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	THE GHOST RESEARCH FOUNDATION INVESTIGATION Patty Wilson and Scott Crownover, of the Pennsylvania-based Ghost Research Foundation, just visited the hotel. They were introduced to us by Katherine Ramsland. I think the meeting went very well. They are planning a full Grand Midway Hotel investigation later this month. I'm really looking forward to it. They are also the folks behind the book Haunted Pennsylvania. Here are a few words from their web site... ________________________________________________ Welcome to the Ghost Research Foundation! Have you ever had an unusual experience that you have ever wondered about? Do you know that there must be something to paranormal phenomena, but you also know that not every story is true? Are you curious, but consider yourself a critical thinker? If so, then you have found a home. The Ghost Research Foundation offers information, investigation facts, tips, stories and help for those interested in the paranormal. We are a group dedicated to serious study of ghosts and unusual phenomena. The Ghost Research Foundation was born from the Central Pennsylvania Paranormal Association that began over two years ago. The Central Pennsylvania Paranormal Association was a local group with small goals. We have since grown and now travel throughout the mid-Atlantic states investigating hauntings. We have earned a reputation as serious, critical researchers. We have been granted the right to work with local historical societies and museums. We have earned this right because we have proven ourselves to be critical, scientifically-minded individuals. Today the group is still run by founders Patty A. Wilson, a writer, researcher and historian, and Scott Crownover, a former military officer who holds a degree in Life Science. We are honored to be hosting you here. Study Our Protocols and enjoy our site. Check out our bookstore and our monthly journal. If you have questions or comments, we’d love to hear them. We certainly don’t know everything about ghost hunting, but we’ll do our best to get you an answer from someone else who does have the information that you will need. Protocols 1. All information gathered must have no rational explanation. 2. Never shoot photos in any adverse weather conditions. (Snow, mist, rain or other conditions could cause false orbs.) 3. Never assume that orbs or supercharged energy are truly evidence of paranormal activity. The connection has been established by a commonality of location, but is not scientifically proven. 4. Never assume a site is haunted after a single investigation. No one can be sure of such a thing. Many sites must be worked for months or years in order to get a body of evidence to establish fact. 5. Always do your research on the history of the site, the hauntings reported, and the people involved. 6. If working with psychics, be sure to understand that they are human and can make honest mistakes. They are affected by imagination, other people’s impressions and their own life experiences just like everyone else. 7. Welcome everyone--especially skeptics and the clergy. We have found that far from having skeptics and the clergy “chase away the spirits“, we have had had good luck with them present. We engage in scientific investigation and so we welcome skeptical eyes. We do not broach the subject of religion and so far we have found that the clergy is willing to listen and learn with the rest of our group. 8. Training is vital. Take your members to sites, allow them to work with the equipment until they are comfortable, and then be sure that they are aware of equipment flaws. 9. Never work alone. This way no one will be hurt and any anecdotal evidence will have conformation from a second source. 10. Set up a Central Location where anyone experiencing anything may return. This prevents tainting the other investigators. What good is evidence of a paranormal event if everyone has just heard someone radioing their similar experience to everyone. 11. Do not tell your investigators the history and haunting prior to the investigation. This minimizes imagination. 12. You must remember to always factor in human psychology. Everyone comes with preconceived ideas. If a person believes in ghosts, they will be more willing to accept an incident as paranormal. In the reverse, if they do not, they will rule out obvious haunting activity. We have experienced both. Some folks want their homes to be haunted without any good reason. Remember human nature when investigating a haunting. 13. Always be polite and courteous and never forget to ask a good many questions of both the people telling you their stories and of the ghosts. Perhaps the spirits, if they are there, will answer you. 14. No Ouija board, spirit board or other forms of occult contact with entities. We do not endorse this method because it can open up a home or family to a more violent haunting and we would never want to leave someone in such a situation. Best Tip: When dealing with other people who claim to be investigators or the press, you should always check them out first. Some folks will be media hounds hoping to dramatize your investigation and fabricate information in order to make money from your work. Others are merely looking for cheap thrills and sensationalism at your expense. Your reputation and hard work should be protected at all costs. It was hard to earn a good reputation in the first place, but to regain it is almost impossible. Last Word: Have fun. Be serious about your work, but enjoy the experience. Even if you can prove that a site is not actively haunted, you have learned something and learning is living. Laugh, share and enjoy and be serious when the time comes. But always have fun. _________________________________________________ They wrote us a letter: Hi Blair, The gang got together recently and I asked them what sites and your place was overwhelmingly named. Those who went talk about it and those who didn't feel that they really missed something. So, since you kindly offered to allow us back sometime, I was wondering if there might be a time that would suit you in Sept.? If you are busy, I certainly do understand, but if you aren't then the group would love to visit you again. Hugs, Patty _________________________________________________ Grand Midway Hotel Investigation #2 Well, Patty's entire group was here again this weekend for their Investigation #2. I wasn't actually around for this one, only caught the tail end of it. But it sounded like they captured a lot of interesting material. Everyone seemed very pleased. She is going to type out all their findings and send it here so we can post it for all to read. I think they are coming back again between now and Halloween. ___________________________________________________ Hi Blair, We have an EVP for you to listen to. It says, "Get out of here." It was captured on the second floor in the room with the Egyptian items. Larry was talking to Martha when a male voice came on growling, "Get out of here." Patty ___________________________________________________ A Night at the Grand Midway Hotel December 16th 2006 by Patty Wilson The Ghost Research Foundation functions under a list of rules that have been agreed upon by all of the members. The mission is to scientifically document the paranormal if it exists through the use of instrumentation and observation. The group does include and recognizes that some people are sensitive to impressions and information from unknown sources. They are encouraged to use their senses and talents, however, it is agreed that they will not discuss their impressions aloud while on-site. The only exception to that rule is when they are speaking with the site coordinator. I am the site coordinator. My name is Patty Wilson and I'm an author and folklorist. Nearly seven years ago, my partner Scott Crownover, and I created a paranormal group to research possibly haunted sites. The group has turned into a respected organization known as the Ghost Research Foundation. We work sites from North Carolina to New York. The group consists of a core of approximately seven to nine members who work the majority of the sites. Other members, usually, only work the larger sites or when we need specific skills. The Ghost Research Foundation is an amalgam of people, and it is their hard work that has earned us a good reputation. Together, Scott and I share the responsibilities of running the group. Scott has an expertise with the science of the paranormal that is virtually unparalleled. I do overall site management and work with the site owner. We share the research duties. On the evening of December 16, 2006 the Ghost Research Foundation began an initial investigation of the Grand Midway Hotel located in Windber, PA. The investigators that night were Linda I., Charley H., Patty D., Dan D., Scott Crownover and myself. The owner of the hotel is Blair Murphy. He has lived in the hotel for several years and has had paranormal experiences within the structure. Furthermore, guests of his have also had experiences within the building. Before the initial investigation, Scott and I visited the building in order to interview Blair in private and learn the history of the structure and gather initial equipment readings. We made our private visit nearly three weeks before the first investigation. On the night of the investigation, the weather conditions were rainy and cold. It was approximately 34 degrees that evening. We requested that Blair give the investigators a tour of the structure. He had been instructed to not give them any history or anecdotal information about the hauntings. The purpose of this tour was to allow investigators to familiarize themselves with the layout of the building because they would later be working in the dark. There would be infrared video shot throughout the structure, and that would require darkness. Patty D and her husband, Dan, settled on the third floor. She and Dan observed spikes in their electromagnetic field detector. It should be noted, that a few rooms of the third floor electricity is temporarily turned off. In those rooms what electricity is available this month is only through the use of extension cords. This is noteworthy because it should make the electromagnetic field readings low and consistent. However, strange moving spikes of electromagnetic energy seemed to be passing through the area where Patty and Dan had laid the EMF meter. It should be noted for the record the strange spikes only occurred in the extreme right-handed room and in the room directly behind it. Later in the evening, Patty D. would request verification of anomalous phenomenon further back on the third floor on the right hand side where a wooden coffin laid on the floor. She laid her EMF meter on the edge of the wooden box and found that was spiking. Her EMF meter is designed so that the stronger the electromagnetic field, the louder and brighter the beeping becomes. The electromagnetic field meter varied radically from nearly no response to loud and rapid beeping. We attempted to use the meter as a form of communication by asking questions and establishing a base line of silence for a "no" and loud beeping for a "yes." From this session, we determined that this box was not a prop, but rather that someone had actually been in it. Whatever was answering our questions indicated to us that the box had carried someone who wanted to go home. The communicating entity also indicated that it liked Blair but that it was not at home in the hotel. (At this point, I had not even considered that the objects within the structure could also be haunted. Therefore, I had not previously spoken to Blair about the history of any of the objects. I finished the session with Patty D. and returned to the first floor where I spoke to Blair about the box. It is crude wooden coffin much like one would expect in an old horror film. Because Blair had as a background in film, I had assumed that casket was a prop. However, Blair disabused me of that notion. The casket actually had been used years earlier to return an American citizen to this country from China when the man had died abroad. Blair’s parents were undertakers and had received the coffin at their business. They have subsequently removed the body from of the wooden box and placed it in a more traditional casket. The wooden casket had had been left in storage and Blair had retrieved it from his family years earlier. He had brought the casket to the hotel with him.) I usually pair team members up for reasons that are most probably obvious. Safety is a primary concern for us because some of our sites are potentially dangerous. A spill down the stairs or a slip can cause injury. Furthermore, if something paranormal would happen, then each team can witness it for each other. Dan and Patty D. were teamed up and Linda I. And Charley H. were also a team. Scott and I usually move around a site individually because we are helping teams, verifying data and getting a general overview of the investigation. Charley and Linda walked through the building taking photographs and recording impressions on paper. At the end of the night, they would hand in a copy of the sheet stating their impressions and observations. This team felt drawn to the second floor because it was the most active. In the front room on the right they found an entity that called himself "the Professor." This man was happy to speak to them but would not give his real name. Blair watched the event and later indicated that this man is someone he knew who has since passed on. Charley and Linda also recorded other impressions. In a room we call "The Monkey Room" (because it is home to a stuffed monkey) there was much activity. They keyed on that room. They also keyed on the "Canopied Bed Room." In this room, they both indicated that it was filled with spirits. They both instructed Blair not to allow people to use the ouija board and to get rid of the one in that room. Scott worked throughout the building. He picked up some anomalous readings and some orb photographs. He did not record any appreciable EMF readings or Tri-Field events. However, he did not have his entire team with him and had to do double duty that evening. We look forward to more definitive results when a larger group of techs are able to help Scott wire and monitor the many rooms. I worked throughout the building and worked with both teams. Patty D. felt that a child was holding her leg in the "Coffin Room" on the third floor. She described it as being like a little child holding onto her leg. This continued for some time after she left the third floor. Through sensitive intervention, a child was contacted. He indicated that he liked her because she reminded him of a grandma. He was comforted and helped by the sensitives. (There is no known male child haunting the site, only female children, but there are stories that a child or children died there and supposedly one might be buried in the basement. There was no other indication that the child existed. This documentation will be noted and added to the overall file for future reference.) I spent the majority of my time working on EVP and photographing the second floor. By far, the most active room to me was the "Monkey Room." I spent nearly 1 _ hrs. There. During my sessions there I received two EVP’s. The first one was in response to the question, "Where are you hiding?" The response was, "In the walls." (That response could be viewed as significant because previously cadaver dogs had keyed on this room for possible human remains. Subsequently, bone fragments were found in the wall of this room. Perhaps a coincidence, but notable, anyhow.) The second question was, "What year is it?" The answer was, "’29." (The hotel did not exist in 1829 so that indicates that possibly 1929 would be worth looking into. However, at this point, nothing should be ruled out.) The sensitives keyed on that room and felt that a girl possibly named "Rebecca" was there. She seemed to have worked in the building and indicated that someone who stayed there had harmed her. She was a very responsible person and refused to leave because she did not believe that she was dead and she had work to do. (Despite the fact that thermals were taken, we could not use them. The section of the building where the Monkey Room is was not heated. The temperature outside was dipping and so any reasonable drop inside would have to ascribed to that cause.) Obviously, it too early in the investigative process for any conclusions to be made. However, I would like to observe that this building is worth further investigation. I would like to wire parts of it for sound and EMF changes and seal those areas. Infrared video and stills should be taken again. The entities there seem vocal and, therefore, communication could clarify the situation through EVP. It was a most satisfactory initial investigation. We hope to return in February.