17th Street, St. Petersburg
Private Residence
June 27, 2004
This paranormalist has undergone many unique experiences. Members have felt invisible hands on shoulders, sensed unseen presences and moving cold spots, ducked flying objects, received psychic messages, watched fluctuating equipment readings, and more.
This investigation, however, is a bit different, but not in the way expected. This house had no anomalous activities, no paranormal presences, and no supernatural scenes involved. The 17th Street investigation served as a control situation.
Surprise! Non-haunted houses are sometimes wonderful things. When mixed in with general cases, it gives investigators a way for the group to determine the accuracy of our research.
To keep to protocol:
*We call to request an investigation at publicly known areas reputed to host activity, such as the Tampa Theater, Royalty Theater, and Haslam’s New and Used Bookstore. We go through proper channels to request the investigation and define parameters before we arrive.
*We do enjoy ghost tours and ghost walks. What a great way to hit many “haunted” locations in a short span of time while learning valuable information about local history.
*Homeowners who feel that supernatural phenomena may be going on within the home contact us. It must be the homeowners who initiate contact with the group; we do not do “cold calls” in setting up private investigations, nor do we charge for services. This is the most popular type of investigation that we do.
*We work with contacts from prior investigations to recheck a home or business for continued activity after the initial investigation.
Bearing this in mind, most often the members of this team expect to go to sights that are haunted. To keep the team objective, we have an open call for non-haunted houses that we, at random, investigate.
At the house on 17th Street , sensitives picked up mild activity coming from the house next door, but nothing from the home itself. One person picked up a place memory of “things falling,” and members observed strange compass behavior in the area of the stove and washer/dryer.
The homeowner did confirm that his neighbor was afflicted with health issues. He also told the team that when he first moved into the house one of the rooms was so badly decomposed that it literally fell in on itself.
Natural phenomena were attributed to the compass activity on the major appliances, but it did make team members more aware of how electrical fields can affect instruments.
Overall, the investigation was a success. Towards the end of the allotted time, team members were confused because of the lack of interaction from anything paranormal. One asked if it was a non-haunted local. All were relieved when the team contact and the homeowner confirmed their suspicions.
It is only through the continued generosity of the homeowners that the we can hone and augment procedures through both haunted and non-haunted sites. We will continue to expand our awareness through these experiences in order to contribute our research to the ever-growing pool of information concerning the things that go bump in the night.
