Case File 11-0827: Rising Sun, IN
Classification: Private Residence and Business
Arrival time: 1030 p.m. Departure Time: 5:30 a.m.

iGHOST Investigators

Shanna
Leah
Jen

Guest Investigators

Jeremy
Indiana Midwest Paranormal Society Members:
Dave
Bud
Dana
Amanda
Tiffany
Steve

Weather Conditions

Clear skies with a temperature of 87 degrees, 71% humidity, Barometric pressure 29.91 and falling, geomagnetic field was quiet, solar X-rays were normal, waning crescent moon.

Equipment and Trigger Objects Used

• DVR system with cameras set up in the kitchen pointed toward the counter where claims of a knife block beingthrown off was repoted; a camera set up in the upstairs office pointing toward the desk where a claim of a pair of tweezers floating in mid-air were reported; and upstairs kitchen where claims of a medical syringe being tossed off the counter was reported; a camera placed in the upstairs hallway covering the hallway and door where it was claimed that a door slamming shut was heard. In the business 5 cameras were used covering the 1st floor and 2nd floor stage area.
• MEL meters and cell sensor meters
• Digital cameras with  audio recorders
• SONY Nightshot camera with IR attachment
• Frank's Box/white noise generator
• Parabolic Mic
• EM Pump
• Ovilus X
• K2 meters
• Trigger objects included: String of bells, old newspapers and magazines found in the attic, dollar bills to entice the claim of a prostitute in the building.

History of the Location and Claims of Activity

The client and her husband moved to Rising Sun, Indiana from California in 1999 to start a business making custom harps. Their home was built in between 1884 and1885, and they have been doing frequent remodeling to the home since moving in. Unusual activity would increase at this time. Activity also increased when the client found some old newspapers and magazines in the attic dating from the late 1800’s to the early 1900’s. These items were placed in a room where their business is located while remodeling was taking place in the home. Client’s business was built in 1881 by William and Thomas Clark, who were hat makers. They made hats on the first floor and turned the 2nd floor into a dance hall where the stage remains to this day. The second owners used the building as a grocery store, and used the 2nd floor as a speakeasy during the prohibition (aalcohol was hidden in the basement). There remains a battering ram-proof door, and a door with a peep hole to ensure the authorities weren't present. The thirdowners were furniture makers who were involved with the Ku Klux Klan. They held their meetings on the 2nd floor. There remains a KKK symbol tile in the ceiling that the client left as a historical marker (see photo below). The 2nd floor during this time was also used as a pistol range and a place to store caged chickens. The fourth owners were involved in antiques. Client states that the remodeling may be upsetting the presence and following her home.  Claims of activity include:

RESIDENCE

• Clients frequently go out of town on business trips. During this time, house sitters are hired which client claims she is unable to keep due to unusual occurrences within the home. Sitters complain of hearing disembodied voices, doors slamming shut, and the strong feeling of being watched. One sitter claims she locked all the doors before going to bed, but when she awoke to go to bathroom, she found a large axe leaning against the inside of the back door. The axe was previously outside in a woodpile.
• Client heard a loud banging noise downstairs. When she went downstairs to the kitchen, the knife block that was located on the back of the counter was on the floor with the knives grouped together 15 feet away in the different direction.
• Hearing doors forcefully slamming shut.
• TV and DVR have been replaced due to channels not coming in clearly and the audio being in Spanish (they have digital cable). When technicians are called out, they cannot figure out why this is happening.
• While a contractor was performing some remodeling, he saw a radio that was placed on an antique Hoosier Ccabinet levitate in midair, and the fly forward with enough force to unplug the radio. It then fell to the floor and shattered.
• While client was working at her desk upstairs, she sawa pair of tweezers lift up out of a small jar, float past her head across the desk, move about 4-5 feet away from her and settle to the floor. Client became frightened and called her daughter to come over. The daughter used and iPad app (Ovilus-type application) to attempt communicate with the unseen presence. The names Thomas and Ellen Clark would be said. Thomas was the brother of William Clark, one of the original owners of the commercial building. Ellen was the wife of Thomas. The app also said the words “farmer” and “policeman”. Client contacted the historical society and found out that according to the census at the time, Thomas owned acreage and was an Ohio County Sheriff. According to the app, they never lived in clients home and was only associated with the commercial building. They denied throwing the radio and knives and claim there is another entity in the home besides them. The client realizes that what the app stated could be a complete farce, but the floating tweezers were very real.
• The client has some bunnies in the upstairs kitchen that she rescues from abusive situations and cares for them. One bunny takes medicine through a syringe. Client states she placed the syringe and the stopper side by side on the sink. The next morning, the syringe and stopper was lying side by side on the floor near the bunnies.

BUSINESS

• Client has 12 employees. At least half of the employees complain of severe migraines. They say they have never had migraines of this nature until working in the building.
• All 12 employees and client were downstairs when they heard crashing, furniture scooting, and banging noises coming from upstairs. When the upstairs area was assessed, it was noted that a semi load of packing peanuts that were placed on the stage was thrown off the stage. A cooler was thrown off the stage and broken, and a table and four chairs were placed on the stage. This frightened everybody and all employees and client went home for the day.
• The contractors have their radios turned up loudly while working. Client asked them why it was so loud, and the contractors stated that they hear “strange noises” while working, and the radio drowns out the noises.
• A plumber who completed ¾ of the job left and said he’s never coming back because of the weird happenings at the commercial building. He refused to go in to detail to client as to what happened. He never billed the client, and although she continues to offer to pay the plumber, he refuses payment.
• Sounds of furniture being moved upstairs.
• Employees and client hear what sounds like somebody whistling a tune throughout the building.
• Client heard noises coming from upstairs and checked to see where the noises were coming from. She could find no explanations of noises and started walking downstairs. It was very hot in the building, and they did not have air conditioning yet. While walking down one step, she would feel a cold, clammy area surrounding her. When she would walk down the next step, it would be warm again.
• The daughter uses a Ouija board as a communication tool. This was unknown to us until the night of investigation. Daughter states that according to the board, there are two women in building. One is a black prostitute named "Sally" who was strangled by a John. John was a white man in his 40’s. The other woman’s’ name was "Sarah" who was shot. Both bodies were buried in the basement walls. Also mentioned were the names "Rhonda" and "Doris" who were burned in a car fire. There has been no research conducted regarding these claims at this time.

Base Readings

RESIDENCE

• Upstairs office: EMF 0.0 Temperature 80
• Upstairs kitchen: EMF 0.0 Temperature 79
• Upstairs bedroom: EMF 0.0 Temperature 80
• Living room: EMF 0.0 Temperature 76
• TV room: EMF 0.0 Temperature 76
• Laundry room: EMF 0.0 Temperature 78
• Downstairs kitchen: EMF 0.0 Temperature 78
  

BUSINESS

• Ambient noise from home included the sound of crickets, bunnies upstairs moving around and client and friend outside on porch talking. Ambient noise from business included the air conditioning turning on and the distant sound of cars driving by the building.

Debunking Claims

RESIDENCE

• It could be possible that one of the bunnies could have jumped on the counter and carried the syringe and stopper back down with them. However, no bite marks were noted on the syringe and the bunny would have had to jump at least 2-3 feet in the air. This seems an unlikely scenario. 
• With permission from the client, one of the investigators took the knife block and pushed it off the counter. The knife block fell directly to the ground, with the knives falling around the knife block. There is also an island located in front of the counter where the knife block is. The floor was tested for unevenness, which could’ve given the knives more inertia when the block fell. This was not the case.  While the knives were on the floor, an investigator used force to push the knives forward. Even with a fair amount of force, we could not get the knives to the location client claims knives were found.
• Client demonstrated how much force was needed to slam the door upstairs in hallway in between office and kitchen according to the noises she heard. The doors upstairs are heavy, and do no open and close easily. Investigators opened and closed office door and left hallway door open. Air pressure was not strong enough to sway the door even a little. Unable to debunk at this time.
• It could be possible that contractor unknowingly tripped over the radio cord while working. This of course would be unknown to the investigators and difficult to debunk.
• Residence has original hardwood floors. Some noises heard could be that of the wood expanding and contracting.
• Unable to debunk the reported incidence of tweezers floating.

BUSINESS

• Building has original hardwood floors. Some noises heard from upstairs could be attributed to the wood expanding and contracting which at times sound like footsteps, or confused to be that of objects upstairs being scooted.
• It could be possible that one of the employees was unaccounted for during the incidence of items being moved from the upstairs stage. During the night of the investigation, client’s husband mentioned that one of the employees said he moved the table and chairs on the stage.
• The business makes custom made harps, which are made of wood. There was quite a bit of saw dust throughout the building. A few of the investigators were complaining of sinus problems and congestion after investigating the business. This could attribute to complaints of migraines by employees and client.

Personal Experiences

RESIDENCE

• During an EVP session upstairs in office, 5 investigators heard a loud banging noise that sounded like it came from downstairs. At first we thought it was the bunnies making noise, as they were quite loud on occasion. This noise was not close by, but distant. Upon listening to audio playback during evidence review, it sounded like a door closing downstairs. The client and her friend were outside on the porch. Investigator asked if any of them just walked inside and closed the door. Both denied coming in or out of home within the previous 20 minutes.
• An Electromagnetic (EM) pump was placed on a chair with a wooden back in the office. When asking the presence to make its self known, 5 investigators heard a very loud creaking noise from the direction where the chair was located, which almost sounded like somebody sitting in the chair. A guest investigator was standing next to the chair and claims he did not move. Another investigator validated his claim, stating she was looking at the chair and guest investigator at the time, and he didn’t move. We tried to recreate the noise by sitting in the chair. If pressure was put against the back of the wooden chair, it closely resembled what we heard, but wasn’t as loud. It could be possible that one of the investigators shifted their weight unknowingly causing the wooden floor to creak, or as mentioned before, the floor was expanding and contracting. The noise was not heard again after this incidence.
• The Ovilus X would say the words “black”, “cat” and “dresser”. When client was told about what the Ovilus was saying, she informed the investigators that she has the ashes of her black cat sitting on her dresser. There was no way the investigators knew of this info, as this info was not disclosed by the client until questioned about the words the Ovilus was saying.

BUSINESS

• Small EMF spikes while sitting on the stage ranging from 0.3-0.8 when investigator said she was "calling the FBI for bootlegging".
• While on 2nd floor, an investigator asked the presence to let us hear what kind of tune was whistled. Right after the question was asked, 2 investigators heard what sounded like whistling downstairs.
• The Ovilus X would frequently say the words “Sally”, “Beretta”, and “Harvey”. The name Sally was mentioned before by the client’s daughter. The 2nd floor at one time was used as a pistol range and Beretta is the name of a gun manufacturer. All of this could be coincidental, but interesting information relevant to the case.
• Since there is speculation that an African-American prostitute named Sally inhabits the building, and her name was mentioned on the Ovilus X, investigators started asking questions in regards to her. While on the 1st floor, and investigator pulled out some money and asked “Sally” if she wanted the money. Investigators K2 went off a few times in the red while asking these questions.

Evidence Collected (Entire Investigation)

• No visual evidence captured on DVR footage.
• Audio collected of a door slamming shut downstairs, after investigators asked the presence to slam a door. The client and friend were outside, and denied coming in. Sounds echo throughout home, so if anybody was to come in, we would have heard them talking or walking. None of this was observed. However, since the client and friend were not accounted for at the time of the noise, we cannot conclude this to be paranormal. We do find the audio interesting since it seemed to happen on command.
• Audio collected in the residence, upstairs office of what appeared to be the sound of something sitting in the chair with a wooden back. The seat was framed in wood.  We had an investigator sit in the chair, and how the wooden chair creaked when sitting sounded similar to what we heard, only fainter in sound. It is possible that this noise could have been that of an investigator shifting their weight unknowingly, causing the wood floor to creak, or the noise could have been attributed to the expanding and contracting of the wooden floors. •We have audio of the floor creaking, and it sounded nothing like the noise we heard. This noise did not occur the rest of the night. We find this to be an interesting piece of audio, but difficult to conclude this to be paranormal.
• Although anything collected by the Ovilus X shouldn’t be considered evidence, included is a piece of interesting audio from the Ovilus. The Ovilus mentions “black”, “cat” and “dresser”. Upon asking the client about these words, she informed the investigators that she has the ashes of her black cat on the dresser. This information was not disclosed to us in any way. There is no way we would have known this prior to the session. What the Ovilus said had relevance towards the case and the client. The odds of these words being strung together and having such relevance to the client are extremely low. This is just another piece of audio that we can’t explain. You can listen to this session below.