelings, she said that there was a general uneasiness to that immediate area and she did not like to be near there. Further, she stated that her toddler daughter would stand at the bathroom’s entrance and point to that corner of the bathroom. This behavior was unnerving to the mother. When asked, the husband did not indicate that he noticed anything unusual in the bathroom. When the woman was later asked about any other odd occurrences in family’s home, there were some isolated events that both she and her husband had experienced, but nothing that disruptive or frequent. Both maintain that the spirit of a cat (or cats) visit from time to time. At one time there were four cats in the residence, but all have passed except one. The couple states that they can feel a sudden “landing” on the bed as if a cat had jumped up from the floor. This is followed by small footsteps (or paw-steps if you will) that they identify as a cat. The footsteps will often turn in a circle and pace back and forth in a behavior that resembles their cats according to the couple. The first occurrence was several years back when the husband was positive that his cat jumped onto and walked on his bed only to turn around to see nothing. This startled the husband. Once after a similar event, the husband swore he saw a green orb of light leaving the corner of the bed. He identified this with his cat that had passed since the cat possessed green eyes. This activity has occurred within the last week. Note: Two of the three cats have their ashes within the residence. The only other shared experience in the house was voice phenomena. Both the husband and the wife have heard voices from time to time in the house. The activity occurs at night toward the rear of the house in the back bedrooms. This event, according to the couple has happened within the last month or so but is not frequent. It should be noted that during the nighttime hours, the couple often employs a box fan and/or a white noise generator. This has been known to enable audio communication with spirits. The husband did mention an isolated event that he experienced. During the holiday season, the husband and wife were in bed; the wife sleeping and the husband half sleeping, watching TV. After midnight, the husband felt a cold pressure accompanied by a cold breeze move up his right arm from his wrist to his elbow. The event startled the husband who sat up in bed and was unable to sleep after that. He was certain that the breeze was not the breath of his wife or a breeze from a nearby window. Further, the pressure-like-touch on his arm could not be accounted for. The event has not repeated itself. Beyond that, the couple reported nothing unusual except for the activity that the husband described as, “things that happen in the corner of your eye for just the fraction of a second.” He wondered if he is seeing things and if it is just a product of his imagination. INVESTIGATION Given that the couple feels at peace with most of the reported activity and that the activity is so infrequent, the focus of the investigation will be to address the unnerving feeling reported in the bathroom. Investigators will spend a protracted period of time in the home in order to ascertain any level of activity in the house. EVP sessions will not be conducted because the woman of the house feels that technique could possibly invite spirits into the house. Plains Paranormal will respect her wishes. The initial action taken by investigators was to conduct an EMF sweep of the two-bed / two-bath domicile. Special attention will be centered in and around the corner of the bathroom. It is believed that the cause of these negative sensations will be EMF related. The effects of high EMF fields could account for the sensations described by the wife. After conducting EMF sweeps, investigators noticed no high EMF fields in the house and there is nothing anomalous as well. Average readings from .2 to .5 Gauss occur in the living areas of the house and rise to a high of 2.4 Gauss around electrical sources. In the area of interest – the rear bathroom, there are minimal readings. However, when an EMF detector was pressed deep into the rear corner of the bathroom, the reading did rise to .9 Gauss. There was nothing within the bathroom or the walls itself which should have caused the EMF readings to rise. On the surface, this was an anomalous reading that prompted further investigation. It was determined that an examination of the building’s exterior was in order. The corner of the bathroom area as well as the living room and bedroom’s north wall was accessible by a communal deck outside. From there the cause of the uncomfortable feelings attributed to the bathroom was probably discovered. The main power line from the city’s pole to the apartment (and a few other units) runs over the alley and attaches to the apartment’s northeastern wall (living room) and runs along the upper wall until it divides just outside the corner of the rear bathroom.
Interestingly, this was the same rear bathroom, along the same corner, that the wife reported as being the source of the disturbance. The sizeable conduit runs vertically down the length of the wall where it dives into a communal hall and separates further running the course of the north wall (along the floor of the apartment.) Outside bathroom window Same corner from inside the bathroom
Given the main vertical conduit and the numerous divisions that run horizontally along the northern wall of the apartment, the investigators began to hypothesize that this dwelling was nearly a “fear cage.” A “Fear Cage” is a living space that is surrounded by electrical conduit. The conduit emits a high EMF field and can cause some negative sensations to any person who spends time there. The whole floor and ceiling level of this apartment’s north side was wrapped in electrical conduit. EMF readings validated this belief. The main conduit that ran vertically in the northeast corner of the bathroom emitted considerable EMF reading especially on the side that faced the bathroom (as opposed to the living room.) The east side of the pole (away from the bathroom) would emit readings in the neighborhood of 60.0 Gauss depending on the proximity to the pole. The west side of the conduit (near the suspect bathroom) gave off reading that would bury our EMF detectors. (I personally thought Joe’s K2 meter was going to explode.)
Holding the detector a few inches away, readings in the 190’s Gauss were recorded. It should be noted that the readings dissipated rapidly within a couple of feet of the conduit. The distance from the external conduit and the corner of the bathroom is less than 24 inches. Within in that distance, readings dropped from 190 Gauss (or higher) to .8 Gauss. It should also be noted that the hum and feel of energy could be felt by holding the conduit with the bare hand. (Rachael noted a magnetic feel to the conduit. Tim also rested his left hand on the conduit to take a reading and within seconds, his arm went numb.) CONCLUSIONS Plains Paranormal believes that the uncomfortable feeling experienced in the corner of rear bathroom is most likely attributable to a high EMF field that exists just outside the wall of the building. Some people are sensitive to EMF and can experience a host of side effects including but not limited to uneasiness and paranoia, which would fit what the client indicated. . The client is aware of the existence of the high EMF fields that run the entirety of the northern wall of their apartment and will be sure to monitor their exposure to this area. It is possible that there is maybe something more to the feelings of the mother or the actions of the toddler; something more glamorous or more paranormal if you will? In this nebulous discipline, we are often disappointed with some of the leaders in this field who are so quick to dismiss and so eager to debunk then certain that their conclusions are gospel. Their assessments of “most likely” by no means equates to a “certainty.” We can only attempt to offer the best explanation but by definition, that is not the only explanation. In the end, no one really knows. But in this situation the logic of Oakum’s Razor would seem to suffice; the simplest explanation is the most likely explanation. The high EMF field outside the family’s rear bathroom accounts for the feelings of uneasiness. Concerning the voice phenomena the couple experienced, Plains Paranormal investigators experienced nothing extraordinary during their stay. The most likely explanation would be to attribute the voices to area surrounding the immediate apartment. Below the rear portion of the coach house there is an apartment that is occupied by a single female. In the past the couple has heard various noises, conversations, and music coming from her apartment. Most likely, the voices were heard in a context the couple was not able to recognize; most likely something overhead from a computer. Moreover, there are any number of apartments, condos, and businesses in the immediate vicinity of the couple’s unit that could have produced the voices heard by the couple. In all likelihood, any suspect noises heard by the couple are the result of noise contamination. As for the rest of the family’s experiences that they reported, at this point in time there is no evidence to suggest their apartment is haunted or experiences any paranormal activity. No personal experiences were had by any investigators during this protracted investigation. Some would dismiss any reported activity completely given that numerous nights that investigators spent in the domicile. If some investigators were unable to produce evidence in the span of an evening’s investigation, then any reported activity would be summarily dismissed. We cannot be so cavalier in our dismissal. Just because no activity occurred during the span of our investigation that is not to say it never occurred. Is it not possible that during the holiday period a diseased relative or even a spirit full of holiday cheer decided to contact the husband of the family? Perhaps we are visited more than we even know. Can ghosts only visit a house that is haunted? Certainly an intelligent entity could possibly travel a great distance. Given the lack of absolute certitude in the field of paranormal investigations, we can only document the claims and continue to gather knowledge. While there is almost no chance that this house is “haunted”, there is certainly a chance that this house has experienced some kind of paranormal activity. Despite experiencing no activity, we cannot dismiss the claims of a cat haunting by the couple. Claims of pet hauntings are common in the field. Further, family members of Plains Paranormal investigators have personally experienced ghostly activity of diseased cats. Many pets have a strong connection to a home and its occupants, which could lead to a presence in the afterlife. That connection could be made even stronger by retaining the pet’s ashes after cremation or burying the pet nearby in the yard. Moreover, retaining possessions that were associated with the pet such as a collar, bed, or a favorite toy might also help tie the diseased animal to the dwelling. In the end, the couple seems unaffected by the reported activity of their diseased cats. They will continue to keep an eye open for their old pets. |
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