Saturday, January 30, 2010

Investigation Report 121909 - Medina Coffee Shop

On Saturday, December 19, 2009, the OhioPERVS had the opportunity to investigate a coffee shop in Medina, Ohio. The team was investigating claims that several entities frequent the establishment, both on the main floor and in the basement.  Team members participating in the investigation were Andy and Denise Donaldson, Craig and Mandi Worrell, and Eric and Jen Williams.

History
A coffee shop in historic downtown Medina, this building has served as a variety of businesses over the years including an ice cream shop. Of particular interest is the discovery that across the street once sat the American Hotel, also known as the American House, where some sources speculate many of the spirits may have resided at one time.
One story in particular that came up during  research was of a lady named Patricia, an aggressive spirit that may have ties to the cafe and the hotel. The team then went to the county library to do research where we found the following.
After several hours of research through the Gazette's microfiche, from the 1870's on, the only Patricia we were able to find was in the early 1940's, a 6 year old girl named Patricia that had been struck by a car driven by a 16 year old boy, on the corner by the cafe.

Investigation
The PERVS were invited by area psychic Elizabeth Howell to participate in a joint investigation with other psychics who were focused on the traditional spiritual investigation, while we were there to investigate from a more empirical standpoint. Full access was granted to us for the investigation.
Team members Eric and Jennifer Williams participated in a pendulum session with psychics Elizabeth Howell, Laurel Williams, and Sherry  Cool. The session revealed that several spirits were allegedly present, including
"Jim", "Patricia", another "Patricia", "Sandra", "Tom", "George".
After the session, the team had exlusive access to the basement, where there have been reports of employees being watched, touched, and even pushed.  Other claims include feelings of vertigo near the staircase, and flashes of unexplained lights, and objects being moved. One claim in particular states that one employee had been down in the basement and said, "I don't believe in ghosts." and a box moved right in front of him.
The team investigated for 5 hours, using a variety of techniques and tools, including EMF meters, K2 meters, temperature gauge, digital audio recorders, and video recorders.

Evidence
Video evidence: Out of 10+ hours of video, the only thing we captured was an anomaly of the camcorder going in and out of focus, with no one in the room, which could be attributed to camera fluctuations.
Audio evidence: We did manage to capture several pieces of interesting audio.
  • First, while investigators Craig and Eric were conducting an EVP session, they were addressing the entity of the child. The question was asked, "What do you want for Christmas?", and in the background you can here what sounds to be a child. Click here to listen.
  • Next, while the team was discussing other things, the digital recorders remained running in the room and caught what seems to be something very near the device making a moaning sound.  Click here to listen.
  • Later, while investigators Jen and Denise were in the back part of the basement, they were discussing an aroma that had come into the room, and in the distance it sounds as though a child was calling out.  This also was audible for the two as they thought it was investigator Mandi looking for them, when it was not.  Click here to listen
  • During that same period of time, what sounds like a laugh was also recorded on our recorder.  Click here to listen.
  • Another interesting recording was captured by our records.  While no one was talking, a subtle "hello" seems to have been captured.  Click here to listen.
  • Finally, what we feel is our strongest EVP captured during our investigation occured while several of us were talking, the voice of an adult male is captured in between our voices.  We feel that it is saying something about "watching you".  You be the judge.  Click here to listen.

Personal Experiences:
During the course of our time at the coffee shop, several of the team had experiences that were not easily explained away.
  • Denise reported feeling her hair tugged while standing in the middle of the back part of the basement.  Nothing was hanging from the ceiling nor was she near anything else that could have snagged her hair.  At this time, Denise was monitoring a high EMF reading in the area.  After the incident of her hair being pulled, the level of EMF activity dropped completely off.
  • At that same time, Jen and Andy both witnessed what appeared to be the silhouette of the upper torso of a person, including the head and shoulders, move from a corner of the room to a doorway and then disappear. 
  • Jen also had an experience of an illuminated ball of energy, also known as an orb, dart around a corner near the floor at a high rate of speed.  She reported that it appeared brownish-orange in color.  Normally, we dismiss orbs caught in photographs, but this was something she witnessed personally.
  • During an investigation session, Eric had felt as though something had wrapped arms around him as though being hugged.  He experienced cold chills and a tingling across his shoulders, chest and arms.  Craig then used a temperature gauge to record that the surface temperature of the effected area was 10 degrees colder then any other part of Eric's body.
Other findings:
  • Throughout our entire time in the basement, high levels of EMF activity were recorded through the area.  At times, we experienced high, steady levels that would suddenly drop away.  It is believed that EMF activity is commonly associated with the paranormal activity, but at the same time, it is also theorized that high EMF fields can cause disorientation and sickness.  Those that may be sensitive to EMF sickness may describe experiences that are similar to paranormal activity.  EMF fields can be generated by any sort of electric technology.  Unshielded power lines, cell signals and any number of non-paranormal everyday devices can generate these fields.  During our debunking of this, we found only one main line coming out of a breaker box that lead into other areas of the basement.  We found that the EMF fields were separate from known generators of EMF.  Also of note was a well that had been filled in with bricks and dirt was also giving off a low base of EMF.  Nothing could be found in the immediate vicinity to explain this anomaly.
  • One area of particular interest was the staircase. There have been reports of employees being 'pulled' backwards down the stairs. As team members reported being unbalanced going up and down the stairs all night, Craig used a digital bubble level to measure the pitch of each step, and found on the average, a 4 degree pitch forward going downward towards the railing. This pitch was not constant and not on every step, some steps would be level, which may lead a person to have their balance thrown off.
  • Investigation of the upper level of the coffee shop was unremarkable, due in part to noise from the street. The team believes that another investigation that focuses more on the upper level is necessary for conclusion.
  • The team also hopes that a follow-up investigation could be conducted in the future, with the heating unit being turned off to cut out a lot of the 'white noise' that was hard to hear above.
Conclusions:
Results of the investigation suggest the possibility of paranormal activity beyond mere personal experiences.  It is the opinion of the Ohio PERVS that this cafe bears further investigation to validate our findings.  We would very much enjoy the opportunity to return in the spring for a follow-up investigation.

The PERVS would like to thanks the owners of the coffee shop, and psychics Elizabeth Howell and Laurel Williams for the opportunity to investigate.