The team was called in urgently to look into the strange occurrences regularly going on in this unassuming suburban household that were terrifying the children and disrupting family life.
Background
The investigation was arranged with just 24 hours notice, after an urgent contact by the family. We received a message via our Facebook page from a couple living in a house which seemed to be experiencing quite a lot of alarming and potentially paranormal activity. The family was too frightened to sleep upstairs in their rooms and had spent the previous few nights camped out downstairs. They were getting desperate due to lack of sleep.
The house, a two storey, brick property, and the two, identical properties next to it are only around 5 – 8 years old according to the tenants. The entire neighbourhood seems to have a somewhat dark and mysterious history. Houses surrounding the investigation home have seen full fire destruction and rebuild, a suicide and a fatal shooting incident.
Reported Activity
- On a few occasions the couple has heard what sounded like children running around upstairs at night. At those times, the kids were not upstairs. No one was up there at all.
- The women reported that many of the occupants have been woken by heavy footsteps, sounding very much like heavy work boots stomping around in the night, coming from upstairs. The children were so disturbed by these noises that they were now choosing to sleep downstairs.
- There have been numerous bangs and crashed coming from upstairs, yet, on inspection, nothing has been moved or disturbed.
- One night, one of the children, mentioned to the parents that someone had loudly whispered ‘Hey!’ into his ear. No one was with him.
- A negative presence sensed in the walk-in wardrobe by the owner who is now too scared to enter the closet.
- Growls have been heard in upstairs room and in closet.
- The light inside the wardrobe has also been seen to turn itself on.
- We were told that the downstairs bathroom fan also has a habit of turning itself on. The switch was in view of the couples bedroom, and they could hear the sound of the switch clicking on (and the fan starting) but could also see that there was no one standing there to actually switch it on.
- A small vase of artificial flowers in the master bedroom had been seen to move by themselves, with no apparent cause. We were told that the windows were closed and that no one had walked past them.
- The family now refuse to sleep upstairs at night due to all the activity.
Investigation
Weather conditions on the night – It was warm, dry and sunny when we arrived, giving way to a fine and clear evening.
Luna cycle – Waxing moon, in Aries. One day before First Quarter.
First impressions on entering the house
The house was very modern and clearly well looked-after by the tenants. It was spacious, clean and airy, with nice furnishings and didn’t look like your stereotypical ‘haunted house’.
Mark – “I was surprised. I was expecting an older home. In fact the entire neighbourhood was relatively fresh considering how old Pukekohe itself is.”
Initially, we stood in the living room area of the house, talking with the couple about their experiences in the house. They emphasised that most of the noises etc had come from upstairs, and that the situation had become so bad that everyone was sleeping downstairs, with the exception of the women’s cousin.
We felt perfectly comfortable and relaxed downstairs, talking with the couple.
The couple had converted the garage to create a double bedroom for themselves. Downstairs, there was a bedroom with bunk beds (shared by two boys), a bathroom, the living room and kitchen, and a small hallway, with stairs leading to the first floor. Upstairs was a landing, leading to a double bedroom with a walk-in wardrobe (used by the women’s cousin), bathroom, airing cupboard (with loft access), single bedroom (used by the women’s son), and another single bedroom, used by her daughter.
We were interested to see that similar noises and phenomenon were being experienced by the neighbour, two doors down. We spoke to the neighbour during the course of the evening and confirmed this with him.
We had been told that the daughter has felt particularly uncomfortable sleeping in her room. Upon investigation we discovered that there was a region of very high EMF behind her bed, at the pillow end, which was likely caused by one or many electrical wires running inside the wall, exactly at the height of her pillow. Exposure to high EMF has been shown to cause feelings of unease, sensations of being watched etc.
Whilst this cannot fully explain the phenomena experienced by the rest of the family, it is possible that the daughter’s situation was being made worse by the EMF. Having monitored the readings around the rest of the room, we made a suggestion as to where the bed could be safely relocated within the room, to avoid sleeping next to an area of high EMF which would hopefully help to alleviate some of these problems.
We tried to debunk the moving flowers incident with no success. They consisted of plastic flowers on long wire stems. Tests done by us at the time showed that the flowers were actually quite difficult to move in the manner described by the homeowners, and we were unable to recreate the effect ourselves.
Whilst up in the ceiling space, Mark used an I.R Night Shot video camera to film the interior in hope of finding evidence of rats, birds or an opossum, to explain away the bangs and crashes at night. The interior of the roof cavity however was very new looking, very clean and undisturbed. No droppings or signs of animals living up in there were found.
A full photographic sweep of the entire home, inside and out was conducted. Audio recorders placed in three rooms and relocated half way through the session. Thermometer readings taken in all rooms top to bottom. All stayed a constant 17 – 18 degrees throughout the night. EMF readings taken in all rooms on both levels and up in the attic / ceiling space. Nothing unusual until we ‘spiked’ as it hit the girls bedroom wall where her pillow is. It was assumed there was power cabling behind the wall giving off the unusually high reading. Static IR video cameras placed in walk in wardrobe (with audio recorder) and in two other rooms.
Conclusion
After reviewing the many photographs, audio and video footage we found nothing to physically conclude the place to be haunted, but feel the family’s experiences count for something and were more than just imagined incidents or misidentification and natural causes.
It is often hard to pinpoint an exact cause for the activity which is taking place. However, what’s important in this case is that by performing a thorough cleansing, we were able to restore peace to the household and allow the children to sleep upstairs, undisturbed once more.
Mark – “It was an interesting one that gave us opportunities to try a few different approaches. The couple was lovely and very open about their experiences which made the session so much easier and relaxed. I also feel we may have helped the woman overcome one of her fears. Whatever she felt was ‘residing’ in her walk in closet is no longer a threat to her. She has gained strength enough now to take back her home so they may live in peace and without fear.”
The couple raised the issue of a mysterious church around the corner, which was surrounded by a high fence, but which had no windows or signage outside. Extensive research by our team has uncovered that the building is not being used for any sinister purpose, but is actually a church of the highly secretive Christian evangelical group, the Exclusive Brethren. Haunted Auckland hope that this provides some reassurance as to the nature of the activities which are taking place in this property.
We will stay in communication with the family and re-visit the case if need be. A big thank you to the couple for inviting us into their home and giving us the opportunity to expand on our techniques and research.
Testimonial
“I want to thank the team from Haunted Auckland. I have been living in a new house for about 8 months now and have been having odd things happen around the house from lights and a bathroom fan ‘switching itself on’ to footsteps like children running and banging upstairs. I found Haunted Auckland online and asked them to come to my house. I felt so at ease when they arrived, they were very light-hearted and created a very calm and happy atmosphere. On arrival i showed them around and we talked about all of the things going on in the house and they set to work with the EMF meters, cameras and other equipment. We were talked through everything that was being done and we were able to ask any questions we had without feeling like we were crazy! Since their visit I haven’t heard one bump, footstep, or bang since and have slept soundly every single night without waking at all. I highly recommend Haunted Auckland to anyone that is experiencing unexplained activity in their home.”
–Aileen, Pukekohe
Would love to know which street in Pukekohe this occured on.
Thanks for your message Will! Out of respect for our clients’ privacy we always keep the actual locations for residential investigations under wraps. We only publish our reports after they’ve been approved by the client. Check out some of our investigations of public locations though, plenty of those you can go and experience for yourself.
Have you guys tried the old Carlisle house in ponsonby? I go to the church next door and our elders believe its inhabited by children’s ghosts would be interesting to see what you find??? Beware the minister is not welcoming and friendly at all! That speaks for itself !
Thanks for your comment Shay. We have tried in the past, however the trust with owns the Carlisle House is not willing to allow investigations of the property. We’ll keep trying however because we would love to be able to document some of the history at the house if we can get permission.