A private house in the Keighley area called us in midweek with tales of caught evidence and a general fear of being alone in their home. I shall rename our client Terri and she was also joined by three of her friends. The team arrived and found the client to be quite frantic and as she tried to locate the evidence that was supposedly captured on webcam and audio. During our set up I discovered a home made ouija board and two white candles with six sided stars drawn on. Terri stated she didn't like ouija boards and would sit in the next room whilst her friends and us tried to make contact. But before that we asked for a rundown of the key evidence which had led to us being contacted.
The spirit had been seen by various people in the from of a moving shadow which although was not fully detailed, could be identified as a male. Terri remembers seeing it next to the bathroom door first. Terri's female friend had seen it go right past her and had even said "If you are here now, please turn off the light"
The light had turned off on command. This had led to many vigils running recordings in the kitchen and reportedly capturing moving shadows, a spirit light and even the face of a child staring in through the kitchen balcony door. The balcony area obviously being too high for anyone to be there other than those invited. We asked if there had been any smells of moving of items. Terri noted that her keys would appear in strange places all over and this was odd because she would always leave them in the door so she knew where they were.
I asked about this crudely fashioned ouija board and if it had been used by them. The existence of the paranormal paraphernalia was down to Terri's son who was keen to catch the spirit but had never actually used the board because in truth, he wasn't permitted to and also didn't really know what to do.
We did a protection session for everyone in the residence and let Terri return to the lounge area.
We have two K2 meters strategically placed at opposite corners of our ouija board and one of these meters also has a new meter next to it. Since It doesn't have an obvious name to identify it by, I'm going to call it the Gill meter (because it's Gill's).
The K2 flickers next to the new meter but the Gill meter doesn't react even though through testing it ten minutes previously with a natural electrical field, we found it to be a sensitive piece of equipment.
Mobiles and other forms of equipment affect our meters in unison when in close proximity to each other so when we see individual energy spikes (flickers), we are dealing with a probable different type of energy.
Both K2's flash to RED which is the highest reading (Which in itself may mean a mobile, but the Gill meter is quiet).
Si feels compelled to sit in a wicker dining room chair which is contained in this room. He moves Sue especially so he can execute this feeling. I make a note of this just incase it becomes relevant.
I lead the first table session without having my finger on the glass. I expect a slow build of energy and that's what we get. There is a slight, weak drag until it rests over YES, signifying that a spirit wishes to communicate. While we wait for a more responsive speed of movement, I explain various methods of communication at our disposal. The glass moves to F but we haven't asked a question yet.
The friends of Terri tell us about some information which they got off their smartphone APPS and we tell them to disregard all this information. We have looked at most of these APPS and they DO NOT WORK, it's just fun!.
Chris "Can I have your first name please?"
The glass moves to H and a mobile gets switched on, seemingly by itself (This isn't unusual but we can't vouch for the actions of others). The glass continues it's slide until it's over A and then G. (F-H-A-G)
Chris "Remember, you are spelling your first name " G
After building up the glass energy, it spells more gibberish K-I-K-H
Si "Can you see all the people around the table?" YES
"Please go the correct number of people around the table" 5 (This is correct)
Si calibrates the spirit and the board by having the spirit show that it can correctly follow random instructions such as going to the letters asked for by Si. This also quashes any claims of dyslexia.
Si "Can you spell cat for me, before we continue?" C-A-T
From the other room Terri is loudly cursing and sounding terribly spooked, so myself and Gill go to see what happened. So the session splits into two here. This is what Gill and myself find in the other room with Terri. Terri is up out of her chair and very teary. We ask her to tell us what has gone on and she that the laptop which she was searching through for the ghost clips on started 'playing up'. Terri actually describes the laptop searching nearby internet and having the fan come on with a whirr which startled her. This was when she put the laptop down and sat in a different arm chair. Upon looking up at the very large empty fish tank across the room, she noticed many children's hand prints on the outer glass. Now Terri assures us that she had cleaned the tank ready to sell on E Bay. I have to explain that firstly the laptop is supposed to systematically search for surrounding wifi signals and that the laptop's cooling fan will kick in when you sit with on your knee or the arm of an armchair for a while. Although Terri is sure the laptop has never done this before, I suggest that she has probably just never noticed it until now. The fish tank is inspected by us and it does indeed have hand print smears on the outside. Next to mine they also do look like children's. Terri says that it's been two weeks since any children have been here and that they couldn't have done the marks. At the end of the day I can't tell Terri whether she had cleaned the fish tank properly or not. But she is very jumpy and could easily be adding natural occurrences to any genuine paranormal ones. I'm unconvinced that there's anything out of the ordinary at this moment. We calm Terri down again and return without her to the ouija board room.
So now I'll continue at the board from where Gill and I exited to see what had happened in the lounge. Sue continued my notes and my dictaphone was left running with the team.
So after Si had made the spirit spell CAT. The letter G came up.
Si "How old were you when you died?'" 35
"Was this your home?" YES
Sue "What year did you die?" 76
"1976?" YES
Si "What one word describes what was special about that summer?" Si is alluding to the fact that it was a memorably hot summer. But for some reason the board spells T-H-E-P-I-N-I-K (The Pinik?) (There are suggestions that it may have meant The Picnic but that is joining the dots a little on our part, but is understandable)
Si "Did you die in the springtime?" NO
"The summertime?" NO
"The autumn?" YES
"Describe in 3 letters or more, what was special about it" G-M-J-D (?)
Si tries something else. "Can you spell your first name please?" G-O-K-L
"Are you messing with us?" YES
"Are you doing things to frighten people in here?" YES
"Can you frighten me?" YES
"OK, I'll go and stand alone in the kitchen and if you can scare me then you can carry on frightening people in this house but if you don't scare me then you have to stop is that a deal?" YES
Si stands in the kitchen because this is believed by Terri to be the most active.
This is where Gill and I actually rejoined the team from checking out the fish tank smears.
Si returns from the kitchen reporting that nothing has happened to him.
The board spells K-I-L-I-K-I-L (Was this an attempt to play the scare game? KILL, I KILL?)
and when asked for it's name the glass spells P-G-I
Sue "Did you die in this building?" YES
"Was it an accident?' YES
"Are you here most of the time?" YES
"How many spirits are in this building including you?" 6 (The building is split into several actually)
G-R-E-R-G 6-6-E-6-F
"Is there a spirit child in this flat?" YES
Si calls a break for all.
The team discusses the way forward with the case and agree that there is some evidence of a spirit here but it's being amped up by a higher than healthy obsession with it's existence by the residents and visitors of the home. The result being that Terri is frantic to a worrying degree and the power is all in the spirits court.
Before we continue, we give some of the power back to Terri by giving her a crystal which is believed to absorb negative spirit energies. We also ask for all the focus to be taken off the spirit by allowing us to take and dispose of the homemade ouija board, candles and a spell sheet which has been constructed by Terri's son. We ask for all the APPS and recording sessions to be minimised too because it's probably fuelling whatever is here. Lastly, since Terri has decided to take part in the next ouija session of her own accord, we suggest that if the spirit doesn't give its name, then Terri must name it and therefore give it an identity in some small part so that she can feel some sense of control again.
Our second session is being set up when Terri mentions that the wicker chair hat Si felt compelled to sit on was already here from the former occupants. Energies can stick to objects and be the crux of a haunting. It's certainly of some note that Si had mentioned it's importance earlier.
Now Gill used to live around this location and actually had some knowledge of a family losing a young man when he lived here. We didn't disclose this information until later.
When Si asks for movement on this session, It's much more energised.
Si "Now you realise that you have been frightening people don't you?' YES. The K2 sparkles to life.
"Has this given you energy?" YES
"Is there any other way which you could get your energy?" L-A-U-G-H
"Laughing? Well maybe should try that instead."
"Can you see how you have upset some of the people who live here?" YES
"Is there anything which we (the team) can do for you?" H-E-L-P
One K2 meter flickers and then the light show moves independently to the opposite K2 meter. Good evidence.
We feel that we may have a stuck spirit wishing to be helped to move on. We have done this a few times already and although we do it blind, as none of us are Mediums per se, we have seen the results for ourselves.
"Do you want to move on?" YES
We have found that because we cannot see clairvoyantly onto that side that we need a second spirit moderator to help us with this 'Crossing Over'.
Si "Is there any other spirit around to help us?" YES
'Please give your name" F-R-A-N-K. We know a Frank who follows Si around and he has often interrupted proceedings in the past. But Terri also knows a Frank from her past.
Si "Is this our Frank?" YES
"Prove it, What nickname did you used to call me?" T-E-M-P-L-A-R. This is correct, Frank used to call Si Simon Templar from the TV programme the Saint.
"Hi Frank!, What is the stuck spirits name please?" B-E-N
Gill goes cold as she remembers the deceased lads name as being BEN from when she lived close.
"How old was he when he died?" 34 Gill says that doesn't ring true unless it's referring to how old the lad would have been if he was still alive but we didn't ask that so rule it out.
"What year did you die?" 1998 Gill says that sounds right.
Gill "Did Bens parents also own the shop downstairs?" YES
We get another name crop up which is M-I-K-E.
"Who was Mike?" U-N-C-L-E.
Si "So Mike was Bens uncle, is Mike over on your side Frank?" YES
"Is Mike waiting for Ben?" YES
"Frank please allow Ben back to the board and facilitate from your end."
"OK Ben I need you to look around until you see a white light on your side"
Si feels a draft on his hand all of a sudden.
Then Terri does too.
"Take the glass to the edge of the board in the direction of this white light" The glass moves to one edge.
"Look into the light and you'll see someone you like and can trust Ben" A stronger draft is evident.
"When you see them, take this glass to Yes" ..........YES. Si describes a big blast of air now.
"Ben, shout to Mike and he will come and get you" The largest blast of air of the evening is felt by some around the board.
"Walk towards Mike and take his hand" A K2 hit is seen and Terri is slightly emotional as others of us get goosebumps.
The glass moves to GOODBYE.'He's gone" Si says.
We all breathe a sigh of relief and ask for Frank to come back to the table again.
"Thanks for your help Frank, was it Ben who was the cause of this locations problems?" YES
"Has he gone now?" YES
Are there going to be more problems here?" NO
"So people can here can sleep soundly in their beds?" YES
"Will any other spirits cause problems here?"NO
"Frank, can you be around to help Terri if she feels that anything is here and she shouts you for help?" YES
We close down.
Ben desperately wanted to make himself known in an attempt to energise himself so that he could escape to the other side. But all he got was fear against him. Terri and friends did themselves little help by scaring themselves on top of genuine activity until every last thing that occurred was deemed paranormal.
Hopefully, with Ben gone and some control regained alongside a better understanding, Terri can get on with her life in peace.
I'd like to give a special thanks to all the team for pulling together and efficiently getting to the root of the problem and solving it. The team continues to grow as a unit and learns more each time. See you on the next one.
Chris Whitehouse JUNE 2013.
