Extract from the Kettering investigation from Ghost Detective (3)

Things started to happen around us again with shadows moving behind and in front of us. Alan saw a shadowy figure drift across behind my video camera, interestingly when played back, just before he mentions it the camera flickers. Shadows were also seen moving in the kitchen, and in the hallway through the glass door. It was now an hour into the investigation and we heard Ken and Richard walking about and talking upstairs, something had obviously happened. Alan and Karen switched the lights on made some tea while we waited for the lads to come down. While we all sat drinking tea Ken told us he had experienced knocks and tapping in the front bedroom. These sounds had moved down the bed and across the room, at the same time the curtains had started to move in and out, as if breathing. As soon as Ken reached for his camcorder the movement stopped, he also checked for drafts and found nothing. He decided to experiment with the laser thermometer and checked the walls within the room. The outside wall was, as expected, slightly colder than the inner walls, however, when he measured the window temperature it was the hottest part of the room at a constant 18.3. Knowing this wasn’t as it should be Ken decided to do another experiment. He pointed the laser at the window, which still read 18.3, and asked, “If you are here can you make the temperature go down”, instantly the temperature dropped down to 17.4. At this point Richard entered the room and the experiment stopped. Ken then had a name come into his head, Billy, the name wasn’t recognised, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be later on. Richard reported no activity at all in the back bedroom and no temperature fluctuations.

A while later as we sat chatting Karen explained to Ken about activity that had been experienced during the daytime in the middle bedroom some weeks before. Apparently while a friend was visiting her there were loud banging and knocking sounds emanating from that bedroom, as if someone was slamming doors and stamping on the floor. Bravely her friend went up to investigate and found all the cupboard doors and drawers open. The children in the house have all experienced paranormal events at some time. I must just stress at this point than no children were present during any of the vigils we performed in the house. Karen also explained that we, as investigators, only see what happens during one night, imagine having this happening every day. You now have some idea of what this family is going through. After taking some photos around the living room we settled into the investigation again, this time I would tackle the front bedroom while Ken and Richard experienced the living room. Upstairs I opened all the bedroom doors and then settled myself down on the bed in the front bedroom. As my eyes became accustomed to the light I could see into the rear bedroom to the far end of the hall and landing. There were motion sensors half way across the hallway so anything physical passing them would set them off. I started asking for the spirits that we knew were in the house to come to me and make their presence felt. Straight away there was shuffling in the back bedroom, and what looked like amber eyes blinking close to the floor. I quickly took a photo of these and to my astonishment they appeared on the screen.

As soon as I took the shot the eyes disappeared. Cautiously I investigated the room but found nothing. I settled back down on the bed and tried to capture some EVP’s. This is a simple process, you switch on your recorder and ask a specific question, pause for a few seconds and then play the recording back. Astonishingly I recorded the sound of a dog barking after asking for Peter to contact me. I heard nothing while asking out, but the recorder captured the sound. Here is a tip for the would-be investigator, do not do endless hours of recording, instead do several smaller recordings. By doing this you are able to pinpoint any activity, finding it quicker. You can also isolate the shorter recording and sample it on the computer at a later date. Things for me went very quiet after this initial activity. I could see flash photography being done downstairs so I knew they were having better luck, I decided to sit it out and wait to see if things started up again. Meanwhile downstairs in the living room Alan was asking for specific spirits to make contact with them. There was activity in answer to the name Sarah. Ken then asked her to send the temperature down, it started at 16.0 and fell dramatically down to 14.0. There was also a sudden bright red flash of light in the corner by the french windows, recorded on video. Richard was touched on the leg and the temperature plummeted down to around 13.0, then as they watched it fell to 12.4. Ken then saw the shape of someone standing in front of the french windows, it lasted only seconds and as it disappeared the temperature rose to 16.4. Richard and Karen saw a shadow by the cooker in the kitchen. I decided to join them downstairs as I had experienced no more activity.

The time was 12.50 am.