Johnson Hall - Investigation #1

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DATE: March 5, 2011

LOCATION: Market Street, Salem, NJ

The Salem County Chamber of Commerce was relocated to the Johnson Hall in January of 2011. Since moving in, the client and her assistant began noticing unusual occurrences almost immediately. After taking photos throughout the inside of the building and noticing strange orbs, they needed answers. JUMPS was contacted by a friend of the client, Jennifer, who stated that he would e-mail a photo taken from the third floor of the mansion to be reviewed by the team. After receiving the photo, lead investigator Doug Hogate Jr. contact Jennifer to discuss conducting an investigation.

The client, Jennifer, Executive Director of the Salem County Chamber of Commerce, received approval from the Salem County Administrator and Freeholders, and on March 5, 2011, the team arrived at the 200 year old building to begin the investigation.

• On the first floor, the client stated her assistant, Sherri, left for lunch one day. Sherri locked the door once she left so no one could walk in. A few minutes after she left, she heard the bell sound, as if the front door opened. Thinking it was her assistant returning, she began calling for her, but no response. She walked around to see where she may be, and observed that the front door was still locked and no one came in.
• During a luncheon, a table was set up next to the staircase in the first floor hallway. While in the conference room, they heard someone messing with a bowl of potato chips. When they looked to see who it may be, no one was around.
• While in the office/conference room, the client and her assistant will hear the sound of footsteps coming from the room directly above them.
• The client and her assistant have heard a female humming on the second floor.
• On the second floor, the door that connects the master bedroom to another bedroom has old paint that is chipping off. After a pile of chipped paint on the carpet is vacuumed, more paint falls, as if someone is banging or messing with the door, causing it to happen. 
• On the third floor, the client claims that doors will move on their own. On one occasion, a storage room door closed on its own with so much force, it locked. The client had to contact the county building and grounds department to have the door opened.
• On the third floor, past occupants that worked in the building have reported the feeling of being watched.

• Doug Hogate, Jr. - Lead Investigator
• Laren Lacy - Investigator
• BJ Hoffman - Investigator
• Tiffany Hoffman - Investigator
• Brent Stephens - Investigator

At 7:15 PM, the team began setting up the equipment. This was the first investigation the team used a new camera system.

• One night vision camera was set up in the first floor hallway looking down the hall and at the front door, attempting to capture the bell on the door.
• One night vision camera was set up in the master bedroom on the second floor where the client and her assistant hear footsteps from when on the first floor.
• One night vision camera was set up looking down the hall on the third floor.
• One night vision camera was set up in the storage room looking through the doors that have been reported to close on their own and into the room where a past occupant of the building felt as if someone was watching them.

After the equipment was set up, the team began the investigation at 8:00PM. Investigators BJ and Brent began on the third floor and investigators Doug and Laren began on the second floor. Investigator Tiffany and the clients remained at home base to view the cameras.

Investigators BJ and Brent, first, investigators the doors moving on their own. They observed that, while the doors did move on their own due to the level of the building, on a few occasions, it would close at a normal speed, but then appeared to be pushed. During their time, they also felt a feeling as if there was someone else there, then disappear. Once the feelings would go away, they would begin hearing noises coming from the other end of the hall. When they would investigate those noises, it would stop there and move to the other side. Another experience they had was their flashlight began to flicker on its own. Checking the flashlight to make sure the batter cover was on tight, they observed it was tight and could not recreate the light flickering themselves.

As these experiences were going on, investigators Doug and Laren were checking out the second floor. They began in an office located across from the bathrooms where a woman was heard humming on occasion. Nothing was experienced in that area, so the investigators moved to the master bedroom. Immediately, they began an EVP session, attempting to make contact with the spirit who is heard walking around. Since home base was in the same area where the footsteps are heard, investigator Doug contacted investigator Tiffany on the radio stating he was going to walk back and forth at normal pace to determine how well it can be heard from the floor beneath him. Walking at normal pace, she stated that is can be heard very clear. Sitting back down, no experience occurred during their session.

Next, the team of BJ and Brent moved to the second floor and Doug and Laren proceeded to the third floor. BJ and Brent began their investigating in the master bedroom. While investigating, Brent decided to give the ghost a name of "Annali." Once he began asking questions and referring to the spirit as Annali, he starting to feel as if someone was rubbing his hair. After about 10 minutes of experiencing this, investigator Tiffany contacted the team stating it looked as if a mass sat down on Brent's lap in the camera. While these experiences were occurring, BJ and Brent would hear the sound of the window blinds, made of metal, being messed with. BJ investigated the windows for drafts, but none were found. BJ and Brent, then, moved to the room that was joined with the master bedroom where the paint chips are falling. Brent began playing a "knocking game." He knocked three times on the table and listened to see if a spirit would return the knocks. During this session, there were unexplained knocks that occurred from another area of the second floor.

While BJ and Brent were having better luck with experiences in the master bedroom then investigators Doug and Laren, they checked out the third floor. As soon as Doug began walking down the hall toward the storage room doors, he felt as if he had walked into someone. He also felt a pressure feeling in his head and stomach, but could not determine if that was paranormal, the uneven floor, or the fact the building is tall and being up so high. When Doug and Laren approached the office room where someone claimed the feeling of being watch, Laren felt uncomfortable with the room so remained in the hall. Doug investigated the room with the 'Ghost Meter,' attempting to make contact with the spirit by making the alarm sound. Next, the team began looking at the movement of the door. While checking the door, they both heard a loud thump at the other end of the hallway. Immediately, they asked the BJ and Brent if they made a noise on the second floor. They stated they did not. Doug and Laren were unable to find any source that could have caused the thump.

After investigating the areas, the team met back at home base to regroup. The team decided to move the camera on the first floor to the master bedroom, showing the other side of the room that the other camera could not see. They also repositioned the camera on the third floor to the other side of the hallway, facing the opposite direction. After repositioning the cameras, the team of Laren and Tiffany began investigating the master bedroom. Joining them was the client Jennifer. The team of Brent and Doug began their second sweep in the third floor, while BJ remained at home base to watch the cameras.

Investigators Doug and Brent, began by sitting in the hallway trying to hear the sounds that were heard during the first sweep. BJ radioed to them that the camera had moved on its own. Doug and Brent checked the camera to see if the tape holding it down was coming loose. Appearing to be secure, Doug began asking if the spirit was messing with the camera. Nothing else occurred during their investigation of the floor.

The team of Laren, Tiffany, and the client Jennifer is another story. Approximately 20 minutes into their investigation of the master bedroom, Tiffany felt a pinch on her left shoulder, closer to her neck. Confused at first, she asked Laren to look at her neck to see if there was a mark. Laren observed a small lump and red mark. Tiffany, Laren, and Jennifer immediately began asking why the spirit pinched her. During this experience, the team heard the sound of the medal blinds being tampered with, like Brent and BJ had experienced earlier in the investigation.

After spending over an hour in the locations, Brent and Doug joined Tiffany and Laren in the master bedroom. At that time, Jennifer had returned to home base. Lead investigator Doug observed Tiffany's shoulder and saw that where she had been pinched no longer had a lump, but was still red. Investigator Laren stated that prior to the pinching incident, she felt a weight on her legs, as if someone was sitting on her lap. With the four investigators sitting in the room, Brent began calling for Annali again, attempting to have his hair played with for a second time. With nothing happening, the team moved to the other bedroom again to try the "knocking game" again. There were some knocks heard, but not as active as the first attempt. Then, the team of Laren and Tiffany moved to the third floor and Doug and Brent returned to home base.

When Doug and Brent returned to home base, the client Jennifer stated that while she was in the master bedroom, she felt as if someone was playing with her hair, as Brent did. Doug remained at home base to observe the cameras and BJ and Brent began investigating the second floor again. During this sweep, BJ and Brent discovered a motion detector located next to the door. Every time it picked up motion, a red light would come on. Testing different movements while sitting, they realized that moving while sitting did not activate the lights. With this determination, they sat and observed the motion detector after the lights went out. While sitting, the motion lights would come on, picking up an unknown source.

After the third sweep, the team regrouped. The final sweep consisted of Doug, BJ, and Brent returning to the master bedroom to attempt to make contact with the, believed to be, female in the room. Tiffany and Laren stayed at home base. Brent began calling for "Annali" immediately after sitting down. The team, suddenly, heard a female humming. Brent continued calling for her, when the motion detector lights began to light again. After approximately a half hour, the team noticed the activity did not seem to be as active as earlier in the investigation.

At approximately 11:45 PM, the team packed up the equipment and investigation came to a close.

After 5 days of reviewing the evidence, JUMPS discovered some interested videos and voices that were recorded during the investigation.

• PERSONAL EXPERIENCE #1 - BJ & Brent receive responses during the "Knocking Game."
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• EVP #1 - Brent says "check it." A female voice is recorded saying "check it" then laughs. 

• EVP #2 - Female is recorded speaking over Brent

• PERSONAL EXPERIENCE #2 - Tiffany, Laren & Jennifer hear the window blinds move.

• PERSONAL EXPERIENCE #3 - Tiffany gets pinched while conducting an EVP session.

• EVP #3 - After Tiffany feels someone pinch her, she asks who did it. A female was recorded crying.

• EVP #4 - After the previous EVP was recorded, the same crying female was recorded asking someone to "explain it,"

• EVP #5 - Tiffany explains how the phantom pinch felt. While she explains this experience, a female is recorded letting out a scream.

• EVP #6 - Doug, BJ & Brent hear a female humming which is also captured on the digital recorder.

• VIDEO #1 - The moment before Tiffany was pinched, the camera placed in the Master Bedroom captured an anomaly floating toward her.

• VIDEO #2 - The camera positioned in the Master Bedroom captures another light anomaly, only this time appearing to take shape.

• VIDEO #3 - A third anomaly is recorded moving around the same area in the Master Bedroom

• VIDEO #4 - A fourth anomaly recorded.