Private Residence - Oshkosh, WI

Investigators present: Matt from Midwest Preternatural Research, Katie, Keith, and Rachel from Fox Valley Spirit Hunters, and Barry from HPI.

Also present: Client (L), friend (K)

Equipment used: Trifield Standard EMF meter, Cellsensor EMF Meter, Digital Cameras, Sony camcorders w/ nightshot, Digital Voice Recorders, Temperature Reader, Motion Sensors

Report written by: Matt

Background: First of two investigations for this family, this house belonged to the Daughter (L) and her boyfriend, later we would be called to investigate her mother's house. Residence is a two story house with a full basement, built in 1929; at the time of our investigation, two adults and two children live on the main floor, sister and brother in law plus two children are temporarily living in the basement, and a separate tenant (with dog) occupies the upstairs level.

L's boyfriend purchased the house 4 years prior, upon purchasing it he heard a few stories about alleged activity on the premises. The previous occupants who rented the house said that they could hear knockings on the windows and a banging on the floor said to be the ghost of an elderly woman who had owned the house and passed away there of natural causes. The boyfriend reports that he had experienced the sound of the "broomstick banging" several times, even before L moved in. The client reports hearing knockings on the windows, stuff getting moved, hearing a woman's disembodied voice and that her oldest daughter talks to what they call "the old lady". L reports a history of haunted houses and a sensitivity/ psychical nature and says that these occurrences did not upset her, but after the birth of her daughter in October 2004, the activity heightened and changed. Black shadows were seen by several members of the family on numerous occasions, children were allegedly pinched, poked, scratched and yelled at. It was also mentioned that the hall closet on the first floor has been a hot spot- guests in the house (K) have actually seen a full apparition of an old woman and the door "refuses to stay shut". This activity has led the occupants to feel threatened and uneasy, they are hoping that an investigation can document what they have been experiencing.

Our investigation: Initial EMF sweep and mapping of two floors revealed a high level of EMFs on several walls containing electronic devices. Digital pictures taken in the living room showed a common light refraction from brushed steel lamps that could dismiss many of the "orb" pictures taken in that room. Presence of a cat was noted and would later potentially explain the constant opening of the hall closet door, as the cat was able to sneak in undetected by other investigators and set off the motion sensors.

Evidence Gathered: When Matt and Barry were sitting in the basement bedroom where a child reports being poked, we saw a flash of light on the carpet a few feet in front of us. We didn't see how it could have been coming through the floor boards from upstairs, and when we did a walk around the outside of the house we didn't see how it could have been coming in from outside. Later when we were sitting in that same room doing EVP questions with Katie, we heard this sound with our ears. After questioning everyone, we concluded that it wasn't any of us. Barry also captured the sound on her camcorder, which was set up in another room in the basement where sounds from upstairs actually carried better, yet it sounds like it was more over by us. We can't conclusively prove that the sound is or isn't coming from the house without spending another night there with the exact same conditions and seeing if we hear it again, but it was unusual enough to bear mentioning to the client.

Final Analysis: The evidence documented was not conclusive enough to either confirm or debunk the activity. As the evening progressed, K and L were both reporting activity that neither investigator were able to capture or experience and it's highly possible that it is a situation specific to the people involved. One possibility I'd like to mention beyond the standard idea of haunted/ not haunted is the idea of psychokinesis or manifestation of will by the person or people reporting the activity. L talked in the interview about having a history of psi activity and experiences and I feel that it might warrant further investigation to distinguish the experience of the other members from that of L's. The time after the birth of a child is an intense period and given that this is when the shadows appeared and the threat became apparent, I feel like it could actually be a manifestation of L's fears that her family is reacting to. I do not think L is aware of this, nor am I offering this as a true conclusion, just a theory worth mentioning and investigating further.