Past & Upcoming Cases
Below is a partial listing of our cases. We have permission from some of these clients to post certain levels of information. Some clients do not want any information posted and we are committed to protecting their privacy. Our clients' desires in this area always take precedence!
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2010 Cases *These are cases that are past, current and scheduled*
APC2010.01- Croghan Free Library, Croghan, NY
The building that houses the Croghan Library was originally an opera house, built by T.B. Basselin in 1884. The opera house was always a multi-use place. Community activities of all types took place within its walls, including operas, plays, dance balls, festivals, dinners, and recognition ceremonies. Basketball games were even played here! When the building became the library, the ceiling was lowered. The stage and the wings are still present, and the wings are full of the graffiti of past participants in drama presentations. The basement of the building is currently occupied by a photographer. The basement also once held a jail cell that was used as a "drunk tank" on occasion. The building has a rich, varied history. Research by TNPS revealed no evidence of any tragedy or sudden death associated with the building.
TNPS investigated the Croghan Library on January 16, 2010. Five investigators were present, along with a librarian. We set up four static night vision cameras: one at the back of the library, facing the stage; two at the front corners of the library, facing the back; and one at stage right, covering the stage. We used four digital recorders: one in the back of the building, one on a table in the center of the building, one on the stage, and one that traveled with us as we investigated. We circulated around the building, taking pictures and video and trying to get any presence in the building to interact with us. We discovered that EMF levels in the building elevate when the furnace blower comes on. This elevation is especially extreme in the area stage left, near the fuse box. When the blower turns on, EMF levels can be 25-30 times the norm in this area. Normal EMF usually runs from 0.0 to 0.6 milligauss, or mG. When the furnace blower comes on, someone standing near the fusebox is getting exposed to an EMF of up to 26 mG. Certain people are affected by high EMF levels. In some people, high levels of EMF can cause a feeling of paranoia, or creepiness- a feeling one is being watched. One of the library employees confirmed that this was the exact area of the library that made her feel uneasy. We investigated until after midnight, and took over 1600 pictures. At one point, we sang and played the piano in an attempt to get any entities that might be present to interact with us. We did not have any personal experiences in the Croghan Library.
Upon analysis, the photographic, audio, and video evidence gathered in the Croghan Library yielded no evidence of paranormal activity whatsoever in the building. We would like to thank the Croghan Library for allowing us to conduct this investigation. It was a privilege to investigate a building so rich in history. Every case is a learning experience for us, and this one was no exception.
APC2010.02- Lowville, NY (private case)
APC2010.03- Lowville, NY (private case-permission to post information has been granted-check back soon)
APC2010.04- Constableville, NY, Constable Hall (findings to be published after public reveal in September)
APC2010.05- Monroe Hall, SUNY Geneseo, Geneseo NY (on-campus reveal April 16th at seminar)
On March 13, 2010, TNPS investigated Monroe Hall on the SUNY Geneseo campus in Geneseo, NY. We initiated this investigation in an attempt to get to the bottom of stories that have been circulating about this dorm for many years. We were not the first paranormal investigators to visit Monroe Hall. In January of 1985, Ed and Lorraine Warren, famous for their role in publicizing the "Amityville Horror" case, visited the dorm after a lecture at the College Union. While in the B-basement section, Lorraine claimed to see a male, in "institutional clothing" , who had died from a blow to the head. Many people took Lorraine's reference to "institutional clothing" to be a reference to the German POW camp, which once stood on the corner of Lower Court Street and Route 63. Research by TNPS using both American and German records has concluded that no German POWs died while confined at the Geneseo camps. The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle did an article at the time on the Warren's visit. This article also mentions a professor at the college, who stated then that he had "occasionally conducted experiments in Monroe Dorm...on extrasensory perception, tarot cards, seances, and the like." TNPS contacted the professor, who stated that he had done many "experiments" with the Ouija board in the basement of Monroe, between 1970 and 1972, and had been teaching students how to use it. He admitted, near the end of a lengthy phone interview, that his "experimenting could have brought some of it (paranormal activity) on. We were indulging in stuff we knew nothing about." The reported paranormal activity in Monroe Hall appears to begin around the time of the professor's experiments. Interviews with former students and others familiar with Monroe indicate that reports extend from the early-mid 70's, all the way to the present. Interestingly, many of the reported incidents are consistent across decades. The first report, from the early 70's, was from a student in the 1-A-2 section who claimed to have seen a ghostly man, woman, and child at the foot of his bed. He ran out of the room, terrified, and would not even return to the room for his belongings. Other reports of paranormal incidents in Monroe over the years include:
- Objects flying off desks or dressers
- Heavy mirrors falling off walls
- Noises of footsteps and doors opening and closing when no one is there
- Noises in the A-section laundry room
- Dryer doors moving on their own in the B-laundry room
- Knocks on doors when no one is around
- Both large and small objects moving on their own
- Pictures refusing to stay on walls, no matter what is used to hang them
- Blinds rustling in rooms when windows are closed and heat is off
- Sightings of odd shadows and possible apparitions
Most of the reported activity has taken place in the basement, although some has been reported on the first floor. Very little activity has been reported on the top two floors of the dorm.
In 2004, Susan Smitten published a book entitled "Ghost Stories of New York State." This book includes a story of Monroe Hall. According to the story, a seance was held in Monroe Hall which revealed that the ghost was a six-year-old boy, also named Eric, who died when playing in the foundation while the building was being constructed. This version of the "Eric" tale is the one that has gone viral on the internet. Virtually every "comprehensive" list of paranormal phenomena in New York State includes the tale of "playful" Eric. TNPS investigated this story by reviewing both the weekly Livingston County Leader and the Democrat and Chronicle for the time period of January 1960 until the dorm's dedication by Governor Rockefeller in 1962. No evidence whatsoever was found to substantiate the story of six-year old Eric's tragic death. TNPS also contacted the Geneseo historian, David Parish, to determine what, if anything, previously occupied the land where Monroe Hall is today. Mr. Parish indicated that the land was part of the vast Wadsworth estate, and was used only for agriculture, pastureland, or left fallow, until it was acquired by the College.
So, on March 13, 2010, TNPS came to Geneseo to attempt to separate the rumors from fact. Nine investigators from TNPS were present. This number included a guest investigator and the medium who works with us on certain cases, Danyelle Barrett. We also had with us the Resident Directors of Monroe, Livingston, and Onondaga residence halls. We divided up into four investigative teams. Three teams were out in the building at all times, each assigned to separate floors, while the fourth team stayed in the lounge on the first floor "at command" and monitored the 4-camera DVR system. We ran this DVR system during the entire investigation. Two cameras covered the entire A-section basement hallway; one covered the A-section laundry room; the final camera covered the B-section laundry room. We did three shifts of roughly 90 minutes each, and then traded places within the building. We used six digital recorders during the investigation. We took over 2200 pictures as we investigated and tried to get any presence in the building to interact with us. We also used a digital infrared Sony Handycam and captured approximately 160 minutes of footage.
Several team members had personal experiences during this investigation. Some people smelled lilacs. This smell could not be traced to its source. It was not a scent worn by any investigators, and it was not emanating from student rooms. Many investigators heard noises that could not be traced to a specific source. Investigators in the A-laundry room were inside the room when they heard someone rattling the door, trying to get in. Of course, when they opened the door, no one was there. We got many anomalous K-2 spikes that could not be traced to any source. One investigator briefly saw a shadow figure on the second floor of the dorm, near the junction of A and B sections. We investigated for approximately 5 hours and left Monroe Hall after 1:00 AM.
We were lucky enough to capture photographic, audio, and video evidence of possible paranormal activity during our investigation. One photo shows a misty but clear face on a cement pole in the 1-A lounge. Two other photos, taken of the outside of the dorm, show comet-like orbs, appearing to streak out and up at a 45 degree angle, from a back door and a window of the dorm. While there was some precipitation in the air that night, water droplet orbs generally present as static balls in photographs. They do not appear with comet-like tails, and they NEVER go up. These pictures also do not appear to be caused by camera movement, as the building in the background is completely in focus. What gives these pictures further significance is the fact that, at the exact time these photos were taken, Danyelle Barrett was psychically "cleansing" the apartment of the Monroe Resident Director- the exact area of the dorm from which these orbs were streaking skyward. We currently have no natural explanation for what would cause these pictures.
Our digital recorders captured quite a few EVPs, or electronic voice phenomena. We have verified that these voices are not the stray voices of investigators. The voices are both male and female. One sounds like a child imitating an adult. Some of these EVPs are direct answers to questions, or comments on what is being said, indicating an "intelligent" haunt, in which entities can interact with humans and demonstrate awareness of their surroundings. At other points, the voices have no real connection to what is being said, and could be indicative of a residual haunt, in which the entities do not interact with humans and don't seem to have an awareness of their surroundings. Our recorders also captured a very unusual "space noise" at different times and in different areas of Monroe. This noise was never heard or commented on by investigators, but is clearly audible on the recordings. We have ruled out recorder malfunction as the source of the noise, as it was picked up by three different brands of digital recorders. We have never heard a noise like this before, and currently have no hypothesis for what this noise could be.
Our video camera captured the aforementioned incident in the A-laundry room, when it appeared someone was rattling the door to get into the laundry room. The rattling door can clearly be heard. This rattling door was not caused by a change in the heating unit in the laundry room; it stayed on the same setting the entire time the incident was occurring. What makes this clip even more interesting is when the investigator with the video camera opens the door to the hallway. She gets random K-2 hits in the hallway just in front of the door, even though no source of EMF was nearby. We tried to recreate this incident, but the door did not rattle for the rest of the evening.
During the course of the investigation, we discovered that Monroe Hall is closing after the 2009-2010 year is complete. Over the next three years, it will be completely gutted, reconfigured, and rebuilt on the current site. It will be extremely interesting, from a scientific point of view, to see if any paranormal reports emerge about Monroe once it is rebuilt. We would like to thank SUNY Geneseo for their trust in us. We greatly appreciated the opportunity to investigate Monroe Hall and get to the bottom of some of the unfounded rumors surrounding this case!
This is the "face in the lounge" picture. To download the full picture, click here. You'll have to zoom in on the face.
This is one of the comet-like orbs we captured. Note how in-focus the background is.
This is the other comet-orb picture. These pictures were taken on two opposite sides of the building.
EVP #2:
This EVP sounds as if a child is echoing an investigator. The investigator says, "Do you think we should just let them be?" and just after this, a child's voice can be heard saying "...bee bee..."
EVP #3:
In this one, our repeated requests to 'tell us your name' appear to have received a clear answer.
EVP #4:
This noise occurred all over Monroe Hall. Sometimes it coincided with people talking; other times it did not. We have no explanation for this noise at the current time.
Headphones give the best listening experience when listening to EVPs.
APC2010.06- Rome, NY (national historic landmark-upcoming)
APC2010.07- Lowville, NY (private case-upcoming)
APC2010.08- Oswego Area, NY (private case)
APC2010.09- Croghan, NY (private case-upcoming)
APC2010.10- Beaver Falls, NY (private case)
APC2010.11- Lowville, NY (private case)
APC2010.12- Lowville, NY (private case-under review now)
APC2010.13- Lewis County, NY (private case-upcoming)
APC2010.14- Rome, NY
APC2010.15- Watertown, NY (private case-upcoming)