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Ghosts of Georgia Investigation report

On March 19th, 2011 GOGPI investigated claims of paranormal activity at Hales Bar Marina on Nickajack Lake, Guild TN.  Claims of activity include: Seeing apparitions, being touched/scratched, hearing screams, and voices of children.

Investigators & people present at investigation: Investigators – Ed Laughlin, Pat Riggins, Melissa Griffin, Kat Orr, Larry Conley, Gretchen Mann, Laurie Filsinger, and Beth Peters.

Weather conditions:

Solar-X Ray- Normal
Geomagnetic field- Quiet
Moon Phase- Full

    Meridian Passing    
Date  Moonrise Moonset Time Altitude Distance Illuminated Phase  
   
    Full Moon at 2:10 PM
Mar 19, 2011 8:06 PM 7:15 AM 1:09 AM 55.5° 356,934 99.4%

Past Weather Conditions for KCHA
Observations prior to selected time: March 19, 2011 – 09:00 EDT
Weather Conditions at March 19, 2011 – 8:53 EDT

  8:53 24 Hour Max 24 Hour Min
Temperature 62.1° F 82.0 at 17:53 57.9 at 4:53
Dew Point 55.0° F 55.0 at 8:53 42.1 at 17:53
Relative Humidity 78% 82 at 0:53 24 at 17:53
Wind Speed 9 mph from N 15 at 15:53 0 at 9:53
Wind Gust – 21 at 15:53 17 at 16:53
Pressure 29.52 in 29.52 at 8:53 29.37 at 17:53
Sea level pressure 30.24 in 30.24 at 9:53 30.09 at 17:53
Altimeter 30.26 in 30.26 at 8:53 30.10 at 17:53
Weather conditions mostly cloudy – –
Visibility 10.00 miles 10.00 at 9:53 10.00 at 9:53
Ceiling 15000 feet 15000 at 8:53 8000 at 2:53

Condition of the Business:

Hales Bar Marina is located in Haletown (Guild), TN. Hales Bar Dam was a hydroelectric dam once located on the Tennessee River. The Chattanooga and Tennessee River Power Company began building the dam in 1905 and completed it in 1913, making Hales Bar one of the first major multipurpose dams and one of the first major dams to be built across a navigable channel in the United States. In 1939, the Tennessee Valley Authority assumed control of Hales Bar Dam after purchasing TEPCO’s assets. TVA spent two decades trying to fix a leakage problem that had plagued Hales Bar since its construction, but after continued leakage, and after it was determined that expanding the dam’s navigation lock would be too expensive, TVA decided to replace the dam by building Nickajack Dam 6 miles downstream in 1968. The Dam has since then been empty and has floors under water. Three additional floors are accessible above the flooded floors and are in relatively good condition. There is no power going out to the dam.

Equipment used by Investigators:

Cameras: Two Canon Rebel digital cameras and Four IR Video Cameras connected to a J2000 DVR.

EMF Meters: Electro Sensor EMF Meter, Cell Sensor, Digital EMF Detectors, Mel-8704R-KII and K-II Meter.

Audio Recorders: Sony P210 digital voice recorder and an Olympus D-10 digital voice recorder and Olympus VN-4100PC. 

Thermometers: Cen-Tech mini non-contact infrared digital thermometer and an Omega HH68K ambient thermometer.

 Investigation

5:00 pm – Set up and tour of the grounds with P. R.O.S.E team.

Team 1 – Larry Laurie and Melissa– 9:20 pm

Team 1 and 2 started investigation at the same time and split at the fork in the tunnels.  Team 2 stayed in tunnels and collected data while Team 1 went to the plant.

 

9:27 pm – 3rd floor – 69 degrees – EMF 0

  1. 9:38 pm – Start EVP – 9:43 pm – End EVP
    1. During EVP, team heard noises on the back side of the 3rd floor. Also there were KII hits at the stairs.
  2. 9:47 pm – 3rd floor back room where the boxes were on the wall – 69 degrees – EMF 0
    1. 9:47 pm – Start EVP – pm – 9:54 pm – End EVP
      1. During EVP, both base team and Larry’s team heard what sounded like a sliding heavy metal door. Both teams were really far apart from each other.
    2. 10:01 pm – 3rd floor in the Moss room – 63 degrees – EMF 0
      1. 10:04 pm – Start EVP – 10:10 – End EVP
    3. 10:11 pm – 3rd floor room next to the Moss room – 66.6 degrees – EMF 0
      1. 10:12 pm – Start EVP – 10:20 – End EVP
    4. 10:24 pm – 2nd floor – team stopped on 2nd floor because the team heard what sounded like screams by the bathroom. Larry’s full spectrum camera sound camera on in Larry’s pouch. He had not opened it or turned it on.  Larry and Laurie both had KII spikes in this area as they investigated this area.

Base Team – Ed and Beth

10:18 pm – Base team felt cold breeze blowing – like an air conditioner was cut on. Cold air was blowing on the face as well.  No known reason was found.

10:48 pm – Base team heard a loud exhale sound down opposite side of the tunnel.

Team 2 – Pat, Gretchen and Kat– 9:20 pm

Team 1 and 2 started investigation at the same time and split at the fork in the tunnels.  Team 2 stayed in tunnels and collected data while Team 1 went to the plant.

 

  1. 9:27 pm – tunnels – 53 degrees – EMF 0
  2. 9:40 pm – Tunnels, room with dead animal (called the mummy room) – 52 degrees – EMF 0
    1. EVP session – during EVP session – EMF spike to .8 and Pat’s flashlight came on.
  3. 10:30 pm – Tunnels, section of tunnel by outside door (called Mary’s Corner)
    1. During EVP session – team had long flashlight communication session.

Team 3 & 4 – Larry, Ed Pat, Kat, Gretchen and Beth – 11:50 pm

  1. 11:50 pm – Bay Area – 63.3 degrees – EMF 0 with spikes to 2.2-2.4
    1. 11:52 – Bay Area, by the spiral staircase going down to flooded floor – Ed’s camera shut off and back on – Beth’s MelMeter KII turned off at the same time without the normal warning beeps that it is cutting off. Ed and Beth both had Cobweb experience noted in personal experiences at the same time. Larry had the cobweb feeling a few moments later without knowing Ed and Beth had experienced it.
  2. 12:07 am – Bay Area – Ed, Larry and Pat decide to debunk the 3rd floor experience Team 1 had earlier in the night, and Beth joined Team 4
  3. 12:13 am – Bay Area, far end by water – Pat felt cobwebs on her nose.
  4. 12:24 am – 3rd Floor – Ed and Larry tried to debunk flashlight communication where a spirit “asks the women to leave the 3rd floor” and got no answers with flashlights.
  5. 12:15 am – 12:40 am – Bay Area by the stairs and catwalk – Pat, Kat, Beth and Gretchen – several MelMeter KII hits and flashlight communication.
  6. 12:45 am – 3rd Floor – Larry, Kat and Pat went back up to try again with a female to debunk earlier flashlight communication about females on the 3rd This time they got a confirmation with the flashlight communication that the spirit indeed did not want females on the 3rd floor.
  7. 12:45 am – Bay area – by the stairs and catwalk – Ed, Gretchen, and Beth go back to continue and debunk flashlight communication with spirit. Again, there was a long period of communication using the MelMeter KII, Night vision camera and flashlight.

Team 5 – Larry, Pat, Melissa, Laurie, Kat

2:58 am – 3:30 am – Team 5 goes back to collect more data in the building while the base team (Beth, Gretchen, and Ed) revisited “Mary’s corner” to debunk and collect more data.

Findings:

 We would  like to thank Hales Bar Marina and P.R.O.S.E. paranormal for all their help and hospitality while we were at the investigation, a wonderful group of people!

We took EMF readings throughout the whole building and the base readings were 0.0, we did have occasional unexplained spikes from .8 to 2.4 in various areas, the meters would spike and just quickly the readings went back to 0.0, EMF was reading millgause. The temperatures throughout the building were normal for the time period we were there.

We did have success with the flashlight communication method both on the third floor and on the main floor in several areas. The flashlight would turn on and off upon command and with questions. We were also able to have the K-II meter spike up upon request during the flashlight sessions. While team 2 was investigating the third floor they used the flashlight method with results when they asked the question “do you want us to leave”, the light immediately lit up stayed lit until they said they would leave then it immediately went out. The team consisted of all female members. We decide to try and see if an all male team would have the same results so the male team went up but no flashlight communication occurred even when they asked “do you want us to leave”. The male team left the third floor then a mixed team went up to try it again. This time two female and one male team members went to the third floor and had success with the flashlight when asked the question “do you want us to leave”.

We did not get anything of interest on the video. We did have a couple pictures of interest but are not conclusive. Several members recorded many EVP’s throughout the building. There were several recorded, from different members, of what sounds like screams and some with children’s voices. Some of the reported activity were of screams and hearing children’s voice, we feel that we were able to capture them on our audio.

Every member of the team had some sort of personal experience, see below, whether it be the feeling of being touched, hearing unexplained noises, unexplained equipment malfunctions, etc.

With the stories from so many different people along with our personal experiences and EVP’s we feel that Hales Bar is haunted and very active. We feel that we encountered intelligent haunting while there. We look forward to a follow up investigate at this historic and active site.

Ed Laughlin

Ghosts of Georgia Paranormal Investigations

 

Personal Experience summaries from investigators on the investigation:

Pat:

  1. 1.  My first experience was with Gretchen and Kat in the room before the rate mummy room. My emf meter spiked to .8 and a few moments later, my flashlight came on in my hand. I moved all over the room and could not recreate the emf spike.
  2. With Gretchen and Kat in “Mary’s corner” we had multiple flashlight interactions but I’m not certain that it was not related to vibrations from the music outside. It did seem to be responding to questions BUT it also answered affirmatively to questions that did not make sense such as “Do you have a WI” and “have you driven Larry’s car”
  3. Gretchen, Kat and I had flashlight interaction with someone on third floor.  Would not answer any questions at all until I asked if he wanted us to go away. We got an immediate and very strong positive. When the question was repeated we once again got a very strong positive. At that point we left the area.
  4. Beth, Kat me and Gretchen were by the “suck”on the stairs and communicated for a long period of time with what we believed to be an 8 year old girl. The flashlight turned off and on in response to questions many times and the KII was also going off. We also heard a loud bang on the catwalk behind us when we were on the stairs.
  5. Kat, Larry & I went back up to the third floor to see if our flashlight experience could be confirmed. Once again, we received no response until we asked if it wanted us to leave. Twice, we received very definitive, strong responses with the flashlight, indicating that we needed to go.  Larry was able to capture one of these responses on video. This occured very quickly and once again we left at the spirits request.
  6. Larry, Melissa and I went to the third floor for a final time. This time the spirit would not respond to any questions until I asked if we were annoying. At that point we got a final definitive response via the flashlight.

Ed:

  1. Hearing one of the metal sliding doors sliding but no one was moving any of the doors.
    2. Spider wed feeling on my right forearm at the spiral stairs leading from the bay to the floor below.
    3. Feeling of nausea with goose bump and jittery feeling like you get from a sugar rush but I wasn’t eating anything, all this occurring near the railing in the bay area that overlooked the flooded floor below.
  2. My full spectrum camera shut off several times during the investigation, the battery was fully charged. Also while Larry and I were on the third floor my audio recorder turned off, the battery was fully charged, it never happened before or after that occurrence.

Larry:

On the first sweep I had a couple of k-2 hits by the lockers on the far end of the storage bay, on the second sweep as I came back up the stairs that came up from the flooded levels I felt as if there were cobwebs on my face but, there was none. Also the team of Gretchen, pat, and Kat came down from the 3rd floor and said they were getting the flash light to turn on and off while asking questions during an eve session, me and Ed then proceed to the 3rd floor to duplicate the experience after 30 min we were unsuccessful, after returning to storage bay me and Pat returned to the 3rd floor and we were successful in getting the flash light to respond to a few questions, that session was captured on the full spectrum camera, as me and pat returned to the storage bay, the other team members were communicating with a spirit believed to be a little girl 8 yrs old, the spirit was communicating thru the k-2 and turning the flash light on and off, in response to questions, that session was also captured on the full spectrum camera. It was a very interesting investigation.

Laurie:

My personal experiences were similar to Larry’s since I was with his team on the first sweep. I had hits on my K II on the stairwell that led down into the bay area. I also got dizzy every single time I passed through that area as well. I also got K II hits up in the locker area in the bay area, just inside the door that led to the outside. I also heard a woman scream and I think we were on the 2nd floor at the time that happened. I just remember rounding a turn and I heard it very loudly. I realize there was a party going on but it was not the kind of scream that you would normally hear from that environment. This scream stopped me in my tracks because it sounded like a scream of fear, not one of fun.

Beth:

  1. Hearing one of the metal sliding doors sliding but no one was moving any of the doors.
  2. Several bangs and sounds in the tunnel that could not be explained as we sat at base. There was the sound of water dripping, but that is not the sound I was hearing.
  3. Spider wed feeling on at least 6 occasions in different locations around the building, the bay area, in the tunnels, and even in the parking lot. No spider webs found.
  4. By the stairs in the bay area – 2 different communication sessions for at least 20-30 minutes with several spirits by flashlight and MelMeter KII.
  5. Really loud bang on the catwalk during an EVP session. Unexplained sound, but was confirmed by spirit communication with flashlights and MelMeter KII, that the sound was a spirit.

Gretchen:

  1. With Pat and Kat in tunnel on first floor in the large room near the river rat mummy…Pat got a emf spike of .8 that she followed then the emf went back down to zero. Unable to recreate.
  2.  Third floor of the tunnel, I had an uneasy feeling….”I did not trust the energy in the room.”  was uncomfortable finding a spot I felt good about standing in…I have never felt that before…we walked into the far end of the room and I got the name Bob…VERY STRONGLY.  I saw three flashes of white light like the size of a christmas tree bulb.  When I asked his job he had here, I got a strong image of a man with dark hair and his hands were black with grease.
  3. With Pat and Kat had flashlight interaction in “Mary’s corner”.  But there was music in the bar next door.  “Mary” likes music, video games, and Larry’s car…..the flashlight seemed tp go off with the music.  I told her I was not sure it was her, and would like to come back later when the music stopped and try again.
  4. Third floor had flashlight interaction with someone on third floor, where apparition is seen looking out the window.  Would confirm presence, but would not answer any personal questions, confirmed he wanted us to go-turned light on twice.  I respected that, and turned down going back up there- as his confirmation was in response to my questioning.  Out of respect, I declined.  I hope the team was not upset with me, but I feel this is a soul who wants nothing to do with any of this, and I was in his space, and I wanted to honor his wishes.  I feel I was respecting his wishes and it was important for me to do so.
  5. Beth, Kat me and Pat by the “suck”on the stairs were communicating for a straight twenty minutes with what I felt was several spirits by flashlight and Beths new cell sensor gadget, and I also heard a female (young girl’s voice) before we were communicating with the little girl.  I was hesitant to say I heard the voice as we seemed to be speaking to male spirits.  The little girl confirmed it was her on the stairs beth took a pic of, it was her in the tunnel with me early when the band was playing, and she was comfortable and protected by the male spirits around her.   startling Loud bang on the catwalk by the suck heard by all of us…so loud we all jumped, and I even say “ok” afterward.
  6. Felt prickly all  over with Beth feeling energy and Ed as well.  we confirmed presence by Beth’s meter.
  7. Felt tapped on my hat at the same time an EMF spike occurred, with Beth and Ed.
  8. Had a third flashlight experience with ed, larry, beth, kat, and pat.  It confirmed to be the little girl. Confirmed curse on the land by what I felt was not the little girl (confirmed by flashlight).  Two of the flashlight sessions feel like we were thanked and there was a definite end to the conversation.

Kat:

  • The Third Floor

 

    • During first EVP session on third floor (led by Pat), we were able to obtain confirmation via flashlight that something was up there with us.  After confirming its presence, it would NOT answer any other questions whatsoever until we asked if it wanted us to go. At that time, the flashlight turned on immediately and brightly.  It confirmed at least twice that it wanted us to go, refusing to answer any questions other than that.

 

    • Later, Ed and Larry went up to third floor by themselves (no women present) and spent about thirty minutes trying to get a response from whatever was up there. They came back down and reported that there was no activity.  As an experiment, Pat, Larry & I went back up to the third floor to see if our flashlight experience could be confirmed or if it was a random fluke.  Once again, we received NO response WHATSOEVER until we asked if it wanted us to leave again.  Twice, we received very definitive, strong responses with the flashlight, indicating that we needed to go.  Larry was able to capture one of these responses on video (the first time the camera was not recording yet). The responses came very swiftly and I don’t think we were up there more than two minutes.

 

    • Towards the end of the night, we went back upstairs for a third and final time. This time, we received random flashlight communication.  Not sure if that was anything.  I was a bit nervous being up there a third time after being told twice before to get out, but my curiosity was much stronger than my nervousness. J  Several times, I thought I saw something shadowy zip by in the other room out of the corner of my eye, but every time I looked full on, there was nothing there.  Can’t be certain that my mind wasn’t playing tricks on me, but I hadn’t noticed anything like this at any other time.

 

  • The Bay Area

 

    • Pat, Gretchen & I conducted an EVP/flashlight/K2 session on the stairs at the end of the bay area (the area under the catwalk/balcony down by “the suck.”). Pat led the EVP session.  Shortly after we started, I started getting a lot of chills, goosebumps and the “crawly scalp” feeling.  Moments after I mentioned it, the flashlight turned on in response to a question! We had a very long conversation (probably 15 minutes or so, maybe longer?) via flashlight & K2 responses.  The responses to the questions were intelligent and interactive.  We later had another EVP session in the same location, also with excellent results.

 

      • At one point, it was confirmed that we were speaking with a young girl.  We spent some time trying to figure out her age.  We received no response when we asked if there was a young toddler present. Likewise, there was no response when someone asked if the girl was ten years old or a teenager.  I had the age range “8/9” stuck in my head.  Before I could interject and ask if she was 8 or 9 years old, Pat asked that she flash the K2 meter in correlation to her age.  We received a response…it flashed eight times.  I said, “She’s 8 years old,” at which time, the flashlight turned on BRIGHTLY and the K2 lit up!

 

      • During one of our EVP sessions at that spot, there was a loud BANG, apparently from the balcony/catwalk area above us.  Only happened once, but it was loud and noticeable.

 

    • While we were between stairway EVP sessions, at one point we were walking through the bay area and back to the stairs.  We were a little more than halfway through the area when I felt like I walked into a cobweb right across my forehead.  I was in a very open area that I’d gone through several times previously that night without incident.  There were no machines/shelves/walls/objects in that area that would be conducive to cobwebs ~ I was in an open spot that I’d walked through several times before. Other team members checked my hair and didn’t see any cobwebs stuck to me, nor was I able to wipe off the cobweb, as there didn’t appear to actually BE a cobweb to remove.  Others in the group reported similar experiences throughout the night in various places in the building.

 

There was also the first EVP session in “Mary’s Corner” where we received responses via the flashlight at the beginning of the night.  We were not sure at that time if those were actually valid responses, or if the flashlight was being jostled via the musical vibrations of the St. Patty’s day party going on immediately above/beside us.  EVP/flashlight/K2 sessions at the stairs in the bay area later indicated that we had been speaking to the same person in Mary’s Corner & at the stairway.