10/28/2025 - Churchland Farm & Clarkboro Residence Results added to Archives!
10/28/2025 - Churchland Farm & Clarkboro Residence Results added to Archives!
DATE: November 8, 2013
LOCATION: Salem City, NJ
Over the years, we are proud that homeowners, business owners, and non-profit organizations have trusted us in entering their properties to investigate their claims of ghost activity. It is not easy to have a group of strangers enter your home or business, set up video and audio equipment, and walk around in the darkness attempting to capture evidence of the reports of activity. In addition, one of the other great accomplishments we have had is that some of the locations we have been able to investigate are owned by cities, towns, or counties that require a board of elected government officials to vote on allowing the JUMPS Team to investigate a location. The Salem Municipal Building is one of those sites.
In October 2013, the Jersey Unique Minds Paranormal Society was granted access to investigate one of Salem City’s historic locations by the Salem City Council. Once approved, the investigation was scheduled and on Friday November 8, 2013, we returned to Salem City to investigate another incredible historic location. In 1888, the building was built and used as the Salem National Bank and was located on East Broadway (New Jersey State Highway 49). In 1924, the bank was purchased by Salem City and was moved to its current location behind several businesses on New Market Street. For years following the move this location was used as Salem City government offices, then these offices were moved to another location and now this building sits unoccupied except when City Council and other groups have their meetings.
Eight team members arrived that evening and met with Salem City Councilwoman Karen Tuthill. After a brief meeting about the building and a rundown of what the team planned to do, she left the location and the team began setting up the equipment. Founder Doug Hogate Jr, Tech Manager Al Pagano, and Training Coordinator Jim Worrell did a walk through of the location while the rest of the team unloaded and unpacked the gear. For this investigation we were using a brand new set of HD night vision infrared cameras and new full spectrum cameras. After the walk through, the team placed these new cameras in the following locations:
Audio recorders and motion sensors were also placed in view of each infrared camera.
Base was located on the first floor in a small room that was sealed from the investigating areas.
Once the cameras and equipment were set, we began recording and the investigation began. The first sweep began at approximately 8:15 PM. For this first round of investigating, investigators were paired in groups of two and sent to every level of the former bank. Team Leader Bonnie and Trainee Tim headed to the upper levels and began on the second floor, Team Leader Eileen and Tech Manager Al began on the first floor in the meeting area, Training Coordinator Jim and Trainee Mellie descended to the basement, and Reporter Kelly and I remained at base to monitor the cameras.
Jim and Mellie wasted no time once they entered the basement. They began using a K2 and Mel Meter to measure the EMF levels of the entire basement. While doing this, they began conducting an EVP session. Prior to the start of the investigation, some unexplained things had occurred during set up that team members experienced therefore the two wanted to see if high EMF levels in the old building could be the cause. Jim checked every exposed wire and wall while Mellie attempted to communicate by requesting any spirit present get close to the K2 meter she was holding to cause the lights to flash. Also while doing this, she had the audio recorder on in hopes that any spirit that wanted to speak could be heard. While no activity occurred or K2 fluctuations were recorded, Jim and Mellie witnessed that a consistent spike would occur on the K2 meter that lasted approximately 30 seconds then return to normal. This occurred every few minutes during their sweep. After approximately 50 minutes, the two left the basement and returned to base.
On the floor above them, Eileen and Al were using the same investigative techniques in the meeting room as Jim and Mellie were in the basement. Using a K2 meter, digital recorder, and Mel Meter, the two investigators swept the large wide open area to measure EMF levels and attempt to make contact with any spirit present. Moving to different areas of the meeting hall, sitting in the seats, and asking series of questions, everything seemed calm. It wasn’t until about halfway through their sweep that the two realized that there were individuals outside of the building walking past that could be heard talking. Also, they determined that investigators on the other floors could also be heard while in the large room. Noting the temporary contamination on the recorder, she continued her EVP session and asked if any spirit present had a name. Approximately 10 seconds later, Al heard a disembodied voice that he immediately asked Eileen if she heard. Eileen did not hear any voice and Al explained that it sounded like someone said, “Come here.” After that experience, the two continued their sweep and returned to base after a 50 minute walk through.
On the upper levels of the Municipal Building were Bonnie and Tim. They began their sweep by sitting in the larger room on the second floor to conduct an EVP and K2 session in an attempt to make contact with any spirit present. They spent 20 minutes conducting this session however no activity or K2 spikes occurred. At that point, they headed to the attic to attempt the same thing. Once they arrived, they positioned themselves on opposite ends of the area and attempted to make contact. Spending nearly 30 minutes doing this, they had nothing unusual occur. Then they headed back down two flights of steps and returned to base to meet the rest of the team.
With a quiet first sweep, with the exception of Al’s experience on the first floor, new teams were assigned and investigators went off to the areas of the Municipal Building again in hopes to capture evidence or have an experience. For this sweep, Eileen and Mellie made their way to the upper levels of the building, Kelly and Tim went to the meeting room, and a team of three; consisting of Doug, Bonnie, and Al went below the building into the basement.
With knowledge of the long period of spikes on the K2 in the basement witnessed by Jim and Mellie during the first sweep, Doug, Bonnie, and Al began their basement sweep with a K2, Mel Meter, Digital Recorder, and the REM Pod. With the K2 meter in his hand, Al began to investigate what could be causing the unusually long spikes. Witnessing the same thing as the first team, Al concluded that the consistent spikes could be caused by a transformer located right outside of the building that he had observed prior to the investigation. He stated that transformers push a large amount of voltage into the building constantly which is then converted in the electric box and distributed throughout the building. He noticed that this only occurred at the front half of the building in the basement and did not occur in the back half. Therefore, he concluded that this was what was causing the K2 meter to spike when in that area of the basement.
With this new information, the team determined that they could not conduct a successful K2 session in that section of the basement therefore they moved to the area where the natural electricity was not causing the unusual fluctuations. Still holding the K2 meter, the team began conducting a K2 and EVP session. After 5 minutes, none of the meters fluctuated. Suddenly, when Bonnie asked if the spirit was a former employee of the bank, the K2 meter began to spike. Instead of concluding that this one occurrence was a direct contact with a spirit, Bonnie continued to ask questions to determine if a spirit was in fact making contact. She began asking questions directed to someone who may have worked at the bank. After a series of 25 questions, approximately half of the questions had a response on the K2 meter. During this time, Al even noticed that his hearing aid began to vibrate which is an indication that the battery is running low. Though these responses and experiences were occurring, no EVP’s were captured. Once the K2 responses began to decrease and no longer seemed to be in response to questions, the team of three decided to return to base.
Meanwhile, on the floor above them, Kelly and Tim were investigating the first floor meeting room. Like Eileen and Al determined on the first sweep, they could hear the team of Bonnie, Doug, and Al in the basement which was making it difficult to investigate and causing contamination to their investigation. Therefore, they spent a short period of time in that area and returned to base to await a new plan of investigating the area and how to fix the problem with contamination.
On the upper level, Eileen and Mellie sat down on the floor of the larger room on the second floor of the Municipal Building. They began conducting their own K2 and EVP session. Unable to hear the contamination of the first floor and basement, they spent approximately 15 minutes attempting to make contact with any possible spirit present. With no direct contact or experiences, they made their way to the other areas of the second floor. Again, after spending several minutes, no experiences or activity occurred. Before they could make their way to the attic, they witnessed a loud commotion coming from the floor below them.
The commotion they heard was from a fellow investigator who had an experience that caused her to react in a way she has never reacted before. After investigating with the JUMPS Team for three years and experiencing activity like a scratch, voices heard, and so on, Bonnie has witnessed a lot. After her sweep of the basement with Doug and Al, they began to ascend the steps and make their way to base. Doug was first up the stairs, followed by Al. Just as she took the final step and walked through the doorway from the basement to the first floor hall, she suddenly felt as if someone grabbed her leg in the area right above her ankle and then pulled. In a normal human reaction, she reacted by darting through the walkway and away. After the experience, she felt as if she had reacted in the wrong way however, as was mentioned this was a normal human reaction. Whether an experienced investigator or not, if something unknown grabs your leg, it can startle you. After the incident, Bonnie was instructed to return to base and Doug returned to the basement to attempt to determine if this incident was caused by something natural or was in fact some sort of spirit. After several minutes scanning the area, nothing could be found. Therefore, all teams returned to base and took a few moments break to let things calm down.
While all investigators were at base and observing the entire building on the monitor, Bonnie suddenly noticed on Camera 4 that there appeared to be some sort of movement against the wall behind the steps. Immediately, Doug, Kelly, Mellie and Tim responded to the basement to investigate this movement. Once they arrived, Doug positioned the REM Pod on a chair in the area and began to conduct an EVP session. He also observed the area to see what could be causing the movement. Nothing was found and during the time spent there, nothing occurred. After several minutes, the four headed back to base to discuss what the rest of the team observed while they were in the area.
During this discussion at base, it was witnessed on Camera 4, again, that the REM Pod that Doug positioned on the chair began to alarm. It began to alarm once and then go silent every 30 to 45 seconds. Finally, it began to alarm continuously. Again, Doug responded with the rest of the team while Bonnie continued to monitor at base. Doug witnessed the REM Pod continuing to sound and not silence. He immediately replaced the battery to be sure that this was not the cause. Once the battery was replaced, Doug turned the device back on and positioned it in the same spot. The REM pod did not alarm again once it was turned back on so he requested that if any spirit was causing the REM Pod to alarm to please do it again. With the focus on the REM Pod, Bonnie suddenly calls on the radio to report that the camera observing the team suddenly shut off. Doug looked at the camera and noticed that the red LED lights were off. Doug immediately requests that if the spirit shut the camera off, to please turn it back on. The camera LED lights suddenly came on and Bonnie reported on the radio that the camera is now working. After these incidents, Doug, Jim, and Mellie returned to base leaving Eileen, Kelly, and Tim to continue another sweep.
For their next sweep, Doug, Jim, and Mellie head to the upper levels while Bonnie and Al remain at base to monitor the cameras. The first floor meeting area was left unoccupied to avoid the contamination that was witnessed by other investigators earlier in the investigation.
When Doug, Jim, and Mellie entered the second floor they headed straight to the larger room. They began conducting an EVP session and placed the K2 meters in different areas of the room so that any spirit present could use any one of these tools if they wanted to communicate. During this session, the three investigators moved to different areas of the second floor so that all areas were covered in the event of any activity occurring. After several minutes, Jim noticed that the full spectrum camera had turned off. He immediately responded to the camera to attempt to re-power it and begin recording again. With no luck, Doug joined him to assist by attempting to place the power cord in other outlets. No outlet seemed to work and the camera would not power on. Confused by this occurrence, they continue their sweep and head to the attic. When they arrived, Doug sat on a chair and Mellie positioned herself on the floor while Jim stood near the stairs. They continued to conduct an EVP session and attempted to make contact. After 20 minutes, no incidents occurred and they left the area.
As they returned to the second floor, they witnessed that the full spectrum camera that was not working due to power issues prior to their attic sweep was once again receiving power. When they made their way to the camera, they powered it on and saw that the battery indicator is showing a dead battery but charging. Jim then attempts to play back video to see if anything was recorded prior to being shut off the first time. When he went to play back the footage, the camera showed that there was no previous recordings. Suddenly the camera powered off again and would not come back on. After no success in their attempts to power up the camera they removed the camera from its placement and returned with it to base.
Meanwhile, in the basement, Eileen, Kelly, and Tim conducted their own EVP sessions. During this sweep, no incidents occurred after Doug, Jim, and Mellie left following the camera and REM Pod incidents. After a 45 minute sweep, they also returned to base.
Once the teams returned to base, Jim began to work on the malfunctioning full spectrum camera. When he plugged the camera in, it immediately received power. When he powered it on, the camera indicated that it had a full battery and there was footage that was recorded which was totally opposite from his previous attempt to observe the footage moments before when on the second floor.
The teams continued to investigate all areas of the Salem Municipal Building attempting to make contact with any spirit present and collect any evidence of activity that may occur. After several hours and some unexplained incidents, the team decided to pack up the gear and conclude the investigation.
After reviewing several hours of audio and visual footage, the JUMPS Team was able to capture some interesting, yet undetermined evidence. While investigating there were several occurrences that could not be explained, however, these were not strong enough pieces of evidence to make the conclusion that it was caused by a definite ghost presence.
There was one incident in particular that does confirm a personal experience that occurred during the investigation. During the first sweep of the meeting room that consisted of Eileen and Al, Al believed he heard a voice after Eileen asked any spirit, “What is your name?” The voice that Al heard was captured on the digital audio recorder. However, the EVP does not sound like what Al originally believed to be, “come here.” The EVP does sound as if a male voice is answering Eileen’s question and giving a name. This incident in particular also opens up a new area of research that will be conducted. This EVP was heard by Al who wears a hearing aid but was not heard by Eileen. The question that is being researched is; does Al hold an advantage in hearing potential EVP’s - that are captured with the digital audio recorders microphone - on his hearing aid due to hearing aids working on a different wavelength or frequency than hearing without a device. This is currently being researched and a report will be coming soon with the findings.
The incident with the cameras powering on and off was questioned as to being a malfunction. However, after checking the condition of the cameras and the wire used to transmit the signal, all cameras are in perfect operating order. The next question is the condition of the wiring in the building that could possibly be causing a short inside that could make the electricity fail occasionally. Further research on the electrical wiring is required before determining a conclusion on these incidents.
Therefore, with the experiences and the EVP captured, as well as some unexplained anomalies, it appears that there is a spirit presence in the Salem Municipal Building. However, the severity of this presence, who and why, and other questions remain unknown. Whoever is still roaming the building, whether an old employee of the bank, a former government official, or other entity, nothing appears to be negative in any way. The simple fact that the spirit holds a special attachment with one of the most unique and incredibly historic locations in the City of Salem is fascinating because we can research this further and have a chance to communicate with that history.
We hope that we get the opportunity to investigate the Salem Municipal Building again in the near future to research these questions further and we also want to thank the Salem City Council for allowing us to conduct our research and putting their trust in our expertise to continue this venture of the unknown.
Respectfully Submitted,
Doug Hogate Jr.
Founder of JUMPS
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