PRSNA Investigation of a Private Residence in Wilkes-Barre, PA

Location: Private residence in Wilkes-Barre, PA

Date: Friday night, July 19, 2002 - 8:30pm to 11:00pm

Investigators present: Hillary M., Paul M., Shonda A., Robert H. and Jonathan H. (guest investigator)

Equipment: RCA digital voice recorder, Olympus C-3000 digital camera, Sony Hi8 digital video camera with Nightshot, Pentax PC-550 35mm camera, Extech EMF meter, Kodak DC280 digital camera, Tri-Field analog EMF meter and Olympus 2000 Digital Voice Recorder, Sony Digital-8 Handycam, Pentax zoom 90-WR 35mm camera, Extech IR thermometer.

History: This house was built in 1899. It was owned by a man named David Jones who owned several grocery stores. Ironically, in 1915, he died of  food poisoning in the upstairs bedroom. The next family to own the house owned an electrical business at the time in which electricity was coming into vogue. They had one of the first electric dishwashers in 1919! Unfortunately, they lost the house during the Depression  because of financial difficulties. We learned from the daughter of this owner that her mother wept in the parlor when she discovered that they would have to leave the house. On our first visit to the home, before we knew this, the LVGHS recorded an EVP of a woman sobbing in that room! The next owner turned it into a funeral parlor. The former owner always longed to return to the house, but refused to as long as it was a funeral home. The funeral home was in operation from 1933 to 1978.  The next owner was an attorney, followed by a gentleman who used the house as a graphic arts studio. Several of his workers heard strange things. Lights went off and on, and one worker saw a man in the basement who asked "what are you doing to my house?" When the worked turned around, the man disappeared. The house is currently used as a private residence. The owner has been renovating it to its original Victorian appearance. He has had strange things happen to him, especially while working on the house. These strange experiences include a sudden shock while on a ladder (with no electricity nearby), chills and cold spots,  feelings of  being touched, things vibrating, and things being moved or turning up missing, only to be found later in a different location. The present owner has also seen an apparition of a middle-aged woman.
I have investigated this house several times. It is a very unique and active home. Some paranormal investigators have shared the same experiences as the present owner. Many strange electrical anomalies have also been recorded in this house by several different investigators and paranormal research groups.

Investigation: We arrived around 8:30 pm. Immediately after walking through the front door, Robert started to hear a player piano playing in his head. Upon arrival, I explained to the owner that we needed him to sign a release. We got an EVP at that time which said "oh why?" in a whisper. I then took Robert and Jonathan on a tour of the house, since they had never been there before. This is when Robert learned that there is a player piano in the front sitting room. The last area I took them to during the tour was the basement. Just a few minutes after entering the room, Jonathan took a picture in which he thought he might have something. I thought it was a reflection, so I told him to take another picture from the same vantage point. He did, and that picture revealed a bright moving orb!
At 9:10, I set up my video camera in the basement, and Shonda set hers up in the second sitting room. We all moved into the first sitting room to attempt to get an EVP. We almost immediately began getting random orbs around the ceiling and door to the second sitting room.
At 9:26, Shonda's camera stopped working. It didn't loose power, she just couldn't get it to respond, she couldn't even turn it off. I immediately took a picture of her, and got an orb above her head! In the next picture the orb was gone. Three and a half minutes later, Shonda's camera started working again. Then mine stopped working. The camera said that the Smartcard needed formatting, but I used that card in the camera at every investigation. When I tried the card again later it was fine. Also, upon reviewing Shonda's video in the next room, we observed an orb shoot out of the room we were in through the closed doors right after I started having trouble with my camera.
At 9:45, I moved my video camera to the upstairs hallway, and Shonda moved hers to the first sitting room, aimed at the closed doors to the second sitting room. We moved into the second sitting room as a group for a recording session. During this session I got an EVP of someone sighing into the recorder, although the recorder was not close to anyone. A couple of minutes later, Shonda asked if whoever was with us could pose for a picture beside Robert on the couch. Her picture revealed a faint orb sitting right next to him on the couch! In the next picture, the orb was gone. About ten minutes later, Robert's camera shut itself off. I immediately took a picture and got a moving orb on the window above his head!
At 10:15, Paul and Jonathan went out to the porch for a break. Shonda, Robert and I headed down to the basement, hoping to get another moving orb. Unfortunately though, we got no results in the basement, so we headed to the second floor landing. After about twenty minutes up there, we decided that the activity had settled down for the night, so we packed up our stuff, thanked our host, and hit the road.

Special thanks to the owner of this house for his hospitality. We never leave there disappointed.

Submitted by Hillary Murdoch