“There are things known and there are things unknown, and in between are the doors of perception.”
—ALDOUS HUXLEY
I grew up around a lot of young people dying and escaped death many times myself. I had cancer surgery when I was six months old. My car was crushed by a falling tree while Michelle and I were in it. It destroyed the car, but we didn’t receive a scratch. Michelle thought we were dead until a police officer began speaking with us. I also got kicked in the face by a horse and would have died if I had been hit just slightly differently.
So, this continuing mind game of being surrounded by death is getting old. Actually, it was old 25 years ago. I want some closure. That’s one reason I don’t want to leave this house. I want to know what is going on here. You would think after 40 years I would have some substantial understanding or least some promising clues.
There are questions I would like to ask our “visitors.” Why do you have to knock over a salt shaker? Do you think I am supposed to know what that means? Why don’t you just come out and say something or ask something? If you can do all these things, then why not do things that actually communicate something?
My mother’s missing ring returned to the jewelry box. I believe she thought it was my grandmother making good on her promise to take something she normally couldn’t get a hold of and putting it in a place where my mother would know who did it. My mother and I would sit down after my father went to work and we would compare notes. We’d talk about how sometimes she would hear something and ask if I had heard the same thing. Sometimes I had and sometimes I hadn’t. She would discreetly call the neighbors and ask if they had heard any explosions. She was, also, interested in finding out what was going on around here, but my father would shush most discussions on the subject. He reported that he had witnessed my grandfather standing in the milk house years after his death. He reacted in a calm manner about the incident. Perhaps it was that at that point he felt he knew in his heart how things really were so he saw no reason to be upset by the rest of it. On the other hand, maybe he remained uncertain and just wouldn’t acknowledge the “happenings” because that would be admitting it was all real.
I have spent years thinking about all the unusual things. Each comes back to the question of “why?” Why do the curtains lift straight in the air and lash out at my face? Clearly I know you’re here, but I don’t know who you are or what you want, so why do you keep doing what you are doing? I am looking at it from a logical perspective. It is trying to get my attention. It gets my attention. But then it never follows through letting me know why it wanted my attention. Exasperating!
I have never liked to call them ghosts. Why? My mind has evolved over the years from thinking it is a dead relative or spirit to believing it involves other non-human, leaping things. Really, though, I continue to find myself at the point of just not knowing.
I suppose the multiverse theory is possible and would explain much of what is going on here. It seems entirely plausible. Although that could account for many of the events, I tend to doubt if it explains the voices or the orbs or the door shaking. The entities we have seen—the non-human ones—like the one standing in the vanity, was clearly out of sync with space and time. And the entity that leaped by the doorway. I felt sorry for it. I felt like it was sad—cowering and sad. It was nothing I had ever seen before. I do believe in the multiverse, but I don’t think it explains everything.
I think the rest of it could just be energy, like when the spoons bent, as opposed to an entity deliberately bending the spoons. I saw orbs with my own eyes. Maybe that is ghost energy. I think our electronic devices today are making parts of this phenomena more obvious and therefore more real. We have cell phones, cell towers, satellites, etc. all sending and receiving high frequency waves that may in some ways be riling things up. I have all these theories running around in my head and all of them have the single purpose of answering why. Sometimes when I hear something I get the distinct feeling that it is trying to communicate with me. And other times I feel I am just witnessing something in a detached, more side-by-side way. Unseen dishes rattle. Could that be something that is somehow being reestablished from 100 years ago? It just doesn’t make sense to me and I don’t like things that don’t make sense.
There is a Native American site nearby, but none of us outsiders know exactly where it is. The tribal leaders don’t want to tell us, fearing vandalism. At the base of the mountain (Stillwater), all sorts of Native American artifacts were found—arrowheads and other items. I don’t know if that somehow plays into all this.
I started this journal for that very reason: to try to make sense of it. And here it is today and I still can’t make sense of it. I had white sage going all over this house, had the place blessed, talked to visitors, and none of it matters. It just keeps going on. I would never have a séance here and I would never use a Ouija board here. I am convinced that whatever is here has settled in because we did not call it out or encourage it. The other issue is that new entities can be let in by doing such things.
Others have suggested that this house or this immediate territory is like a meeting place—an inter-dimensional meeting place. If true, I don’t want to encourage that. I want peace and quiet, not a bus station. Overhearing is fine. But I don’t want to call them out and try to invite something else in here or bring anything to another level. We have what we have here and that is more than enough for me. White sage just stunk and it didn’t work. Neither did the blessings.
I was lying in bed and I wondered why we have never heard anything in the attic. It’s basically just two large rooms. The kitchen was a general store. Years ago, we used to close doors for protection—to keep “them” out. How silly is that? They go through doors and walls and floors.
It’s impossible to get the big picture on all of this. Everyone has pieces of it, but I can’t get the whole story on what all this is and how it all fits and works together. No one claims to know.
I try to eliminate all other possibilities—even today—to differentiate between ordinary happenings and the actual “phenomena.” Everybody who protested about going public with the story of this house is dead and gone, so I simply don’t care to protect it any longer. People who know me know about it. Many of them express interest in sleeping over, but these phenomena don’t work on demand. You can be here an hour and experience it or be here for a week and see, feel, or hear nothing out of the ordinary.
Donna’s life, from the long-run perspective, pretty much centered on the address of the house in which she lived for such a large part of her life. What better “hook” for an entity to find than that when they were trying to connect or communicate or be noticed by her? It is most likely one of many, many aspects of her life that have been tried. She tuned in on the number and once she did, she became sensitive to it, so she tended to notice it when it was “sent her way.” It is not necessarily a commonly reported experience, but it does occur in the literature.
Throughout Donna’s accounts runs what appears to be a preoccupation with jewelry by the forces at work. Metal tends to draw these sorts of phenomena to it. They seem to rotate around it the same way they do around bathrooms, kitchens, and plumbing—all defined in some ways by metal. In such cases there may be no specific entity involved. It may, rather, just be energy swirling in the area—energy that in some ways alters the physical laws as we generally understand them. “In the case of Goodins’ experience (see The World’s Most Haunted House, The True Story of the Bridgeport Poltergeist on Lindley Street), the energy swirled right around me and yet I felt the presence of no one in the room with me.” When a bioelectrical field becomes present, any person in its vicinity will sense it—feel it.
A prevailing interpretation of UFO phenomena regards the sightings as balls of light—the precise physics of which is still somewhat elusive. Whether seen up in the sky or inside a house, those orbs may be identical occurrences. It often comes down to a matter of context. One observes large floating objects in the night sky and they are easily interpreted as flying objects—how else could they be there? It only makes sense. Inside a house, especially one that is prone to exhibit unexplainable entities or occurrences, a common or reasonable interpretation would be a ghost or some related thing. These orbs, big or small, close or far, have the capacity to change—to modify themselves in shape and color and direction and speed of movement. There properties and behaviors could be interpreted as intelligent. In some ways they act like similar to ball lighting. Electromagnetic energy holds the whole multiverse together. This class of entities seems to have changed over the years. The orbs reported in the 1970s, if found at all, are different in appearance from orbs like the ones Donna and others have described recently. Light phenomenon specialists in photo labs contend that orbs are still an open question. They are all open questions.
The vast array of things and forces reported by Donna in and around her house represent the greatest paranormal menagerie that I have run into in the last 44 years. It is therefore difficult or impossible to draw conclusions about the makeup or ultimate source of all of them. The childlike figure with the elongated ears falls within this category. Just because it has never been cataloged before should not be reason to disbelieve in its existence.
[Paul reported that he had never had a case where there were so many different life forms reported in such a confined area with appearances being so consistent through the decades.]
That is common. Their positive nature sort of keeps things in balance in a strange way. Bob and Donna are very positive people. A lot of it has to do with the people and how they react and interact with the experience.
Young children are play- and fantasy-oriented. The boundary between real and other worldly is thin and often nearly nonexistent. That is all normal. So when approached by a paranormal entity the child will accept the newcomer on face value. To have children interact with these phenomena is well documented in the literature. Dale conversed with things in the corner and seemed to become the focus of levitation. He had his special friend—not experienced by others—who stayed with him for some time.
[Paul had a case in Florida in which there was a young boy who reported invisible friends and he actually met them. Genuine, verified, conversations occurred with them. Perhaps adults who never lose their inner child are naturally more sensitive to such happenings. Part of it is having an open attitude that can put off the adult trappings of doubt about all things that do not follow the established laws of the universe. Some children seem to be able to communicate with both positive and negative aspects of other worlds. Our concern should be reserved for the fear-or harm-producing encounters.]
Sometimes coincidence becomes interpreted as a cause and effect event. The best explanation for the coins appearing in Bob’s car is perhaps some combination of coincidence and paranormal energy interacting with the metal involved—that particular car and the coins. Beyond that any answer would be conjecture masquerading as wisdom.
The sense of smell is the most powerful of the senses, making it one likely to link our brain with places, people, and memories, and that either involved that aroma or could have involved that aroma. Such phenomena are commonly associated with events such as Donna and her family report. That brain-based explanation is perhaps the most likely one.
[That was a first for Paul. His educated deduction is that it is in some way related to the ball light—the orbs—that became so common. The vast amount of electrical energy necessarily associated with orbs may well have made some minimal (perhaps heat-induced) transformation on the surface of the painting while the light configuration remained in contact with it. It was not entirely a surprise that it could have been the case, because while in the basement of Donna’s house the investigator’s compass spun wildly, suggesting an extreme excess of electrical energy.]
This is not at all an uncommon revelation both in children and adults. In some ways it seems to be similar to the Ashwar invisible playmate story. It has been accounted for by several things, perhaps most typically, ancestral memory. The mechanics of such experiences are not established, perhaps because it follows laws of some other realm that merely spill over occasionally in the form of such memories. [Paul finds such reports absolutely fascinating. He enjoys listening to children talk about such things and believes it is relatively easy to sense when their stories are sincere.]
This is archetypal like other figures. Some of the others that were reported include the man with the checkered shirt and the little blonde girl with flowers in her hair. A black shadow figure with a broad-brimmed hat like this is quite common. At the center of a paranormal flap, like where Donna lived, an endless variety of “things” can pass through on a single occasion and never be seen or sensed again.
Broken items that suddenly begin working are very common. Typically no “reason” based in the laws of known physics can explain it, but then, in the realms of the unknown, those laws also remain unknown. It is fascinating to wonder about how processes common only to one realm may become manifest in another, if only for the briefest of moments.
It is reported that there is a cemetery in which you can at times hear a baby crying. This is, more generally, not unusual. The unsatisfactory explanation states that the baby may have died in the area—period. By itself that is, of course, no explanation at all. When dealing with the paranormal, however, we must often concede our ignorance up-front. If flaps exist which allow mingling between realms and times, hearing crying from the baby who died in that area is not implausible.
It is extremely rare to have a meaningful modification of something in order to exchange a specific message, such as writing a note that had never existed before as we saw in the Betty and Fred incident with Donna. The reports of phone calls and notes are therefore significant and very interesting. It is exciting to find that Donna and her family have unity and contact among the community of worlds. That suggests the possibility of meaningful communication—using what appears to be a mutually understood system.
This event is most likely not an intentional act perpetrated by any entity, but rather the result of the energy suddenly overflowing on to that spot in some unconventional manner. It is interesting—at least entertaining—to speculate that energies from several realms might have converged at that spot for just long enough for their combined force to do damage.
Levitation is not unusual. The interesting aspect of it is less in the act and more in the result. Does it merely occur in some benign fashion or does it become helpful or destructive? One of the things scrutinized in Donna’s case had to do with the distribution of negative phenomena. Investigators are especially interested in determining whether or not the “energy” is manifested as hostile and destructive forces. If, in fact, some sort of levitation had been involved in returning lost objects, that would be an example of a helpful force.
Ben calls such figures “clerics.” He characterized them as good and helpful neighbors. They are tall and very good natured. They appear to be looking out for people or even other beings. Perhaps it is similar to people in our realm volunteering in a soup kitchen or at animal shelters.
With numbers, it could be that they are frequently used or required numbers that sit at the ready in Donna’s mind. Since the universal phone number for help, 911, has come into our lives in that horrific act of terrorism, people tend to see it many places it isn’t—on clocks, for example. When the mind cannot collect all the data it needs to fill out a perception, it often, all quite willy-nilly, supplies data it holds in reserve, whether or not it may be logically connected. So, the most familiar sets of numbers one maintains—like house numbers, phone numbers, combinations, identity numbers, safety-related numbers—become the most likely candidates to appear. The likelihood of “seeing” any given set of numbers increases with the number of times it pops up. Eventually, such a set may become the mind’s choice to fill in a memory or perception. There remains the chance, of course, that it could be an actual connection or attempt by an entity at simple communication.
It is frequently reported that entities take items and hide them. Frequent targets are things such as money, jewelry, and even remote controls! The human interpretation tends to be that such things are either done as a prank or to get attention. They want to establish a connection between the two parallels and these are apparently methods they can use or find to be successful. Attempts to communicate are drastically different from attempts to cause harm. This family’s approach is really good because the door is open and bad things as well as good can enter. It has not, however, dwelled just on the bad as is so often the case. Generally positive environments, like Donna and her family have established, seem to welcome positive, non-malevolent forces and entities. Dysfunctional families, like the one in the Lindley Street case, invite the negative and they come and they stay and they feed and grow on the negativity.
Lights, in numerous forms and levels of activity, are commonly found. Some remain stationary while others maintain some level of activity. In some cases lights have been found to possess heat, enough to warm cold pavements. [Shane has witnessed lights above people’s heads inside the house when he began to interview them. On occasion it has taken a form resembling sparks or little fireworks coming from their head.]
When a family has established that nondiscriminatory open door, the way Donna’s has, anything can make its way through. They will pop in sometimes as if to merely check things out and see what is going on. Perhaps others enter in search of a playmate that will play in the manner they want to play. There seems to be an intelligence about these beings. They can tailor make their approach and their form or appearance depending on what they believe will garner their target’s attention. If appearing as an adult doesn’t get attention, then maybe a little girl in a nice blue dress will. In ways similar to human predators, these entities hone their skills until they can successfully enter this world and have it meet their need or needs.
The phenomenon of bent utensils is relatively rare. Certain electromagnetic frequencies can cause metal to be deformed or melt. Most assuredly, some powerful energy force is at work when it takes place. In scientific experiments, such metal bending processes have been demonstrated. Not knowing what we do and don’t know about the other realms, there is no reason not to believe such events might have a paranormal basis. It would always do well to search out explanations in the here and now, first.
Babies, children, and animals remain perceptive in ways most adults are not. As we mature and move on from days of fantasy and make-believe we tend to lose contact with certain senses that are innately associated with those processes. We also acquiesce to the expectations of the adult world we have been taught to know and believe exists. Even when and if we continue to possess those skills we tend to override them in the service of satisfying our expectations, so we may miss that which a few decades before we would have seen and embraced.
[When we need something it often seems to be provided. Shane said it happen to him as a kid. His family grew up poor. His main source of enjoyment came from playing baseball. He would throw the ball against the brick wall that encircled the church. On one occasion he threw it on top of the church roof where it stayed. It was his only ball. He was saddened and just looked up at the sky, grinding his teeth. Presently, he saw some tiny object dropping at him from above. As it grew larger and larger he could see it was a ball. It dropped right into the boy’s glove! It was a tennis ball rather than a baseball. It clearly had no relationship with the lost ball and yet, there it was, just when he needed it.]
Cases have been reported elsewhere in which money appeared when people really needed it. When such things occur away from home it gives credence to the belief that it is not the house that is haunted, but the person. Had it been the house such a thing could not have taken place in the car miles away. Such “money-gaining” events may involve either or both positive and negative (nasty) hauntings.
It is a phenomenon that I have not experienced before.
Although prior life experiences are frequently reported, the fact of returning from some “other side” cannot be proved. It is therefore hard to theorize beyond recording and reporting the experiences. The evidence is anecdotal. The gist of the stories is similar enough to warrant consideration. People who report such experiences often hold facts and images that were only known or present in the past or are in some other way unavailable to that person from first-hand experiences in the here and now. They may be able to name people in a picture that they have never met or been told about. Within the theories and positions of those who study the paranormal, alternate explanations may be possible. Some might propose that the information was transmitted in dreams, thinking that during sleep the mind may be open to communication from other realms or times. Others might suggest that it could also be their own ability to pick up on something that happened to somebody else who is present with them—some sort of memory reading.
[Shane reports that when his children were born, every single one of them had visitors of the paranormal variety. Some were silhouettes that moved objects in the room and continually turned on the baby monitor. When he was sick, he also had visitors from a family that he had never known. During those periods accurate information was acquired about them—looks, dress, and other features—that he later confirmed as being true with the family.]
Broken items starting to work are very common phenomena. The literature is filled with examples. Frequently, physical explanations cannot be supplied.
It may be that entities do things like that to bring a topic to your attention—one they believe you need to be focusing on. Some would suggest that this is some kind of time travel or time slip. When a strong environment has been established, like the one in Donna’s case, it becomes so active that time slip events occur. It may useful to think of these sorts of things in terms of quantum physics. It would suggest that there is something in the environment that is causing it.
Although very interesting, there is virtually nothing in the literature that seems relevant. In order for a plate to react that way you would think it would need massive pressure around the edges. To be in someone’s hands and break that way in equally small pieces is very odd indeed.
To use religion in the exploration and explanation of paranormal happenings is both dangerous and fruitless. Religion is a unique invention of humans so it is in no way a part of the paranormal equation. The history of the subject demonstrates that when religion is commandeered to handle hauntings and other supernatural events, it falsely appears to work and then, only for a very specific reason that has nothing to do with divine intervention. Religion’s impact on the people themselves is what then helps counteract the entity—but temporarily. Because the people—those who were haunted—didn’t change, the phenomena will soon return. One needs to address the actual issue—the entity or force and its incursion into someone’s life and territory. Religion masks that because by its nature it focuses on “fighting the paranormal with the paranormal”—the power of the god figure. Successful understanding of the phenomena must focus on the phenomena. Interestingly, the religious approach relinquishes any responsibility for understanding anything about it on the part of humans. That reflects, perhaps, the basic weakness of religion, in general.
[Shane has a 100-percent success rate and never uses religion because it is not necessary. Entities are not Bible readers. Entities do not share human religious values. Our human belief systems cannot be imposed on them and never are.]