Hi Nightingale,
Not much of a story to tell (but long anyways). I’ve always tried to keep an open mind about the paranormal, however, with my background in science, I need a lot of verifiable, reproducible and unbiased proof before accepting anything as fact.
Knowing my curiosity about such matters, I was invited to stay the night in an old house off of Sulphur Springs Road in Dundas Ontario, which had some notable history. Built around the late 1700’s, the house was used to hide some soldiers (story varied, as whether they were American or British) during The War of 1812. The house had a bricked in tunnel in the basement, which at one time served as an alternate exit/escape route.
The residents had noticed a few odd events over the years but, as is usually the case, “things that go bump in the night” increased after renovations were completed. Most of the events might be explained away by the age of the creaky house, however one could not be dismissed so easily. One evening, while climbing the stairs to the second floor, one resident heard a baby crying in one of the rooms. Curious, as my friends had no infants in the family. As she approached the closed door she heard the shuffling of feet and a gentle female voice ‘shusshing’ the crying child. On opening the door, the room was vacant and all residents accounted for. Others in the family had also heard the infant on occasion. Hmmmmm….
As an impoverished high school student, I didn’t have much equipment to bring. Just a Ouija Board, 35mm Camera with regular higher speed film, infra-red film and a tape recorder I used when ‘roading’ for some local rock bands. These days I would add an EMF (Electro-Magnetic Force) reader and perhaps some night vision/low Lux cameras.
Ouija Board – hard to control & verify. I don’t put much trust in these as the participants can easily manipulate them consciously or unconsciously. Still we repeatedly kept getting a sequence of 6 letters (GUDTUY) that to this day mean nothing to the homeowners or me. Forwards, backwards, anagrams, historical surnames, military, city archives, etc, etc. Nothing, except that they kept repeating in that order. The Ouija board did correctly identify one date associated with the house which I later verified in the city hall archives. Those sitting with the Quija insist they had no knowledge of this rather vague date, but again, hardly proof.
Camera – no apparitions or anomalies in either the regular film or the infra-red spectrum. However, one curiosity occurred after we had all gathered in the kitchen for a coffee break. I placed my camera on a countertop and gathered with the rest in the center of the kitchen, some 10 feet away. After about 10 minutes the camera’s flash discharged with no one nearby. No photo, just flash. Yes, we all jumped! The flash unit had never discharged on it’s own before, nor did it ever do so again in all the time I owned the unit.
Tape Recorder -Finally, I used a 7” reel to reel (Roberts 770X) to record the night’s proceedings as well as letting it run on its own in various rooms. New tape - right out of the box. Next day while listening to hours of ‘tape hiss’, what do I hear? A baby crying in the background. Lasted for less than a minute yet very distinctive. That EVP (Electronic Voice Phenomenon) has me puzzled to this day.
A sequence of letters, an un-triggered flash, and an EVP of a crying baby. Interesting but proves nothing. Still a nice evening spent with friends in a friendly old house…
Just down the same road there is a local landmark which is supposedly haunted and has garnered some notoriety over the years. Called ‘The Hermitage’ you can check it out here;
http://www.hauntedhamilton.com/local_hermitage.html
And, with that….
I don't want to own the key
To some ghostly mansion where souls are set free
I don't remember where she said she would go
Straight for the highway or down the low road
I don't remember where she said she would be
Back in the city or on the high seas
Sleep well,
Yuri