BACKGROUND

Earlier this year, Wailing Bansidhe was contacted by Sandi and Tony regarding some activity they were having in their central Arizona home. Sandi reported numerous occurrences of objects being thrown across the room (sometimes hitting people), appliances operating with no power source, dark shadows, white mists, phantom knocking, footsteps, and full body apparitions.

The house itself is fairly new, but the land on which it was built could easily have been used centuries ago by indigenous people, and in more recent past as pioneer homestead. Sandi reports that she has been experiencing some level of activity in the past several homes in which she has lived - more specifically, since two significant family members passed away ten years ago.

Sandi also reports a high concentration of activity centering on important anniversaries, and around the holidays in general.

Tony concurs with Sandi's description of the events, and reports similar experiences of his own which include witnessing a child's book quiver as it rose several inches off the ground and slammed back down to the floor. He also reports that he seems to be able to exercise some control over the activity - specifically the knocking. Once the knocking begins, he finds that he is able to aggravate it into continuing, or cause it to cease completely by firmly telling it to stop.

Their son, whose name I shall not post for privacy, is primarily bothered by apparitions. He specifically mentions two different apparitions. One is of a man, dressed in torn "cowboy" clothing and wearing "crazy boots". The second is of a small boy who wears a "weird jacket". He is understandably quite frightened.

INVESTIGATION

Present at the investigation were Mikal, Patrick, and me. Deliberately kept unaware of any of the information, Patrick served as the control. We arrived at 7p and began in the backyard and agreed that we would not share any notes or impressions until after the walk-through. Patrick operated the video camera and digital thermometer, Mikal was responsible for still digital photography and voice recording, and I operated the EMF detector.

Having been privy to the activity, I was primarily looking for natural causes or catalysts for activity. I did make note of power lines running behind the home, approximately 100 feet away. Also noted was a patch of dirt in the back corner of the yard that appeared to be a play area, used for digging and other general "dirt moving" games.

After finishing in the backyard, we ventured upstairs. Upstairs, there is an open den that serves as a computer/video game room. There are also two bedrooms, and two bathrooms. Time was spent gathering data in all areas. Although I was aware of the activity itself, I was unaware of any particular areas of the home that were MORE active than others, and I did feel a certain hesitation in two specific areas upstairs.

During our upstairs investigation, we were alerted to the fact that something had happened downstairs. Sandi and Tony reported that something had "crashed" in the kitchen, although nothing was out of place. As I passed through the living room towards the kitchen, the EMF detector suddenly sounded and was showing a reading of 5 milligauss - the highest reading the detector would allow. This reading lasted approximately 5 seconds, and I was about 2 feet from the television. After a short time, I attempted to duplicate this reading and was unsuccessful.

We completed our walkthrough of the downstairs area which yielded no other inexplicable readings.

DISCUSSION

Once the walk-through was completed, Sandi and Tony were finally able to tell us everything that has been going on, from soup to nuts. During the discussion, they described classic poltergeist activity. They specifically mentioned some objects that have flown from shelves, a spice rack that likes to slowly empty the spice bottles onto the counter, and at least one episode of an unplugged blender that began operating.

They also specified three areas of the home that had the highest concentration of activity - the master bathroom, their son's closet, and the far corner in the backyard. This is especially significant because Patrick, who was the control, had made three notes regarding areas that gave him the strongest impressions of energy/activity and the locations that he noted matched exactly with the areas that were being discussed. In addition, the hesitation that I experienced involved the closet and the master bathroom. Although the poltergeist activity seems to happen at any time, the aforementioned apparitions seem to originate from these three locations, including the dark shadows and full body apparitions.

They also described one incident (as told to them by a neighbor living next door) that involved the neighbor's dog barking at roughly the same time every night at a shadowy figure, that originated from the brick wall that was shared between the two yards, and ran the length of the neighbor's yard, and back again - disappearing into the brick wall. It is not clear whether that incident is separate, or an extension of this activity.

SUPPORTING EVIDENCE

During the very short investigation, there was significant evidence collected that supports the claims of otherwise unexplainable activity. As mentioned, Patrick was able to pinpoint three extremely active areas using the Gertrude Schmeidler method - marking areas of sensitivity on a floor plan - without any prior knowledge of the activity. Also mentioned was the extremely high EMF reading that could not be duplicated or otherwise attributed. We also captured two photos with orb anomolies (see below). Knowing that orbs are not the most revered example of evidence, I argue that because of their proximity to otherwise established sources of activity - in a virtually dust free environment - that they are a reflection of concentrated energy rather than airborne dust bunnies. We were not able to capture any EVP on the voice recorder in the short time that we were there, but the video is still under analysis. Those findings, if any, will be posted at a later time.

In summation, I believe that the evidence collected supports the claim that there is activity of a paranormal nature occurring in this residence. I further believe that the activity is attributable to more than one source. Based on their reports, I believe that there is poltergeist activity centered on one or more family members. The nature of the activity itself, coupled with the fact that the activity is strongest on and around significant holidays and anniversaries, supports this. Poltergeist activity is believed to be caused by untethered psychokinetic abilities triggered by emotion or stress, regardless of the willingness or awareness of the responsible individual.

I also believe that the apparitions are related to one or more residual hauntings that predate the current occupants. A residual haunting is akin to watching a video on a loop. The apparition repeats the same activity at the same time, regardless if anyone is present to witness. The predisposition towards the poltergeist activity may actually be serving as a catalyst for the frequency of the residual activity, or it may just make them more susceptible to all kinds of paranormal activity.

Thank you, again, to Sandi and Tony for allowing us to investigate!