According to Dustin Pari, the most important paranormal tool is skepticism. That will stick with me from now on, along with my flashlight, which is the only other paranormal tool I don’t leave home without.
This past weekend, several Diamond State Ghost Investigators (DSGI) took a trip up to the Samuel Miller Mansion in Columbia, PA. (Thank you Andy for driving, you were incredibly patient with your passenger seat meteorologist.) As you learned in one of my last posts, this is the location for My Haunted Manor, USA (MHM). For some of us this was a first, for others, like myself it was my third trip. I really believe that once you’ve visited this place, you’ll feel called to return. There’s just something about this building that speaks to each person who visits. Once you learn the history the pull grows strong. (Shout out to Megan Hansen-Bisignaro from Interstate Paranormal Research (IPR) for being the location historian. She is a fount of knowledge.)
On Saturday, August 3, Dustin Pari (Ghost Hunters and Rebellious Spirits w/ Kris Williams), Ron Yacovetti and Lourdes Gonzalez (The Staticom Project) joined Daryl Marston (A&E Ghost Hunters), Trey Bader and Jeff Bader for a jam-packed evening of investigating and sharing research techniques at MHM. Several members of Interstate Paranormal Research were also there to guide the various groups roaming around the manor. (Shout out to Sierra and Megan for the emotional support hugs!)
Gina, Andy, Maureen, Sherri, Debbie, her partner Scott, and I were the members from DSGI who visited. We love Daryl and the Bader brothers (the latter being members of DSGI, too) and are always looking for ways to show our support. But also, we have really grown to love the location. Columbia, PA is like a little diamond in the rough. I almost don’t want to write about it because I don’t want it to get strobe lights and beacons, but it’s absolutely worthy of that fandom.
Group C
Attic Cold Spots
We were placed into groups of around 10, and we split up into various levels of the manor throughout the night. My group’s first stop was the 2nd floor, and we went up into the attic. For those in the area you know how hot it has been, well the attic was about 95 degrees, so we weren’t up there long. However, Maureen used her thermal camera while we were up there, and in the room with the “magic window,” we found a peculiar cold spot. The spot was a good ten degrees cooler than the rest of the room. I won’t tell you what Andy said it looked like, but to me, the shape looked like a small child kneeling near a ladder.
The “magic window” is a small window on one side of the attic that you can climb into. I did the climbing Saturday night so we could see if the cold spot was coming from inside that room. It was not. That room had a consistent temperature throughout. It’s very quiet in that space. I’d love to do a solo in there one night. Saturday night, the space was soothing. You could hear the rain on the roof. If it hadn’t been 95 degrees and humid I probably would have sat in there for awhile.
What caused the cold spot? Could it have been rain seeping down through the bricks and under the floor? Maybe. We’ll test it out again next time we visit. We didn’t see or feel water, but it’s also best to try to replicate things like this.
The White Room
The guys will have to correct me if I’m wrong, but I think this room on the 2nd floor is called the white room simply because it’s a relatively empty room painted white. Their cameras in the control center all have names, so when they download footage to collect evidence, they will know where it came from. Tony from IPR told us that many groups do not stay in the white room long. We wanted to test that theory. Looking back, we didn’t stay in the room long. But it was because we heard voices from other places in the manor. When looking or listening for evidence and outside contamination, it’s hard to want to stay there. I didn’t feel that anything was trying to push us out of the room. It’s another spot I’d like to visit again
The Print Shop
Ron Yacovetti and Lourdes Gonzalez were set up in the print shop with their Staticom Project. Admittedly, going into this, I knew very little about Ron and Lourdes. While they explained the Staticom Project, I have to admit I still don’t fully understand it. I normally feel relatively tech-savvy, but it went right over my head when Ron was talking about quantum something or other. However, that didn’t stop it from being completely riveting. I am not motivated to learn more about how it all works.
Dustin Pari was in the room while we were standing in a half-moon shape around the Staticom setup. He asked each of us to introduce ourselves, provide an answer to the question and then ask the question. Another admission – the entire time I was panicking, thinking I’m going to have to say “Hi my name is Christy, intense anxiety, how does being put on the spot make you feel?” However, I listened to others in the group all being cool, calm and collected, and I sucked it up. Plus, it was wild to hear this machine responding. Imagine a garble of voices talking back and forth as if spirits were conversing in the same room. Then, one of us asks a question, and the voices almost pause, stopping, and as if they realize we are talking to them.
Otherworldly validation
One woman asked how many bracelets were on her arm. She held out her arm. I heard the Staticom machine count 2, 3, 4 at one point. I wasn’t brave enough to speak up and say it, but that’s what I heard. Tony talked about oatmeal raisin cookies and the voices says raisin. When it was my turn I said, “Hi I’m Christy, I like to bake cookies and I like boxing, what hobbies do you like?” (Or something like that, when I’m put on the spot my memory kindly blurs everything). The response wasn’t an answer to my question. Instead, the voice through the Staticom said, “Keep it up, you’re doing great.”
WHAT!????
Validation of my efforts from the spirit world!?
Come on now. That’s just about the coolest thing that has ever happened to me.
Later down the line Trey introduced himself, he said his favorite sport is football and asked what their favorite sport it. The response was almost immediate. “Boxing.” Were we communicating with a spirit who has an appreciation for boxing? When I introduced myself as someone who boxes, did I make a connection? I don’t know. I can’t explain what happened. All I know is that at that moment, it really did seem as though something out there that we couldn’t see was indeed making intelligent responses.
Shadows in the basement
The basement is the only place where I’ve actually heard an honest to goodness voice. I heard a woman screaming. It sounded far away. She sounded like she was trying to talk, but a male voice cut her off. That experience was a couple of weeks ago. This past Saturday, I didn’t hear anything. There were multiple shadows, though. How do you see a shadow when you’re in the dark? Usually, for me, it’s because the shadow will block out a light that I know is there. This happens a lot. Could other people be adjusting in the space near me or my eyes playing tricks on me? Sure. When the person standing next to me sees the same thing and says it before I say anything, that helps to confirm what’s happening. Perhaps the shadows walking by represent residual energy from the individuals who escaped through the underground railroad in the basement tunnel system.
Another woman in our group seemed to have a strong connection to the energy around her. She spoke to a woman she sensed. She asked the woman what she had been doing in the basement. It’s not a question I would have asked, or at least I wouldn’t have phrased it that way. It is believed that a woman was raped and murdered in the basement a long time ago. As far as I know, there are no news reports about this, but several different mediums and gifted individuals have sensed the same thing. The MHM crew is looking into ground penetrating radar to see if they can find out more information on what exists beneath the dirt.
I hope that the spirits know they are safe to communicate with me if they wish. I am a safe space. No one deserves to go through what this ghostly basement woman potentially went through. As someone who is a survivor of sexual assault, it just makes me think differently about the types of questions to ask.
We need more time
So, now, I just have one more question. When can we go back? We need more time.
My Haunted Manor, USA, is part of a larger project called My Haunted Project. It is recognized as the world’s most documented multi-venue paranormal investigation initiative. My Haunted Project is an innovative initiative dedicated to exploring and documenting paranormal activities across various historical and intriguing locations, including the My Haunted Hotel, My Haunted Mansion, and My Haunted Manor.
If you have any interest in the paranormal, you absolutely must book time to visit the Samuel Miller Mansion, it’s just an incredible space. Subscribe to their YouTube Channel and VHX so you don’t miss a moment!
As to the spirits at the manor, don’t worry, we’ll be back soon! ~ Christy