The team returned for another visit to this Herne Bay home about a year after the initial investigation, to further document the apparently paranormal events that seem to be occurring from time to time.
The current owners have recently had architects and engineers in as they are about to start major renovations. It seems this new decorating activity might be stirring up some spirits in the process.
Since our last visit, it seems the paranormal activity is still ongoing.
Following a ‘clearing’ after the previous two investigations of this location, activity had ceased and the home had a nicer feel to it, according to the family living here.
However, towards Christmas 2013 they again started hearing footsteps in the hallway and appliances were again turning themselves on.
Reported activity:
- Just after our last visit (the morning after they had got home after our investigation) both adults of the house were awoken at the same time, 5.30am by the sound of ‘one of the children walking down the hallway’ to the entrance of their bedroom. Both adults sat up and looked, expecting to see one of the children standing there, but there was no-one there and upon further checking they found all the children asleep.
- The Mother was sitting at the table recently. Suddenly the heaters turn on (switch is in the hallway). When she got up from the table to go to turn the heater off, the TV turned itself on!
- Recently there have been lots of noises heard by all the adults in the home (including Barbara who works there as a Nanny)
- The daughter has become very fearful at night and has bad dreams.
- Footsteps are being heard walking down the hallway.
As the family were going to be away for a few days, it was decided that Haunted Auckland would place a DVR system into the home to monitor any possible activity that may occur while no-one was there and with the permission of the family, the group would hold another investigation while the family were absent.
Investigation
Team members for the night – Mark, Barbara, Kel (Medium) and Pam
Weather Conditions – Fine and warm
Following a sweep of the Herne Bay home for temperature and EMF readings we proceeded to set up cameras, video and audio recorders.
Communication sessions were held in the upstairs hallway, in two of the upstairs bedrooms and in the downstairs bedroom in order to attempt to gain EVPs (Electronic Voice Phenomenon).
A spirit box was also experimented with in an attempt to make communications.
Medium
During these sessions our team medium, Kel, stated that she felt the presence of at least one spirit, but the team were unable to corroborate this with our equipment.
Kel – The entity’s name is Adam Flonder he is 14 nearly 15 he and his family died in a fire he had an uncle called Gary. He also has a sister.
Thoughts and Feelings
Pam – On entering the building I found the atmosphere warm and inviting. It’s always strange going into a house when the owner isn’t home, especially one you haven’t visited before. I felt no sense of any kind of abnormality and felt it was a house well lived in and well loved. A great sense of family. At no time did I feel afraid, stressed, tense or unwelcome. In fact on the many occasions I sat alone in rooms, ie the upstairs bedrooms, they seemed calm to me.
Barbara – I actually had no feelings or emotions going into the house today (which is unusual as I like going into the house). It usually feels welcoming even when there is no-one there but for this investigation the house just felt empty and very still. The little girl’s room had an interesting feel to it. Also at one stage during the investigation it felt and sounded as though someone was in the entrance foyer.
Kel – I first walked in and felt fine standing in the corridor of the house. I have to say I did not feel any personal change of my emotion or mood, or any negative vibes. When I started walking around the house I felt a lot of presence watching and following me. While Pam and I were down stairs in one of the lounges where the fireplace was, I felt a male presence.
We heard a few odd noises, and temperature anomalies throughout the night that we couldn’t explain at the time.
Upon hearing a sudden loud ‘crack’ sound downstairs, Mark went to investigate and reported that a children’s hanging play tent, attached to the ceiling in the downstairs bedroom was seen swinging as he entered the room. There were no windows open or draughts that might have caused the tent to swing as if being pushed. We could not find any reason for this movement at the time.
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/132503849″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=false&visual=true” width=”100%” height=”100″ iframe=”false” /]
The team did full periodic photographic, audio, EMF, ambient and surface temperature sweeps of every room throughout the night.
Three Electromagnetic Field Generators (E.M pumps) custom-built by Haunted Auckland were utilised during a communication session. These pumps, when turned on, emit a wide magnetic energy field around them. It is theorised that spirits can draw on this energy to manifest, making it easier for them to be in contact.
Another sound that was recorded and unable to be explained at the time was a ‘breathy / swishing’ sound that occurred twice and was heard by Pam and Mark whilst everyone was sitting around in a circle on the upstairs landing / hallway attempting communications.
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/132502870″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=false&visual=true” width=”100%” height=”100″ iframe=”false” /]
Communication sessions
Communication sessions were held in the upstairs hallway, in two of the upstairs bedrooms and in the downstairs bedroom in order to attempt to gain evps. During these sessions our team medium stated that she felt the presence of at least one spirit but the team were unable to corroborate this with our equipment.
Medium interaction
As a research team we endeavour to try all angles and test all theories in the name of open-mindedness. Because the paranormal is an elusive and unknown field, we feel it appropriate to experiment with all or any options given to us.
During a lengthy communication attempt utilising our team medium, Kel.
Kel – When I asked for the entities to come upstairs where we were sitting, there were about seven entities. I had to ask one to come forward and speak.
The entity ‘Adam‘ came forward.
Question – How old are you?
Answer – 14 going on 15
Barbara questioned who they were. The ‘reply’ was they were the family of Adam.
Question – Family name?
Answer – (spelt out) Flonder.
Question – Are you from New Zealand or overseas?
Answer – New Zealand.
Question – Why are you here?
Answer – This is we’re we live.
Question – could you repeat your surname? (this was to confirm the spelling as it didnt seem right)
Answer – Adam spelt the same name he had before, Flonder.
Question – Asked if the family were born here…
Answer – Yes.
Question – Did something happened to the house?
Answer – Yes, burnt down.
Kel then apparently had an image in her mind that the roof had collapsed.
Question – Did the roof collapse?
Answer – The bloody house wasn’t built properly!
Question – Did your family all die in the fire?
Answer – Yes.
Question – Are you the one that turns on the T.V ?
Answer – Yes.
Question – Who walks down the Hallway?
Answer – My brother and he is taller than me.
Various attempts at using an EMF meter to aid communication failed.
In the past we seemed to have had some odd success in getting responses by using the Cell Meter.
Barbara – I did sense ‘someone’ in the downstairs entrance foyer and I heard creaking (which is unusual for that area) and thought I could hear movement. I was downstairs by myself at the time, as everyone else had just gone upstairs. It felt like someone was in the foyer with me. I could also hear slight movements. It was as if someone was there and was standing still but sometimes moving just slightly so therefore making very quiet sounds and creaks.
Temperature fluctuations
The ambient and surface temperatures within the home stayed rather constant and even throughout the home for the entire night, dropping only a degree as it became later and cooler as time went by. Coolest room was the lounge room downstairs which has full length glass windows / doors along an entire wall looking out into the front yard / entrance.
Mark felt a fleeting cold spot while the team were doing a communication session in the daughters bedroom.
Mark – We were in the daughter’s room sitting on the floor attempting a communication session. I was lying on my stomach with my feet (shoes off, bare feet) at the wall and body pointing into the center of the room. For a second I felt an icy cold ‘swish’ rush over both my feet. It went from right to left. There were no drafts, open windows or any other reasons that we could locate at the time.
Barbara also felt cold spots beside her a couple of times during the investigation but this was not supported by any change in the thermometer readings.
Trigger tests
After Barbara had sensed someone in the downstairs area she decided to set up a simple trigger test to see if any movement could be captured. A couple of playing cards were positioned, leaning up against each other on the bench and a video running beside them to monitor. Before leaving, Barbara invited whatever entity might be there to knock the cards over as a sign of them being there. The cards remained standing all night.
A further experiment that was tried on this investigation, a 5m length of tinfoil was laid on the carpet along the upstairs hallway in an effort to hear and record movement on the tinfoil and possibly witness footsteps appearing on the foil if something did walk down the hallway. (Unfortunately the only footsteps captured were Kel’s as she demonstrated to the ‘spirits’ she claimed she was ‘in contact with’, how to walk down the foil hallway)
A traced coin and small bell on a piece of paper in the middle of the downstairs hall as trigger objects. Neither items were moved during the investigation.
Conclusion
Many hundreds of photos, around 20 hours of audio, five hours of video camera footage and over 80 hours of digital video footage were recorded and carefully reviewed by the team.
Barbara – I was incredibly disappointed with this investigation. It was very quiet with no real activity. Going solely by what happened on this investigation I would have to say that I saw no evidence of any type of haunting during our visit. However as I am at the house most days I know how the house usually feels and have witnessed and heard quite a few odd occurrences. Based on what I have seen and heard I do think the home is intelligently haunted. I am looking forward to the very major renovations beginning at the house.
Kel – it is my opinion that there is residual energy remaining in the house or on the property/ land. I personally felt that the house possibly could be haunted, as the source who initiated the enquiry has experienced certain unexplained events.
Pam – Previous investigation reports said that the storage room (off the garage) and the laundry felt cold and unwelcoming and look spooky, but I spent time alone in these rooms and felt that due to them being unlined and uninsulated, this meant they were cooler than the rest of the house and also slightly dusty and musty in odour. I imagine these things lend themselves to unusual feelings. I felt nothing odd in either room. Overall I thought the investigation went well as a learning experience as I got to see how things run and how the equipment works. I felt comfortable in the house during the investigation; it’s a warm, welcoming house full of family energy. Unfortunately I didn’t hear or see anything to indicate that there is anything abnormal going on, but even those people living in supposedly haunted houses only experience things very irregularly so to be in the right place at the right time I should imagine is extremely difficult. I felt we covered all bases with the tools we had and gave trying to capture something the best shot we could. Unfortunately nothing happened of note.
Mark – This was my third time in this home. At one of the previous sessions I heard and felt things that intrigued me. This time round I didn’t see, feel or hear anything that would to lead me to believe that the home might be haunted. It doesn’t take much for the building to creak as was demonstrated this night. There was some wind coming up. As the sound of the wind was heard, I could then hear the house starting to move. Creaks on cue. At this point I’m leaning towards imagination expanded natural noises and the power of suggestion growing in the minds of those living there, as the idea of ‘ghosts’ being there is being mentioned more often due to us visiting the place. Once the ‘seed’ of a ‘ghost being in the home’ is planted in the sub conscious, everything will be that ghost. Every sound, every corner-of-eye cornea distortion – everything. I too have found myself jumping at every sound, as the thought of a ghost haunting the place becomes more appealing and desirable with every visit and my impatience at capturing a real paranormal phenomenon grows. If you want something to be there, it’ll be there. So for now, I remain sceptical.
Post Investigation
A four camera infra-red Digital Video Recording system was set up and left running for a further three days after the team had left. Cameras were positioned in the daughter and sons rooms, master bedroom and hallway.
After reviewing the three days of footage, nothing evidence of any paranormal activity was found.
A historical search showed that there was no one with the last name “Flonder” listed on the NZ Electoral Rolls at all, at least not up until 1981. Historical records describe a fire in 1924 which destroyed a Herne Bay home in the same street as the residence we investigated, however no deaths were reported in connection to that fire.