Johnson Hall - Investigation #2

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DATE: June 11, 2011

LOCATION: Market Street, Salem, NJ

On March 5, 2011, the Jersey Unique Minds Paranormal Society conducted an exciting investigation of the Johnson Hall. Between the personal experiences, EVP’s, and videos recording during the investigation, there was no hesitation when asked to conduct a second investigation.

With the knowledge from the first investigation, the team already was well prepared to go into the investigation confident that the 200 year old location would produce excellent results. Along with having the knowledge of the spirits that remain at the mansion, such as the female spirit who stays in the master bed room of the second floor and the German speaking man who told investigators Doug and Laren he was playing his clarinet, the team was given new information of the latest claims that have recently occurred witnessed by the clients who work in the building.

•  In the first floor hallway / entrance area, there have been taps, small bangs, and the sound of footsteps on the stairway. One particular occurrence happened during a board meeting on the second floor when the people present heard someone come in the front door. When they went to check, no one was discovered in the area.

• A cloudy mist was observed in the staircase and credenza at the base of the stairs.

• While Sherri was in the front restroom on the second floor, the bathroom door swung open on its own. She immediately investigated to see who may have opened the door and discovered no one else was in the building. On the same day, someone came to the building to make a delivery and left the front door open for a brief moment. The door suddenly slammed shut on its own. No one was standing next to the door.

• The clients were told by someone who was inside the building that they could sense a spirit present and that it was on the first floor with them. Another day, the same person mentioned that the female spirit was standing behind Sherri’s desk and she ‘liked’ her. It was also said that the spirit wished the building was a house again and not an office building.

• While the client, Jennifer, was giving a tour of the second floor, she felt someone rub her hair in the ‘computer room.’

• Doug Hogate, Jr. - Lead Investigator
• Laren Lacy - Investigator
• Maureen Crossman - Investigator
• Eileen Bramble - Investigator

A tour was given to new investigators Maureen and Eileen of the past and current claims and information on personal experiences from the first investigations. After the briefing was complete, the team began setting up equipment. The IR cameras were set up at the following locations:

• One night vision camera was set up in the first floor hallway showing the staircase and credenza where the mist was seen and noises have been heard.

• One night vision camera was set up in the master bedroom on the second floor where a lot of activity was captured from the first investigation.

• One night vision camera was set up observing the door to the bathroom that was slammed shut. The camera was also showing the top of the staircase and areas surrounding.
• One night vision camera was set up observing the third floor hallway.

Once the cameras were in place and equipment was set, the team began investigating at approximately 8:45 PM. Lead investigator Doug and investigator-in-training Maureen headed to the third floor first, while investigator Laren and investigator-in-training Eileen made their way to the second floor.

Investigators Doug and Maureen began the sweep of the third floor in hopes to make contact with the German speaking male who was recorded saying, “ich bin spielen klarinette,’ which is translated to “I am playing my clarinet.” They began asking basic questions and attempting to have the entity give some sort of sign of their presence, including a chance to hear him play his clarinet. Both investigators spent time checking EMF levels on the entire floor and attempting to have their own personal experience. After approximately 30 minutes, the investigators returned to base to cool down, due to the third floor being over 85 degrees because of no air conditioning in the building.

While Doug and Maureen were trying to make contact with the German man on the third floor, investigators Laren and Eileen were using their own techniques to try to make contact with the female on the second floor that made her presence known in several ways during the first investigation. The investigators began in the master bedroom. Due to the preservation of the building and historical artifacts added to the room, a wooden barrier was added. Therefore, the team stood behind the barrier and proceeded to ask the entity to give signs of her presence and confirm the claims that she wanted the building to be a home instead of a business. With not much occurring, the team moved to the library area of the second floor. The girls continued to ask the female spirit questions and attempted to communicate using the EMF detector alarm on the ‘Ghost Meter.’ After approximately 45 minutes, they returned to base to regroup and prepare for the second sweep.

Next, lead investigator Doug and client Sherri spent some time in the first floor hallway with the voice recorder and ‘Ghost Meter.’ While investigating the base of the staircase, the gauge of the ‘Ghost Meter’ began moving between 1.0 and 1.5. They continued to observe the occurrence, but realized it was very consistent and ruled the activity as not paranormal. Next, they checked EMF levels in the dining room area and office of Colonel Johnson. It was discovered that EMF levels are very high at floor level and continue to be a high reading 3 feet high. This high reading is likely caused by the old electrical wiring below the floor from the basement area. Though there is a high EMF present, it will not have a huge effect on someone who is present in the room. The rest of the rooms remained normal.

The next sweep consisted of team leader BJ and investigator Maureen investigating the second floor and investigator Eileen and client Jennifer checking out the third floor. Eileen and Jennifer began asking questions, requesting a sign of the spirit’s presence and hoping to get answers to their questions on the digital voice recorders. Shortly after they arrived on the third floor, lead investigator Doug joined them, making it a three person team. They proceeded to stand in different areas of the third floor, in hopes to ‘trap’ the spirit, so that if they made a noise or gave a reaction, it could be witnessed by the person closest to the area. The client Jennifer left the investigators and returned to base, while Doug and Eileen continued investigating. In one room that seems to cause an uneasy feeling to most people, the team decided to move the third floor hallway camera into the room, as well as place a voice recorder. The team, then, spent time in the room to try to determine what the uneasy feelings may be caused by. It was discovered that the EMF levels were normal and no activity was observed during that time. Next, investigator Eileen returned to base and was replaced by investigator Laren. Then, the team continued to monitor EMF levels in the rooms, while asking questions to the spirit. Shortly after, the client Jennifer returned with ways to ask basic questions in the German language, such as “what is your name?” After attempting to ask questions in German, the three returned to base to cool down from the high temperatures on the third floor.

During that time, team leader BJ and investigator Maureen attempted to gather evidence of the second floor. Like the third floor team, they asked questions to the spirit and attempting to make contact using the ‘Ghost Meter.’ Team leader BJ even attempted the ‘Knocking Game’ which produce successful results during the first investigations, but nothing seemed to be interested at that time. After the sweep, the team returned to base.

For the third sweep, the two newest investigators made their way to the third floor to see if they may have luck with the male or any other spirit that may be present, and Doug and Laren proceeded to the second floor. This sweep, Doug & Laren investigated the bathroom door that was slammed opened on the client Sherri. It was discovered that the door does shut and it very difficult to open, even when knocked on and walking by. Then, the team proceeded to the bedroom where they began asking questions. Nothing abnormal occurred, so they moved on to the library where Doug attempted the knocking game while Laren stood on the other end of the floor. One unusual noise was heard the one corner of the room, but it was a minor occurrence and nothing significant to rule paranormal.

During the third sweep, Maureen and Eileen continued to attempt to make contact with the male entity, but like the other attempts, no experiences occurred.

The teams returned to base and let the building settle. After waiting 20 minutes, lead investigator Doug and team leader BJ proceeded to the third floor to attempt to provoke the male. Again, nothing seemed to cause the spirit to make any signs of his presence.

After all the sweeps and attempts to capture experiences, the team closed the investigations.

After 11 days of reviewing the evidence, JUMPS discovered a few EVP’s and noises that occurred during the investigation.

• While investigators Laren and Eileen were investigating the second floor library, they asked, “Is anyone in this room?” A faint whisper was, then, recorded saying, “Yea.”

• EVP #1 - "Yea..."