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I have finely published my first book. It's taken me over 3 years to gather information to get this book written. I never thought I'd ever do anything like this in my life. My book just became live today and can now be ordered. If you would like to check it out, please feel free. I'm so excited!!!  I just love the cover design of my book. This book is all about the ghosts and spirits of Elsing's 2nd Hand Shop. The picture on the cover of the book is my shop building back in 1892.

My new book is now here to order:

To order my book:

The Grand Hotel Legacy

You can also find this link on my page.

 

Tags: Elsing's 2nd Hand Shop Book Stoughton Ghosts Spirits Haunted Elsing

 

HPI Investigation Report

Location: Elsing’s Second Hand Shop, Stoughton WI

Investigation Date: August 9th, 2008

Members present on investigation: Kurt, Mark, Rhonda, Krista, Ann, Shaunda, Dave

Report written by: Kurt

INVESTIGATION OVERVIEW:

We arrived at the shop around 3:00 and met up with Vicky and Phil. We chatted with them for a while, and since Shaunda had never been there before, she got a tour of the building. Vicky, Phil, and the dogs left for a little while, while the group stayed at the shop and had a meeting to discuss the investigation. Kurt set up his laptop in the furniture room to loudly play brown noise, pink noise, and white noise in 10-minute cycles of each color. Just like our previous investigation, this was done in an attempt to “charge” the area with sound waves in the hopes to help EVPs come through easier during the investigation. The noises were set to play while we went out to dinner.

About 5:30, Vicky and Phil returned to the shop and all of us headed over to The Koffee Kup to eat.

We arrived back at the shop around 6:45. We set up equipment and got ready for the investigation. Barry was going to arrive a little later, but due to car trouble, she was unable to make it to the investigation. Phil left shortly after with the dogs, and the investigation started around 8:00.

Unlike previous investigations, we decided to focus mostly on the furniture room/basement area, since that always seemed to be the most active area.

Most of the evening consisted of EVP sessions in the furniture room. Group members would also spend time in the book room, holiday room, hallway, and stairway.

Digital cameras, audio recorders, an EMF meter, and video cameras were used on the investigation.

The group used dowsing rods and a K2 meter for the first time during this investigation. A K2 meter is a visual-based EMF meter that detects changes in the electromagnetic field and signals it by a panel of colored lights.

Towards the end of the evening, we tried EVP sessions with various noises playing in the background, such as white noise, Spiricom noise (a warbly sound that some researchers believe helps EVPs come through), and songs from the 1920’s and 1930’s.

Around 12:30, the group bedded down for the night. Vicky slept in the toy room, Mark, Rhonda, and Krista slept in the front room, Shaunda and Ann slept in the aisles, Dave slept in the downstairs hallway, and Kurt slept in the furniture room.

The group woke up early in the morning and headed out by 9:00 am.

 

 

 

EXPERIENCES DURING THE INVESTIGATION:

• During the first EVP session in the furniture room, Vicky and Ann both heard a loud sound between them. Vicky described it as a loud creak or the sound of moving furniture. They both thought the other person caused the noise, only to find out later that they didn’t.

• Also during that time, several people in the furniture room heard what sounded like the rhythmic creaking of a rocking chair. After asking who was rocking their chair, it turned out that nobody was. It couldn’t be determined where the sound was coming from. The only chair in the furniture room that matched the sound was an empty chair in the middle of the room that nobody had been sitting in.

• Some group members reported that they thought they saw movement in the area outside the entrance to the furniture room. Tapping and creaking sounds were heard coming from the hallway area during this time.

• As with other investigations there, several times during the night, sounds would be heard. Sometimes it would sound like a little girl saying something, but it would almost always appear at the same time one of us was talking. And again, it was hard to pinpoint exactly where it came from.

• Mark and Shaunda went to the holiday room for an EVP session. While they were in there, Shaunda said that she experienced the same feeling that the rest of us have experienced on previous investigations…the feeling that a room can suddenly become darker and colder when it feels like there is a presence there.

• Kurt was stationed on the stairway and had the K2 meter sitting a few steps above him. At one point, he asked if anyone was on the stairs with him, and the K2 meter lit up for the first time during the evening. The lights flickered steadily, and Kurt called for someone else to come over and witness it. Rhonda came over and she also saw the movement of the lights on the meter. After they stopped flashing, Kurt asked if whatever was there could make the lights go on again, and the lights once again lit up. After a few minutes, the lights stopped flashing. Dave came over with his EMF meter to check for stray EMF that could have caused the meter to light, but he didn’t pick up anything.

• Right around this time, Vicky and Shaunda were in the furniture room. Shaunda said that she was feeling a cold spot on her feet, but nowhere else. Vicky put her foot in the same area and said that she could definitely feel it, but that it seemed to have a very specific area…only some of her toes felt it while others didn’t.

• After bedding down for the night, Dave slept in the hallway outside the holiday room. During the night, he woke up and thought that he may have seen movement in the hallway and had a very creepy feeling, so he moved out to the furniture room and set up his video camera to tape the hallway.

• In the morning, Rhonda, Ann, Krista, and Kurt were all sitting in the front room area. Kurt was doing something on his phone, and Mark, Rhonda, and Krista were talking. In the middle of their conversation, they heard what sounded like a fourth, unidentified voice say something out loud in the middle of their conversation. Vicky was in another room at the time, and they asked her to say something. When she did, it was clear to them that it wasn’t her voice that had joined in on the conversation.

• Shortly after this, Kurt, Mark, Krista, Rhonda, and Vicky were in the front room area talking when someone said Krista’s name out loud in the middle of the conversation. Krista asked Vicky if that was her, and Vicky said that it wasn’t. Kurt verified that Vicky hadn’t said Krista’s name.

• Shaunda, who had slept in the aisle area, was packing up her stuff in the morning. She walked away from her sleeping bag, and when she returned to it, a statue was laying on the floor next to it that hadn’t been there when she left. It didn’t look like it had fallen off the shelf, and it couldn’t be determined where it came from.

• With all the activity going on that morning, Ann and Krista took out the dowsing rods in an attempt to communicate. After asking if the spirit there had owned something in the building, the dowsing rods led them to a coat rack, and finally to a specific coat. Ann was holding the rods, and she tried closing her eyes while Krista held up different coats to see if the rods would pick the same one. It did. Then, Krista hid coat somewhere in the shop away from Ann, and once again, the dowsing rods led Ann right to where the coat was hidden.

PHOTOGRAPHIC/VIDEO/AUDIO EVIDENCE:

Photographic Evidence: None

Video Evidence: None

Audio Evidence: 5 clips of possible audio phenomena were given to Vicky:

• Krista – This is the clip from the morning when a voice said Krista’s name in the middle of a conversation. The voice does sound a lot like Vicky’s, but both Vicky and Kurt verify that she wasn’t talking at this moment.

• Just Krista –This is the shortened version of the clip where Krista’s name appears.

• Took Your Coat – This clip was caught in the morning when Krista and Ann were led to a certain coat by the dowsing rods. In the clip, Krista asks if the spirit would be mad if she took the coat home. Shortly after that, a breathy voice appears to whisper something, and then Ann repeats what Krista just asked. To several of us in the group, it sounds like the voice is whispering something that sounds like “would you wear it?”.

• Take A Picture – In this clip from the morning, Vicky asks Krista if she just took a picture of her. Right before Krista responds with a yes, there is a faint whisper very close to the microphone that sounds like “No” or “I know”.

• Stair Sound – In this clip from the morning, Kurt is on the stairway to the basement asking if there is anyone there with him. Right after he asks what their name is, the weird sound that we have caught on other investigations appears. In the past, we have called this the “cooing” sound or thought it could possibly be the sound of a malfunctioning crying doll in the shop. The other times we have caught this sound, the recorder was always near the stairway. Is it possible that this recurring noise is a passing police car that has its sirens on or just traffic passing by the building?

EVIDENCE ANALYSIS:

As usual with the investigations in the shop, we had many personal experiences and yet ended up with very little in the way of concrete evidence.

The EVP clips all could have possible explanations. The “Took Your Coat” EVP is probably the strongest, since Ann and Krista were alone at the time, and the EVP seems to be responding directly to what they are talking about.

The “Krista” clip could possibly be one of us saying something that sounded like “Krista”, but this clip came very shortly after Mark, Rhonda, and Krista heard an unknown voice say something during their conversation, so it is entirely possible that this is an actual EVP. Unfortunately, all of the recorders had just been shut off right before the unknown voice talked during their conversation, so no voice comparisons can be made with that voice. It *does* sound like Vicky, but both Vicky and Kurt swear that she was quiet at this time.

The cooing sound is most likely NOT an EVP. It’s just here so that Vicky has it and so that other groups can listen to it and perhaps catch it themselves or figure out what it is that is making that noise.

Both the K2 meter and the dowsing rods were very interesting. I don’t think that either of them could be called the quintessential “ghost detector”, but I do think that both devices have their place in a paranormal researcher’s toolbox, as long as they don’t become the be-all end-all of spirit communication.

It *was* interesting, though, that the only time the K2 meter seemed to detect paranormal activity during the investigation was when it was on the stairway, which seems to be one of the hotspots in the shop.

 

FINAL ANALYSIS:

What was very unusual about this investigation was that both the majority of the noteworthy experiences and the evidence came from the morning AFTER the investigation…a time that otherwise had always been very quiet on all of our previous visits. This is, in fact, the only investigation where anything suspicious happened in the morning.

The high level of activity that morning is puzzling. Is there some sort of cycle to the levels of activity? It could explain why some nights are very quiet and some are active.

The K2 meter detecting something on the stairs was very noteworthy. The stairs have a reputation for giving people…both customers and investigators…an uneasy feeling, and we’ve caught EVPs on that same stairway. The K2 meter activity adds another piece of possible evidence that the stairway is one of the more active locations.

All in all, it was a great investigation! The level of activity we experienced the morning after the investigation is very significant and can’t be easily discounted.

The lack of concrete evidence is once again disappointing. But each investigation seems to result in at least one or two fairly decent pieces of evidence, and even one or two pieces can help towards finally solving the overall puzzle.

We would like to once again thank Vicky and Phil for their hospitality and for being all-around great people. We love you guys.

 

Again, I do have the recording that were caught at this investigation. They are in Wave file and can not be posted here. They are really cool ones though. Sorry. Vicky

 

Tags: Elsing's 2nd Hand Shop Ghost Hunt Report Ghosts Spirits Haunted Elsin

 

July 19 & 26, 2008

Elsing’s Second Hand Shop

PIM

Paranormal Investigators of Milwaukee Investigation Report

Investigators:

Investigators present were Noah, Steve, Candice, and Karen, as well as author Sherry Strub on July 19, and Noah and Deidre on July 26. Vicky was there both nights.

Equipment:

Natural and Standard Tri-field EMF meter, Pyrometer, Sony DCR-SR80 SuperNightShot hard drive camcorder, Sony Cybershot 3.1 megapixel digital camera, UV flashlights, Geiger counter, hygrometer, Nikon D50 camera w/18-55 mm and 70-300 mm lenses, and 720nm IR filter, Sony DCR-TRV350 camcorder, Sony DCR-TRV110 camcorder, Sony DCR-TRV280 camcorder w/720nm and 950 nm IR filters, Canon Powershot A5 zoom camera, Olympus PC3100 voice recorder, Sony IR Illuminator, IR Flashlight, Windup LED flashlight, two-way radios, Sony ICD-P520 voice recorder, Full-spectrum digital camera, H2 voice recorder, Canon A530 digital camera, and UV flashlights.

Conditions:

It was partly sunny and 75°F with 40% humidity. The moon was a waning crescent and was 38% full. Solar X-rays were normal and the geomagnetic field was quiet. This data was for July 26. These readings were not taken on July 19.

Plan:

For both investigations, PIM met at Elsing’s around 6 pm. After introductions, all parties went to the Koffee Kup for dinner. PIM also spent the night at Elsing’s both nights.

July 19^th Investigation:

When we went to dinner two voice recorders were left running - one on the main floor and one in the stairs leading to the basement. The group returned around 7:30 pm and got its gear ready. Steve placed a stationary camera in the storage area of the basement - pointing towards the room with the fuse boxes. We did this in hopes of catching activity that occurs in the back area when we aren’t there (it is hypothesized that whomever lives in the back room moves from one room to the next). We also placed Vicky’s voice recorder in the bookroom to run all night.

Before beginning, Steve went around with his digital camera with IR filter and took pictures of all the areas in the shop. Candice also went around and wrote down impressions she picked up from the building before we started investigating. Below are her impressions:

At Elsing's Simon was VERY aware that we were there, but shifted his focus from Noah last time, to me mainly. He would follow me and wanted to target people when they were alone. He was trying to intimidate all of the women on purpose, to scare them. He was the strongest in "his room". He was stronger this time in the entire far back on the basement, which used to be a part of the grocery store storage areas. There were 2 males and 1 female I picked up on in the storage area off of the furniture room. They knew we were here and were uneasy about it. There was a "teen" male in the rear of the furniture room. It felt as though he had no real connection to reality anymore. He felt me there, but didn't acknowledge me at all. The cubby still felt a little uneasy and felt as though a little girl was sitting slouched forward on the chair inside it. I always felt as if someone was right behind me when I was alone and was trying to scare me on purpose. I feel as though Simon has become more aggressive, especially towards the women. I consider him HIGHLY unpredictable and wouldn't advise anyone, especially women, to go back there alone at night for safety reasons. Under the floor in the hall leading from off of the stairs to the bookroom, it felt as though there was a shallow "trench" under the floor, and a shallow "pit" that was empty between the holiday room and bookroom. I always felt while we were upstairs, that (possibly) Simon was waiting at the bottom of the stairs. I picked up on an older, grey haired woman in the attic (prostitute?). I picked up on 2 women, possibly early 20's that definitely were prostitutes. I picked up a "black energy cloud" along the right rear of the attic. It wasn't evil, just felt full of sorrow, confusion, etc. "Abigail" followed us that night around the entire property. She felt safer with us because Simon was trying to scare or hurt her on purpose.”

Karen also went through and came up with some impressions of the location. See her impressions below:

Karen’s Impressions – Elsing’s – July 19^th

Book Room – I felt there was some heaviness down at the end of the hallway that could not be explained. Almost felt like someone was standing at that end of the hallway looking down and around the corner to see who was there.

Hallway from Book Room to Furniture Room in front of Christmas Room – Upon walking from Book Room to Furniture Room, I felt as if there was a dip in the floor as I felt like my body had dropped a little. Having that feeling at a prior location, I kept walking back and forth over the space to see if I could have the same feeling. Unfortunately, I couldn’t recreate the feeling. It almost felt as if there was some type of energy I had passed through that was no longer there after the initially feeling.

Furniture Room – I felt a little girl presence near the front of the room by the rocking chair. I almost thought I heard a small voice ask me, “Why are you here?”

Back Storage Rooms – On my original walk through, I didn’t want to go back there by myself. Later on in the evening, when in groups, I felt as if Steve, Vicky and I were being followed into Simon’s Room. Once inside the room, I did not feel the same presence as it stayed outside of the room.

I did pick up on one black male presence down the hall way, near the back storage room – he seemed to be very built, wide nose, some facial hair, short cropped hair with a little bit of curls on top. I only saw an image of his face – nothing else.

Upstairs Attic – On my first round up there with Noah and Sherry, I felt a male presence near the far back right side of the space – near the windows where Noah said the Sheriff committed suicide. I couldn’t make out what he looked like, as to me it felt like a dark mass – shadowlike.

When returning to the space to do baseline readings, I picked up on a female presence in the corner across from the staircase. To me, she felt like a quiet, timid person. I partially got the impression she didn’t know we were there. Possibly residual.

I also picked up on an older gentleman who seemed to be sitting in a chair that was by itself amongst all of the boxes. This gentleman to me had grey hair, a very businessman-like attitude. He was wearing a suit and a tie. To me, he seemed to just sit there, looking around with his hands on his knees – not sure if he was residual or intelligent.

There was one entity that bothered me – a woman, possibly in her 50s, thin, frail, wearing a cheese-cloth type dress with no sleeves, frizzled hair. After our base readings, we were heading downstairs. To me, this individual seemed to single me out, and I had this thought in the back of my head saying, “You’ll be back.” After dinner, and I went on my own to evaluate the property, I was about to head back up to the space, but two steps up the stairs, I had the impression that the woman was there by the stairwell, looking down and pointing at me saying, “See, I told you you’d be back.” I left only to return with Candice, who seemed to pick up on her as well.

Throughout the night whenever I was there, this particular entity seemed to follow me. She was shorter than me – maybe 5’6”/5’7”, but she walked with a hunch and shuffled her feet. She seemed to find it funny that she was freaking me out. Audibly, I kept telling her to leave me alone. Luckily for me, she never left the attic, nor went past the stairs.

All in all I picked up on at least seven different entities. I’m not 100% if this was also partially from hearing stories from others in regard to what they felt in the place, but I know at least the older lady and the older gentleman I do not recall hearing things about.

Will have to see in October if I pick on the same things, or if things are different.”

We then split into two groups. Noah, Candice and Sherry went upstairs to the third floor while Steve, Karen and Vicky headed to the basement.

While on the third floor, Candice detected three prostitutes who seemed to be interested in Noah. Noah did everything he could think of to elicit a recordable reaction from the spirits but none was to be had. Other than a few bumps heard there was really no other activity detected on the third floor.

With the group in the basement, Karen used a pendulum to try and communicate with the spirits. It was reported that the pendulum was swinging wildly during the question and answer session. That is all the reported activity from that session.

The groups returned to the main floor to take a quick break. The teams then switched areas, but Vicky remained outside as it was too hot for her upstairs (average temperature was 90°F).

While in the basement, Noah’s team started with ten minutes of controlled silence in which not a creak, bump or knock was heard. Once the group started investigating, more than once a bump or knock was heard - mainly in the furniture room when the team was in the hallway by the bookroom. The team also spent time in the back basement with Candice tracking the entity that lives back there from one room to the next. Lastly, Candice did an automatic writing session in which she seemed to communicate with the little girl who is supposed to be at the shop. Scanned images of the writings are included with the evidence. Unfortunately, there were no recordable responses.

The team on the third floor reported the same random bumps the first team heard. Nothing more occurred.

The groups returned to the main floor to take a small break and decided to do some large-group work in the basement.

While there, the group spread out and did EVP work in the bookroom area and the furniture room. The group also decided to do another automatic writing session. During the question and answer session, Steve said he smelled something like roses. Whomever Candice was communicating with stated that it was its mother’s perfume. Steve said the smell came and went - no one else really smelled the same thing he smelled.

Noah found some old perfume bottles behind Steve and suggested it could be one of them. Steve smelled the bottles, but said it wasn’t the same as he has smelled before, although one bottle was close and he couldn’t rule it out completely.

We also headed back to the storage area of the basement and attempted to contact the entity in the back. Overall, we were not able to get any type of response to our attempts at communication at that time. That concluded the investigation of the basement.

At this time Sherry decided to head home and Vicky stated she wanted to go to bed. Members of PIM gathered their equipment and headed to the furniture room for the night.

Noah decided to sleep with a fan on to see if it would help with EVPs. Unfortunately, it seemed to drown out most noises. It was decided that using a fan would not be tried again in the future. Nothing of substance happened during the time the group slept.

Evidence:

At first as we went over the evidence, it seemed like there was a lot of EVPs that occurred while we were at dinner. Included are a few examples of what was captured. After listening to the recordings a few times, it was determined that all of the little girl EVPs was actually Otis whining and running up and down the stairs. Otis is normally left at the shop by himself while Vicky and Phil head to the Koffee Kup for dinner with the ghost groups. After what we captured, any EVPs that are captured by any team during dinner time while Otis is at the shop, need to be thrown out. Even if it sounds nothing like a dog there is no certainty that it wasn’t Otis. In the future, PIM will make sure Otis is not at the shop if voice recorders are running while at dinner.

With that being said, PIM believes we did capture a few EVPs from the investigation that were not recorded while we were at dinner. Unfortunately, it is hard to make out precisely what is being said in most of the EVPs. As not to taint everyone’s opinion by saying what we think is being said, listen to them and let PIM know what you think is being said - or if you even think they are EVPs.

The other evidence was carefully gone over and nothing more was found during this investigation.

July 26^th Investigation:

For this investigation it was decided to play white noise while at dinner. A couple radios from the shop were tuned to a static channel. We had one in the basement and one upstairs. We also played some of the EVPs Vicky has gotten in her shop and looped those while we were gone as well. Another group tried this method in the past and seemed to have gotten some activity. Being that PIM had never tried this technique, we decided to give it a go.

We left for dinner around 7 pm and arrived back at the shop at around 8 pm Phil took Otis and headed home and we got our equipment together then discussed the game plan. Due to last minute changes in availability, it was only Noah, Deidre and Vicky on this investigation. Before starting, Noah went around with his full-spectrum camera and took pictures of all areas of the shop. The group then headed to the basement.

We first did some EVP work in the hallway by the bookroom and Noah kept hearing sounds occurring in the furniture room. Ten minutes of controlled silence was done as had been done before. Again no bumps, knocks or creaks were heard during that time.

It was decided to move into the furniture room and continue the EVP session. While there, Noah tried to debunk the claim of the smell of roses Steve experienced the previous weekend. During the week, Noah asked Vicky to remove all perfume bottles from the furniture room so if the rose smell was detected again, it would not be caused by an old bottle. Deidre was also not informed of the smell so as not to put any preconceived notions into her head. Noah could not recreate the rose smell and it was not detected the entire night.

The group then moved to the back basement area and tried to communicate with the entity in the back room. Nothing occurred, so the group decided to head upstairs and take a break.

After the break, Deidre and Noah went upstairs to the third floor and investigated while Vicky stayed on the first floor due to the temperature of the third floor. Deidre and Noah again experienced some bumps and creaks, but nothing concrete.

Noah and Deidre then headed back to the first floor. After a break Vicky, Noah and Deidre headed back to the basement. Another EVP session was done in the hallway by the book and furniture rooms, as well as the back basement area. Afterward the group returned to the furniture room.

It was during this last EVP session in the furniture room the majority of the activity occurred. During the session, Noah heard what sounded like either a step or knock from the hallway by the bookroom. When he got up to investigate, he caught a moving orb on his NightShot camera. This video is included with the evidence burned on the CD given to Vicky. Noah dislikes orbs and doesn’t put much credence into them, and feels the moving orb could be a piece of dust that was caught in an air current. The fact it was captured shortly after an audible anomaly gives it slightly more clout. After viewing the video, please judge for yourself.

After these experiences, the investigation was over for the night. Deidre opted to sleep on the first floor. Noah joined her and placed his voice recorder on the stairs leading to the basement for the night.

Evidence:

Other than the orb captured on Noah’s camera no other video evidence was captured. Pictures taken did not yield any strange photos - even the ones taken with the full-spectrum camera. A few EVPs were captured - namely what seems to be an answer to the question “When is your birthday?” Take a listen and let PIM know what you think it says – if it says anything. There were also some strange bumps captured when everyone was upstairs sleeping. Again, noises don’t normally happen in the building as attested to the controlled silence the group uses but these bumps struck as a little out of place. That was all the evidence captured during this investigation.

PIM would again like to thank Phil and Vicky for being wonderful hosts. Vicky made cookies once again and Phil already had the windows upstairs covered when we arrive. They are great and if there was a client hall of fame somewhere they surely would be in it. Thanks again!

Tags: Elsing's 2nd Hand Shop Ghost Hunt Report Ghosts Spirits Haunted

GHOST HUNT WITH FVSH September 14, 2008

FVSH came into my shop September 14, 2008. The members that came were: Katie, Keith, Mark and Mike. Phil and I headed down to the shop about 5:30, to get things ready for the team coming in. Katie, Keith and Mark then showed up and we walked up to the Koffee Kup to get some dinner before setting up. It was a rainy night. We met Mike at the Koffee Kup, ate dinner and then headed back to the shop to set up. Phil ran home to pick up Otis and Baxter, so that the group could say hi to Otis and meet Baxter. The boys loved everyone. When Otis first came in, he could tell someone was in the building, but could not see anyone. He was running all over looking for everyone. Finely Keith came walking out of the back room and Otis went running to him, along with Baxter. Everyone else came down from upstairs and said hi to Otis and Baxter.

Phil then gave Katie, Mark and Mike a walk-through of the basement, while Keith was getting all the equipment set up. When Mike got down to the basement, he walked back into the back storage rooms and at the double doors, he got a very sick feeling. He turned around and ran upstairs for fear he was going to be sick. He said he had a feeling that just made him sick. He ran into the bathroom and that's all I know about that. I'm not sure if he got sick or not. Phil then left with Otis and Baxter.

After everything was set up, we all got ready to ghost hunt. Katie and I stayed on the main floor to monitor the DVR screens. Keith, Mark and Mike all headed up to the third floor to investigate. While up there, they radioed Katie to see if anyone was outside. I ran to the front door to look and no one was in site. They had heard either a cat or a lady. Then a bit later, they radioed us again to see if we were walking up the stairs. We told them no, we had not moved from our spot. Katie then had me head for the upstairs to see if I could see anything on the steps. I didn't see anything at all. Then they heard some talking in the back of the building. I ran to the back of the building and yes, the people were leaving the building next door for the night. So at least we know where those voices were coming from. We have no idea where the lady and cat sounds came from. The guys then headed down to the main room for a break.

After the break, Mark then sat on the main floor and watched the DVR and we all headed down stairs. We went way into the back room. We call it the pizza room. We all took our places and then started an EVP session. While sitting on the steps, Katie thinks she felt something touch her butt. She let out with a scream. I have no idea what touched her, but I jumped out of my chair and started to move out of the way. We all settled down again and nothing else happened.

We then headed into the furniture room to do an EVP session. We heard a few noises, but nothing to much. Things seemed really quiet tonight. While doing the EVP sessions, I started to drift off to sleep. Gosh, I was tired. We then all came upstairs and took another break. It's something about putting me in a dark room. It just makes me so tired. It felt good to take a break and go outside for some fresh air. Mike didn't have any problems going downstairs this time. I'm not sure why he did the first time.

After our break, we then all stayed on the main floor. Mike and I sat and watched the DVR and Katie, Keith and Mark then went into the tool room. Katie sang the most beautiful song while doing EVP's. It sounded so cool in the building. I can't remember the name of the song, but she did a beautiful job. If I was a ghost, I sure would of loved listening to it. While watching the DVR, Mike and I saw kinda like a light. Almost like the room lite up a bit, the strange thing is, that the upstairs room did the same thing. That made us think it was a car coming around the corner. We then watched really close and checked out about 5 or 6 cars that came around the corner. I would tell Mike when the cars were coming, so he could keep an eye on the two rooms, where we saw the light. It never happened again, so the car thought was out. I have no idea what made it do that.

We then ended the night and all headed to bed. I think it was about 2:00 when we all decided to call it a night. Everyone then headed to bed for the night. We left the DVR recorders run for the whole night. This group is going to have a lot of video to go though. I sure hope they were able to get something. I laid listening for any strange noises and I didn't heard anything out of the ordinary. I finely drifted off to sleep for the night. I know I got up about 6:30 to head to the bathroom, but no one else was up yet, so I crawled back into bed and must of drifted off to sleep again. We didn't wake up until 10:00 that morning. Boy, did I sleep good. I will post the report when I get it back from the team. I'm sure it will take sometime though, as they have a lot of video to go though.  

Tags: Elsing's 2nd Hand Shop Ghost Hunt Report Ghosts Spirits Haunted

We took some much needed time off from Ghost hunting and work for the last three weekend. We headed up north to our land for fun and some work on our new camper. Otis and Baxter really enjoyed their time up north. For the first two weekends we took some friends up with us along with our son and his girlfriend. Those two weekends we didn't get much work done, but we sure had a blast. We ended up closing our shop Friday during Labor Day weekend around 1:00 and got out of town. It was a great long weekend. Phil and I went up alone This last Sunday and got a lot of work done. The camper is coming along great and the boys just loved it up north. I thought I'd share some pictures of our place up north along with my best buddies, Otis and Baxter. Hope you enjoy them.

This is a picture of Baxter and Arty. They are giving each other a kiss. They were so happy to see each other. Isn't that just so sweet.

Baxter and Arty really ruffing it up. Otis really enjoyed the break with having Arty there. It gave someone for Baxter to get wild with, and wild they got.

The three boys finely sat still for a picture. This didn't happen to often. They really enjoyed all the wide open space to play in.

This is a picture of our fire pit on our land. Right behind the fire pit is a 87 foot drop into the Lemon weir River. We have a beautiful view of everything from here. We call it the point of our land. We had Eagles flying over head all three weekends. It was a beautiful site.

This is our log cabin garage at our place. It was built by trees cut down on our land.

This picture is taken right behind our new camper being put it. It's so beautiful at our place. Lots of room for tents and just running around.

This is the inside wall in my camper. We now have 1 ¼ wall do go until all the walls are done. I just love the rustic cabin look this gives us. I can't wait to get moved in.

This is the outside of our new camper. I still have not found enough shed board for the siding yet. I don't want none of that plastic siding in it. I want it to look like a old cabin in the woods. We have been given most of our lumber for free.

This is Otis and Baxter taking a break for a picture. Oh how they love it up north, the sunshine was just so beautiful. I wish we could go every weekend.

This is the car ride back home last Sunday. I turned around to see how the boys were doing and they were sound asleep. I could not believe my eyes how they were sleeping. The picture I have on my page is a posed picture, but this one is not. This is how the boys rode home that day. I'm so glad I was able to get a picture of it.

After I took my first picture, it woke Baxter up, but he stayed right where he was and went back to sleep. Boy, what Otis won't put up with. I think he really loves his new puppy.

So anyways, we all had a great time. I'm not sure when we will get back up north again. We still have a lot to do, but it's coming along really nice, and I think it's turning out so beautiful.

I have a ghost hunt coming up this weekend with FVSH and then the following weekend I have Al from IAH, (Willowcrkfrm) coming into town to meet us and have lunch. I can't wait to meet him. We are going to have a nice time talking about our places. So this is what I have been up to over the summer. Summer seems to be going away now. It's getting to be real cool nights, which I love. I'm just not looking forward to the snow. It seemed to never end last year. I hope everyone had a great summer also.  Vicky

 

KMPI Kettle Moraine Paranormal Investigation

Elsing's 2^nd Hand Shop Investigation May 3, 2008

Philip and Vicky Elsing

Firstly, thank-you very much for the opportunity to investigate your place of business. It’s refreshing to find businesses so eager to explore the possibilities of the unknown! We found you to be very accommodating and a very gracious host. The snacks were well-received and much appreciated!

As you know, on May 3^rd we came down for the investigation, along with Matt and Amanda. Present in my group were Myself, Mike Hoke, Kellie Wirtz, and guest Dave Schultz. We split at first to form 2 groups of 3, then 3 groups of 2. No member was found to be left alone for any length of time to ensure the accuracy of our findings.

Here’s a breakdown of what we found:

Audio: Nothing note-worthy. Despite our EVP circles and other tactics, we did not catch any voice-phenomena. A few car sounds were noted at random intervals, as was a siren in the background from a fire truck. Nothing paranormal that could not be attributed to normal sounds.

Electronic: Nothing major in the emf findings. A room or two had a live wire, and the furnace system and April air system in the basement all gave off the normally high readings for electrical and magnetic readouts. No anomalous readings were found during the investigation.

Heat signatures: Nothing super noteworthy except a few drafty spots in the basement as well as a window upstairs with a gap in the insulation. Nothing anomalous. A member or two noted a chill on the back of their neck in the basement, but with a Kleenex and a stick we were able to show the cold air came from the basement to the stove that was in the lower level.

Video: We did run across the video with sound of the marble(?) dropping, I will attach that for you.

Imagery: Nothing on 35mm film, but the digital canon rebel XLT did capture some rare finds. Note this camera is programmed to pick up light, and motion, and is designed specially to enhance images at high speeds.. All these pictures are being sent as the original untouched, and an enhanced version.

The first is in the attic, the window to the far right. You may see what appears to be a face in the window. It’s possible it may be a reflection from an item, but I can’t see what it’s reflecting from at that angle.

The second is an odd little light-orb, just to the left of the lamp in the picture. It’s giving off a faint green light (green is often noted to be the color of magic, and often associated with fairy-type creatures). This orb is unique in some 140-odd pictures, and appears to be showing captured motion. Again, it could be camera fault, but we cant say for sure.

The third and final picture is in the holiday room. It’s the blue light, about midway down, off to the left. It seems to be traveling upwards. There is a close item to the lens, but a refraction of that sort would have the same angle of the item close up, and this does not.

There is a lot of light refracting from the glass, but my camera is able to filter most of it, and the item behind this light is non-glass, and of a non-reflective surface.

That about sums up our findings. Seems to me you have not so much ghosts, but rather, guardian angels/spirits that follow you around, keeping you company when you need it most and safe from harm. Consider yourself blessed to have such phenomena about you, and keep up the wonderful store! It was a real pleasure working for and with you, and I hope to visit your shop sometime in the future, if I ever come to the area again. Let me know if you want a copy of all the pictures for your own analysis, or if there’s anything else you need,

Thanks for your support and patience!

Michael, KMPI

Tags: Ghost Hunt Elsing's 2nd Hand Shop Spirits Ghosts Haunted

I just want to say that MPR group had nothing to do with the posting of another teams evidence on You Tube. Vicky

MIDWEST PRETERNATURAL RESEARCH/KETTLE MORAINE PARANORMAL CO-INVESTIGATION REPORT


Date Of Investigation: Saturday, May 3rd, 2008

Investigation Site: Elsing's Second Hand Shop, Stoughton, WI

Investigators Present: Amanda and Matt (Midwest Preternatural Research), Michael, Dave, Mike, and Kellie (Kettle Moraine Paranormal Investigations)
Clients/Visitors Present: Client (V)

Equipment Used: Trifield Standard EMF Meter, CellSensor EMF Meter, Digital Cameras, Dual Infrared Non-Contact Thermometer/Air Probe Thermometer, Sony Handycam Camcorder, Digital Voice Recorders, Motion Sensors

Report written by: Matt

Background: This was Matt's third time investigating this site. You can read about the other two visits here and here. On his first investigation with his former group (HPI), he had his voice recorder set in a little closet under the basement stairs and recorded this sound. Another investigator recorded the same noise at the same time on his recorder which was set close by, which is why Matt thinks it was probably something in the building. Matt recorded the same sound on the second visit. It may even be what people are mistaking for the sound of a little girl crying. However, the source of the sound has yet to be found. Another group suggested that it could be a cat, as neighbor cats have been spotted outside.

On the second investigation, Matt again had his recorder set under the stairs when he recorded this sound. Is it the same thing again? Or something else? It sounds sort of the same, but a little different. The first sound was higher pitched. Is there a malfunctioning toy somewhere in the store such as a doll that's making these noises?

On the same investigation, another investigator recorded this on his recorder while he was sitting alone with one other person. They both had voice recorders running and they were right next to each other, but the other person didn't hear anything on her recording.

Our Investigation: We arrived at about 6:30PM, and V gave everyone a walk through of the building. Since Matt had been here before, we didn't take baseline EMF readings again. After the walk through, we decided to split up into two groups. Matt, Amanda, Kellie, and V were in one group together, and Michael, Mike, and Dave were in the other group. Matt put motion detectors in the Furniture Room downstairs, in one of the aisles in the Tool Room, and one at the top of the basement stairs. Video cameras were set in the Tool Room in the same aisle as the motion detector and in the furniture room. We got started at about 8PM.

Each group took a floor and we rotated about every half hour, hitting on the spots where activity was reported. We took some EMF readings, pictures, and asked EVP questions. At about 10:30PM, V left the building to let us split up into groups of two and spread out. Amanda and Matt were together, Michael and Kellie, and Mike and Dave. We wrapped up our investigation at about midnight.

Findings/Personal Experiences: When Amanda, Matt, Kellie, and V were doing their first EVP circle in the Furniture Room in the basement, Kellie and V heard what they said sounded like a bead or something bounce across the floor. They turned on their flash lights to see what it might have been, but could not find anything.

Then when the same group was on the main floor doing an EVP circle in the Tool Room (we each sat in one of the aisles, and V sat in the Toy Room which was right next to it), we heard something move on a shelf. Everybody asked each other if they had made the sound, and nobody had. We pinpointed the sound to being in the aisle that Kellie was sitting in. We looked around but nothing seemed to be out of place. However, it could also have just been something on the shelf settling.

Later, after V had left and everybody was in their small groups, Kellie was in the hallway in the basement, between the Book Room and the Holiday Room, when she says she heard that noise again that sounded like a bead bouncing along the floor. She looked and could not find anything on the floor.

When Matt and Amanda were upstairs alone on the third floor, Matt tried provoking the spirits and then we heard some static on the walkie talkie. We radioed the others to see if it was them and they said no. However, it could easily have just been someone in the neighborhood playing with a walkie talkie.

When analyzing his video at home, Michael said he heard some noises on his video camera that he had set up in the Furniture Room, however the same sound reoccurs periodically so he thinks they're probably just noises from us or the camera.

Final Analysis: All in all it was a quiet night. We wouldn't call anything we heard or experienced paranormal. However, the previous two investigations and all the experiences documented by other groups already lead us to believe that this site has potential for paranormal activity, and we'd love to come back again if the client permits.

Tags: Elsing's 2nd Hand Shop Ghost Hunt Report

This happened years ago when my two youngest boys were young, I want to say about the late 80”s to early 90's. I used to have my flower garden in the front of my house looking kind of western. The old wagon wheels and cow skulls and stuff like that.

Well one day my boys had been out playing. We live really close to the cemetery. They, like any other boys, would like to go out and see what they could find. They came home that day so excited. They had found a skull for my garden. They came busting in the door, yelling and couldn't wait to show me what they had found for my garden. Well my eyes about popped out of my head and my mouth dropped open. They had brought home a human skull.

They sure didn't understand why I would not want it in my garden. The boys didn't know the difference I guess. They thought old bones were old bones. Now here I sit with this human skull in my hands, not knowing what to do. I didn't feel right tossing it in the trash and I sure didn't want it out front in my garden. People walking by would have been in shock.

I finely ended up calling the police station and told them what my boys had brought home. Boy, if you want police at your house fast, call them and tell them your boys have just brought home a human skull. They came flying to my house. Then then took the head from me and told me we did the right thing by calling them. They also took my boys with them, so they could show them where they found it. I also run a police radio in my home, so I know that the coroner was called in right away. The skull was taken to Madison to be tested.

The last I heard, was it was very old and an adult. The city had been doing some digging near the end of the cemetery where the poor people were buried in unmarked graves. They didn't know that they had dug up any people. They said the rain could of also washed the dirt away from some of the graves. I have to say, that is a day I will never forget. I'm sure glad I didn't know anything about ghost back then. I have no idea what they ever did with the found skull. I sure hope they put it back where it belonged.

Tags: Human Skulls

 

Ghost Hunt with HPI August 9, 2008

HPI Ghost Team showed up at my shop around 3:30. The shop was still open for business at the time, we had to wait until all the customers had left the shop. HPI had three new investigators join their team. The investigators that showed up were: Kurt, Krista, Rhonda, Mark, Ann, Shaunda and Dave. Everyone had been in the building on other investigations, some with other teams. The only new person was Shaunda. They all went to look around the building for awhile, until all the customers had left the shop. We then locked up and sat down and met everyone and talked for awhile, they all enjoyed seeing Otis again and meeting Baxter for the first time. After that, Phil and I went home with Otis and Baxter in tow. The team then held a meeting as to what they were all going to try that night and just walk around the building. They also set up some of there equipment, to play white noise while we were all gone from the building. Phil and I went back to the shop about 5:30 to head to the Koffee Kup for dinner with everyone.

After a great dinner at the Koffee Kup and some enjoyable conversations we all headed back to the shop. The team brought in the rest of their gear and set everything else up. We then just sat around and talked about things for awhile. Phil then went home with Otis and Baxter for the night.

The team mainly wanted to investigate in the furniture room, as we always seem to have a lot of things going on in that room. We all went down stairs as a group and just sat for awhile. Then we started to do some EVP work. While doing some EVP work, a really loud noise was heard by all of us. The noise was right between Ann and I. I said to Ann, “please tell me that was the building settling!” Ann said no, I thought it was you. Everyone else had heard it also. It was so loud. It was like a really loud creek, or maybe moving furniture. That made me a little nervous at the time. A few of the other people kept watching the hallway to the upstairs. I think they said they had seen dark moving shadows. There were also some noises heard in the hallway between the holiday room and book room.

We then all went upstairs to take a cookie and popcorn break and talked about a few things that happened. This was the first investigation that Kurt's tummy wasn't making noises, but mine sure took over.

We all headed back downstairs after the break and split up some between the steps and the furniture room. Kurt was using a K2 meter on the steps. While he was sitting on the steps the K2 meter kept going off. A few of the other investigators went to watch it. I really don't know a lot about the K2 meter as far as to what it all means. I'm sure that will come out in their report of the investigation. Shaunda and I were sitting in the way back of the furniture room. Suddenly, Shaunda felt a really cool spot on her feet and no where else. She asked to to put my foot over there to see if I could feel it also. Boy, could I feel it, but just on a few of my toes. I had open shoes on, I could feel this really cool spot as I moved my foot near where she was feeling it. I pulled my foot back really fast. We then went upstairs for another break.

After our break, we all headed back to the furniture room to do more EVP work. We all sat in the back of the furniture room again as a group. While sitting there, the group wanted to play some spir-com noise. I had no idea what that was. They started playing it and boy was it spooky sounding. I sure would not want to listen to that for to long, it sounded very spacey. We then played some old music from the twenty's and thirty's. That was kind of fun to listen to. Boy, singing sure has changes, it is much better now days. We listened to that for awhile and then they switched it over to white noise. I don't know what I was thinking when they did the switch, but when the white noise started I about flew out of my chair. It sure spooked me.

We then did some work with dousing rods for a little bit. Everyone was able to give them a try. Kurt said it was something when they would move on their own while in his hands. We then asked the spirits if they minded us using the dousing rods and the told us they did not want us to use them anymore. We then stopped using them and used the pendulum for a little bit. I started to dose off during all of this. I was so tired. After that, we called it a night and all headed upstairs to get our night gear set up. Nothing unusual happened on the main floor that I know of, I fell asleep really fast.

I slept in the toy room, Ann and Shaunda slept in the tool room, Mark, Rhonda and Krista slept in the front room. Kurt and Dave slept downstairs. Kurt slept in the furniture room and Dave set up camp in the hallway by the holiday room. In the middle of the night, Dave was woken up with a really creepy feeling and had to move out of the hallway and into the furniture room with Kurt. He said he felt like someone was there with him and they were watching him. Dave had done another investigation in my shop with another group and not to much happened at that investigation, so he really didn't think my place was haunted. I think by the time the night was over, he was thinking a little different about it.

In the morning, a few of the people had woke up. Krista, Ann, Rhonda and Kurt were all sitting in the front room. I think Kurt was on the phone and the ladies were all talking to each other softly. Suddenly I heard everyone talking really loud about what had just happened. They were all so excited that it woke me up. I got up and walked out to the front room and asked what happened. They asked if I had just talked to them while I was still in bed. I told them no, I was still sleeping until I heard them all talking loud about something. All three of the ladies said they were talking to each other and a forth person joined in on the conversation. They had me go back to where I had been sleeping and asked me to talk soft. They all said no, that is not what we heard. Wouldn't you know it, everyone had also just shut off their recorders. Everyone turned on their recorders and continued to pack up. Kurt and I were talking and suddenly Krista turned to us and asked me what I wanted. Kurt and I both just looked at her and said we didn't say anything. She said, yes you did, I heard you say my name. Krista was shocked, because she said she heard her name said, and she also said it sounded like my voice. Kurt confirmed that I did not say her name. In fact, everyone said they had not said her name. Hopefully that was picked up on the recorders.

Shaunda then went out to finish packing up her bedding and when she walked out to where she had slept, there laid a statue. She was all excited about it. Shaunda said, that statue was not on the floor