This was our first investigation at Burlington and we had set the evening up as a training investigation for new GSPR members from 2 local High Schools in our area. 

This even coincided with Mark’s birthday, and so - fulfilling a wish Mark made five years ago at Alcatraz in CA, he turned 16 in a haunted prison.  On the gallows  - at midnight, to be exact. 

As would be expected in a training investigation, there were many “learning moments” which were great for our team, as we strive to keep becoming better investigators and constantly learn and improve.  It was not rich in evidence, however. 

Personal experiences:

There were some initial bangs and clangs in the upstairs hallway, which at first seemed to respond to questions, one bang being yes and two bangs being no. After three ‘yes’ answers, we decided to ask something ridiculous (along the lines of “Do you like tacos?”). When this was answered in the affirmative, we went looking for the source of the banging, which turned out to be the radiator system. In “The Dungeon”, two of the trainees heard faint music which they described as trumpet or harmonica-like in quality. When alone in the Women’s Hallway (where we set up base) Mark heard whispers and some moaning, and as he was alone, became very uncomfortable (which is rare). Outside, near the far left corner of the courtyard, we conducted random temperature screenings just for a base reading. At one point, the readings were distinctly cooler than the surrounding lawn, so we conducted a brief interview. After a few exciting spikes, we concluded that whatever was changing the temperature was doing so randomly, as the spikes tended to be in the middle of questions.

Some of our learning - so that you may learn from us and improve your next investigation:

Audio: 

1) There is a new heating system in the museum.  This makes it a much more comfortable environment than, say, ESP, but there is a monster of a blower fan directly behind the kitchen/below the women's wing which killed (polluted) our wireless audio link in that area about every 15 minutes for about 4-5 minutes each time.

2. 2) With any audio feed streaming real time to a computer - take the time at tear-down to save the completed file.  In the case of Audacity - don’t just save the “project”.  We only took the time to convert down one of the two laptops, and when the batteries died in the sleeping laptops overnight, the saved project file was lost, while the converted and re-saved .mp3 file was fine.  3.5 less hours of audio evidence review ( yeah!?) but of course the one surviving file was from the subway, not the dungeon. ( see #1 for why that is a problem).
   

Video:

1. 1)The are is compact enough to cover well with the 4 100’ IR cameras.  We had one positioned in the dungeon, and with the glare from the plexiglass walls it flared too often.  Next time a different camera angle away from the shiny walls.
   

2. 2)Handheld videos worked well but no positive results.
   

Lastly on the topic of learning:  be advised that following

Halloween and THE PRISON there are a few decidedly

non-paranormal but freaky remnants about the yard:

We still have the IR 4x video to review as well as taking one more pass at the wireless audio.   Photos of the investigation team at work are Here.  We will be posting the formal investigation report forms at the conclusion of the evidence review.

The good news:  We were so impressed with the facility and staff that we are taking two additional teams in during May.  These small 6 person teams will also be responsible for evidence review, so there should be much more to report about following that investigation, and the report will be up sooner!