A Word From Beyond

September 2024 - Vol. 4 Issue 7

The sun had set while we were in the Wheat Field at Gettysburg - the site of a particularly bloody encounter on Day 2 of the Gettysburg battle. On this patch of land, four thousand soldiers were killed or wounded. When twilight arrived, mysterious soldiers and phantom cannon fire appeared in the darkness.

EVIDENCE & RECAP FROM OUR AUGUST 17, 2024 EVENT AT FORT ADAMS

It was another baffling paranormal investigation at Fort Adams on Saturday, August 17, 2024. This was the first investigation that a weed whacker was part of our kit we packed. As we take guests in locations that are not open during public tours, I spent a few minutes clearing a path to the former bowling alley for our guests. It was an effort that was well worth it as our group experienced something truly unusual in that space.

One of our guests had seen movement in the space above and behind where the pins would have been. I had thought that it was shadows being cast by a flashlight - I try to look into alternative explanations first! When I walked down to that end of the space, I had my thermal imaging unit trained on that location and spotted a quick burst of movement on the thermal, unfortunately I was not quick enough with the record button to capture the movement of the cold spot. But as I was down there, I had felt a strong and heavy presence there and I was getting lightheaded. I had the feeling that whoever it was did not like that I was there, so I went back towards where our guests were.

Again, movement was seen from that space, so I once again went down there with the thermal imaging unit recording video to see if I could capture that unexplained moving cold spot. Again, I felt that heavy presence, but it disappeared very quickly. When I walked back to the group, I had felt that energy had moved to where the group was, and one of our guests had felt it as well. It is important to note, that I did not feel an evil intention with this energy, it was just a strong energy that would rather us be elsewhere.

Before the guests arrived, we had entered a space we typically do not bring guests, in order to see if it can be included at a future event. I was conducting the Estes Method, where I had a spirit box and headphones and was a conduit for the spirits. As always, the spirits at the Fort can be a handful! Immediately in our session, I heard a male tell us to 'get out' a couple of times. When we tried to assure the spirits that we just wanted to give them a chance to speak, a spirit box had said "I said something. Goodbye." Clearly that spirit did not want to cooperate that night - which is their right. I then heard a playful child say "I see you" in a playful manner. I then heard two spirits interact with each other, asking "How are you?" and another spirit say in quick succession "I'm fine." A funny response from the spirits was when Christiana was showing the spirits how to use the laser grid, and she was having a little too much fun with it and a spirit had asked her if she was okay.

It was truly disheartening for me that the audio file from both the tunnel area and the bakery were corrupted, and I could not download or analyze that data. Thankfully, I think those areas were more quiet than usual, but I did have an interesting personal experience in the former bakery area. I had seen movement in the space in front of the cooking hearth. I had seen light getting blocked out and I knew that there were no guests in that space. I immediately walked to that area to confirm that there were no guests there, and I tried to find an explanation to what I had seen, but I was surprised to hear footsteps right in front of me and my flashlight confirmed that there was no one (visible) there to make those noises.

The evidence video below highlights some of the intelligent responses we received that night. We heard once again that the spirits love when we play music for them. One of the most surprising responses was from a woman who stated that "we're stuck", something that I do not like to hear, and something we'll be sure to address in future investigations. "Lisa" once again dominated the talk in the former dispensary area, and I was happy to get a reaction out of the spirits when we placed a unique set of trigger items down for the spirits. We may have heard from Nelson Henry who attempted to murder his wife before turning his gun on himself. Check out the video below for those highlights and more!

EVIDENCE VIDEO FROM OUR AUGUST 17, 2024, FORT ADAMS EVENT

UPCOMING EVENTS!

TICKETS ARE GOING FAST FOR 2024's FINAL EVENTS!!

Friday, October 25, 2024

8:00 pm - midnight
A Spirited Evening at Fort Adams

Newport, Rhode Island

Explore a haunted fort! Tickets for our group paranormal investigations at Fort Adams in Newport, Rhode Island are available! Book your adventure now! Our guests are allowed to investigate areas of the fort that are closed to the public. We end the night giving you an amazing and unique view of Newport at night.

Cost: $42.40/person (after online ticketing fees) - all ticket proceeds to benefit Fort Adams!

For tickets: https://fortadams.org/visit-fort-adams/tour-the-fortress/. (Click on "Paranormal Investigation" in the section under "Purchase Tickets Online" and select Oct 25 when that new window opens.)

Please note that if you are planning to investigate Fort Adams with us, we will be walking on uneven surfaces and exposed to the weather as we walk from location to location. Please dress comfortably with appropriate footwear (open-toe shoes or heels not recommended!) Please be sure to bring a water bottle. In case of rain, please bring an umbrella or raincoat. Unfortunately, this event is not handicapped accessible and involves many stairs and ramps requiring a full range of motion from participants. Bring a lightweight folding camping chair if you get uncomfortable standing after a period of time.

Only 18 spots available! Enjoy beautiful Newport and investigate a massive fort in the dark with us! Get your tickets today!

Saturday, November 2, 2024 - 7:00 pm - midnight

A Spirited Evening at Ventfort Hall Mansion and Gilded Age Museum

Lenox, Massachusetts

(With Special Guests)

Join us on November 2, 2024, as we communicate with the spirits that still call this beautiful mansion their home. Activity has been picking up throughout the years, we can't wait to see what they have in store for us this year!

We are very excited that our friends, Paul and Olivia Oleskiewicz, from the Northern Berkshire Paranormal Research Group will be joining us for this special event.

Before the investigation, we will provide a brief history of the lives that once graced the hallways – and possibly still reside within. We will also share some of his favorite evidence from previous investigations and will be happy to answer any questions about paranormal investigations. This event is perfect for everyone; from someone who has never been on a paranormal investigation to the seasoned investigator.

Non-refundable tickets for this exciting event are $40 per person with a reduced rate of $25 for ages 12–18 and 19-23 with student ID and are limited. Reservations are required. No walk-ins. You can purchase your tickets online by clicking on the following: (https://gildedage.org/products/paranormal-investigation-with-david-raby-november-2-at-7-pm) All of the proceeds from ticket sales will go towards the preservation and restoration of Ventfort Hall.

Only 14 spaces remain for our last public event of 2024, so secure your spot today!

CELEBRATING TEN YEARS

- Lessons Learned -  

We are continuing looking back during this special year celebrating our tenth year of helping nonprofit historic locations. This month we will focus on the biggest lessons we learned. While we have been investigating the paranormal much longer than one decade, we'll focus on our time from 2014-2024.

Before 2014, our team focused on clients who had problematic hauntings so the spirits and energy we encountered were much different than the spirits and energy we encountered in the past decade. In the last ten years, we learned that the percentage of spirits who were 'stuck' or 'trapped' was far fewer than we originally thought. Not only was our goal to help families experiencing the paranormal, but we also wanted to help the spirits move on. Some of our most rewarding experiences were the times we moved spirits on - those memories are still very powerful ones for us.

But since we started to focus on helping historic properties, we have seen a shift to spirits who do not necessarily need our help, many are not trapped, and many choose to come and go as they please. They have such a strong connection to a particular property that they will be present, to check in and to see what is going on and interact with the living. They will voice displeasure if they don't like changes being made, or they will voice happiness if they like what is going on. Of course, we do run into spirits that ask us for help and we will try our best to do that - and that requires research into their lives and some guidance. We learned before this decade that we can only help those who want help - sounds familiar as that holds true for the living.

Another lesson learned is that the living can have a much greater impact on the investigation than we originally thought. When working private cases, we had investigators who were excited about the paranormal and eagerly welcomed interaction. But we learned that not everyone shares that passion, and some are dragged by their significant others or friends to one of our events. Some are skeptics who refuse to believe in the paranormal, and the spirits sense that and many are less likely to cooperate if they feel that those subtle signs that they perform is all for naught. One of our greatest memories are of the many who never believed in the paranormal walk out of an event questioning their own beliefs and admit to us that their eyes were opened to the paranormal. But we have also learned that one of the many factors that influence an investigation is the energy that is also put out by our guests.

One of the most recent lessons we learned is that our guests can hear from their owned loved ones during our events. It had happened a number of times in the first eight years, but recently we have been placing more of a focus on that during our public events. We all have spirits of loved ones and our ancestors who follow us, and some are quite skilled at using our devices to get a message through. While we love hearing from spirits of the places we visit, we get goosebumps whenever a guest has a special moment with their loved ones in the form of a message - even if it is just them saying that they are okay. For those of you who have attended a recent event, we help guide our guests into the mindset to be more open to receive and listen for a message from a loved one. We were witnesses to some of our guests shedding tears of joy from these special moments, and those reactions are priceless!

A lesson that can be funny or shocking is that some spirits still have longing for earthly pleasures or vices. As our guests know, we bring plenty of trigger objects as we have been getting amazing reactions or responses to those trigger objects, but sometimes the spirits can shock us with their truthful responses. Some ask us for specific types of alcohol, some at Fort Adams or the Shanley Hotel tell us of their need for primal urges - sometimes the expression on my face is priceless, I either stop talking for a minute or two, or I'll just rub the temples of my head in disbelief or embarrassment for what the spirits tell our guests. Many times, we cannot even share some of things being said. Those spirits definitely keep us on our toes!

We have learned much during our many years as paranormal investigations and hope to continue to learn new and exciting things. We can go on and on about what we have learned, but wanted to focus on these points. Next month we will talk about some of our biggest surprises during this past decade. We can't wait....

We respect your privacy. Your name or email address will never be shared or sold to anyone at any time.