Haunted Objects: Paranormal Discussion Group June Meeting

Barry and Angie kick off the On Purpose Project's Paranormal
Discussion Group: Haunted Objects

Every last Wednesday of the month, the St. Albans On Purpose Projects hosts a Paranormal Discussion Group at the St. Albans Historical Society building. This all-inclusive group of paranormal enthusiasts gets together each month to hear presentations from those in the field of paranormal research, share their own spooky stories, and generally just enjoy being in each other's paranormal-loving company! 

The June meeting, however, shook things up slightly. Members were invited to bring in items they suspected may be haunted, tell their stories, and....have them actually investigated through various pieces of paranormal investigation equipment!

I chose to bring in my memento mori hair locket, which I don't necessarily feel is haunted, per se, but my mom does hate it, thinks it's evil, and is uncomfortable with it in her house. And while I don't think it is actually haunted by an intelligent entity that has an attachment to it, I do agree that it has a strong energy associated with it, which would be expected, as it was worn by someone in deep mourning over the loss of a loved one. Through what I believe is spontaneous psychometry (also called token object reading), I've caught glimpses of the previous owner through my mind's eye.

Anyway, there were some interesting objects. Barry brought in a hand-made box filled with old documents, Angie brought in a horrifying ceramic bunny that seemed to have a little girl attached to it, and there was a whole freaking basket worth of spooky dolls. But, probably the most active piece investigated that night was an old card table that was donated to the St. Albans Historical Society.

I don't want to spoil it, as there will be more information coming later, but this card table seemingly was still in possession of a prominent judge and St. Albans resident. And, this dude was eager to communicate! His dominating personality was left completely intact in the afterlife, as he had some pretty strong reactions to certain lines of questioning, and even tended to steal the spotlight from any other entity that may have wanted to communicate with us---including his own wife. 

The investigation of the items was led by Ron Lanham of Wild and Weird WV and Jess of WV Unseen Paranormal. The judge seemed to respond to direct questions through the use of what is commonly referred to as The Flashlight Method. This method of communication utilizes the type of flashlight (such as a Maglite) that switches on and off through twisting. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that this technique can be controversial in the field of paranormal investigating, as it lends itself quite easily to false positives. There are numerous articles and YouTube videos explaining the process in detail, such as this excellent example from Paranormal TV.  However, the technique isn't something that we necessarily have to completely dismiss, especially under certain conditions. 

As you can see in the video that Ron put together, this method was used in conjunction with other pieces of equipment, such as the tri-field EMF meter, which actually gave corresponding readings whenever the flashlights would light up. Further, with some exceptions, they did tend to light up AND turn off on command. 

So overall it was a really interesting evening, and a great way for different paranormal teams to meet up and work together to further this field, and share our findings with others paranormal enthusiasts!

The next meeting will be Wednesday, July 27 at 6pm. Ike Fauber, friend of SRI, will be there, discussing dreams, sleep disorders, and how it all fits into the paranormal field. Follow me on Theresa's Haunted History for updates! 

Check out the video:

Can Items Be Haunted? Can We Measure Paranormal Activity Around Haunted Items? 

Paranormal with a Purpose Gets Wild and Weird

Dave, Barry, and Ron
Photo by Angie Breeden

Last month, Brian and I were honored to represent Spectral Research and Investigation as well as Theresa's Haunted History of the Tri-State as speakers for the first ever Paranormal Discussion Group, created and hosted by the St. Albans On Purpose Project! The group, which started as an idea by Barry, a young man with quite a bit of knowledge and love for the paranormal, is a monthly meeting of paranormal enthusiasts that meets on the last Wednesday of each month.

This month, I attended as one of those paranormal enthusiasts, and sat back and enjoyed a delightful presentation by some of my most respected colleagues in the field. These presenters were none other than Ron Lanham and Dave Roberts from Wild and Weird West Virginia/The West Virginia High Strangeness Collective! But before there was Wild and Weird WV...there was Ghost Watch RIP, the paranormal investigation group that Ron and Dave were members. After giving some heartfelt background into how they came to be involved in paranormal research, Ron and Dave shared quite a bit of information on some of their favorite Ghost Watch investigations, in particular, the old Purity Bread Factory on the western end of Charleston.

The Purity Maid Bread Factory is a location that I've been hearing about for years, so I was excited to hear about some of the paranormal activity that has been witnessed over the years. Several apparitions have been spotted, including a man on the 'bread floor' with glasses, a pot belly, and a blue and white striped uniform, matching a type the workers at one point wore. In addition to actual apparitions, disembodied voices seem to be a recurring event at the factory, some of which were caught on voice recorder. Other voices, not heard by the human ear at time of recording, were also captured, and a number of these EVPs were played for the group. 

Ya'll know I love and appreciate the technical side of paranormal investigation, but my heart really lies within the context of historical research. Dave provided us with a heap of information from the history of the bread factory's years of operation...but I was impressed to see that they took this back even further. Not only did they examine where troop movement and skirmishes were fought during the Civil War's Battle of Charleston, but also took a look at where the old plantations stretched, and what exactly was on that land way before Charleston became the capital city of West Virginia. But they took it back even further, with research into the Native American populations that lived, hunted, and traveled through the area. 

One especially interesting piece of research they shared was a map of West Virginia's magnetic pull, and the area around Charleston, where both the bread factory AND quite a number of burial mounds, was very very dark blue, meaning it had a low (-500) level of magnetism. I'm not sure exactly what that means, but that's the kind of stuff that we need to look at and study further if we want to evolve the field of paranormal research. 

A couple of other locations were discussed, such as my old stomping grounds---The Lakin Industrial School for Colored Boys, located outside of Pt. Pleasant, and plenty of ideas on paranormal theory were shared. Once again, the members of the audience were eager to ask their own questions, which were answered thoughtfully and honestly. As an added bonus, Ron has a wonderful way of making people feel comfortable and heard, and inspired quite a few people to share their own stories and experiences. And as he pointed out, these stories are a hugely important part of what we do as paranormal researchers and investigators. They could provide the missing pieces of the puzzle...we just need to encourage people to document them, share them, and don't let them get lost to history. 

Overall, it was another successful meeting of the Paranormal Discussion Group!  I got to see my friend Ike, who has joined SRI on a few adventures already, and also got to meet Eric and some of the members from WV Unseen Paranormal. St. Albans On Purpose Project's Paranormal Discussion Group is an awesome resource to have here in the Kanawha Valley, and I'm so lucky that I had the opportunity to be a part of it.  I'll continue to come as long as it's in operation, so keep an eye on Theresa's Haunted History as well as On Purpose Project for updates.  Next month's meeting will again be at the St. Albans Historical Society at 6pm on May 25th. Suggested donation is $10. 

Paranormal with a Purpose

On Wednesday, March 30th, Brian and I were honored to take part in a very special paranormal event. We were asked to speak at the first meeting of the Paranormal Discussion Group, created and presented by the St. Albans On Purpose Project! 

According to their website, "The On Purpose project works with people who have developmental disabilities to do community improvement projects in West Virginia. We believe that all people have unique purpose and we want to be intentional about inclusion and building community." This fun, monthly paranormal chat group is just one of the many, many fun, inclusive activities the group is involved in, and I'm thrilled I got to be a part of it. 

The idea for a paranormal discussion group came from Barry, a young man with a passion for the paranormal and tons of knowledge about the ghost hunting world. Facilitated by Angie Breeden, I was contacted to come and give a little talk to the group, followed up by plenty of Q and A. The St. Albans Historical Society made for an awesome meeting location, and the event was open to the public.

Barry, Theresa, and Brian
Photo by Angie Breeden

As this was the first meeting of this kind, with no real set format or agenda, we basically kinda winged it.  I gave a VERY abbreviated version of my WV Cemetery Legends presentation. Then Brian and I talked about some ghost hunting basics and paranormal theory. We discussed the history and the purpose of Spectral Research and Investigation, and told stories of some of our favorite cases.  He even brought a few of our hands-on pieces of equipment so people could try them out. 

I absolutely loved how engaged everyone was. There were tons of really thoughtful and insightful questions that Brian and I were more than happy to answer. I think I can speak for both of us when I say that we truly enjoy talking about our experiences and sharing our knowledge, especially to those who also have such an enormous interest in all things spooky. We had such a great time that we didn't leave the building until almost an hour after our estimated time!

The Paranormal Discussion Group is slated to be a monthly event, with the next one being held on April 27th, 2022. These meetings will be held the last Wednesday of each month, and will be open to the public. Please follow the St. Albans On Purpose Project Facebook page for updates on these meetings, including an announcement on who the next guest speaker will be!  I'll also be sharing and updating that information on my own page, Theresa's Haunted History! 

Setting up for our paranormal talk with
St. Albans On Purpose Project
Photo by Brian Clary

I want to thank everyone who was involved in inviting us out and who came to listen to us talk. It was a wonderful experience and I know I'll definitely be in the audience for as many of these additional meetings as I can attend. Everyone there was so awesome, and made us feel so welcomed and appreciated. I really can't express how grateful I am to have been given this opportunity to share Theresa's Haunted History and SRI with the community, and to connect with a fantastic group of locals interested in the paranormal!

*Are you interested in having Theresa and Brian speak to your school, civic, or similar group? We LOVE to talk spooky, and we'd be happy to present to your group on a variety of paranormal/ghost hunting topics! We also love appearing on podcasts! If you're located in or around Southern West Virginia and would like to speak with us, give me a shout at theresarhps@yahoo.com*