International Paranormal Investigators

Waverly Hills – Haunted or Hype?
Submitted by,
Jim Brown.

Most who have seen any paranormal programs on TV have heard of Waverly Hills. It is purported by some to be the most haunted place in America. It has been investigated by researchers often, many claiming to have experienced all kinds of phenomena there. Almost everyone who visits experiences some form of activity. But do they? On 20 may, 2010 I had my opportunity. This summary of my visit details my experiences at Waverly Hills. But first, a little background on the place.

Brief history of Waverly Hills.

Construction of Waverly Hills Sanatorium was begun in March 1924 and it opened its doors on October 17, 1926. This sanatorium could accommodate at least 400 patients. It was considered to be one of the most modern and well equipped facilities of its day. Waverly continued to serve as a tuberculosis hospital until 1961. After antibiotics were invented, it was closed down to be quarantined and renovated to be opened again in 1962 as Woodhaven Medical Services. The facility remained a geriatrics center until 1980, when it was closed by the state.

In the years it operated thousands of patients were admitted to the hospital. Tuberculosis in those days was incurable and most succumbed to the illness. Treatments used may seem barbaric by today’s standards, yet it was out of those early attempts that much of what we have today originated. Today, efforts are underway to restore the building to its previous conditions as a historical site. Sponsoring ghost hunts is one way the present owners have used in an attempt to raise the needed funds.

Environmental Conditions

Prior to the investigation I obtained data related to natural conditions which could affect the investigation. The conditions were as follows:

Temperature was 63 degrees F; a steady breeze was coming from the south at 10 mph. Humidity was 76%, barometer 29.94 and steady. Rain was forecast and in fact had occurred earlier in the day. More was expected, including a few scattered thundershowers. There was complete cloud cover; the cloud deck was at 2500 feet.

Solar activity was generally low, however 6 hours prior to the start of the investigation a moderate CME (flare) erupted from the sun. However it was not earth directed and was expected to have no effect on the investigation. Magnetic fields were quiet, RF propagation forecasts were for very low probability.

The moon was in its first quarter, and was above the horizon although never actually seen due to cloud cover. Moonset was at 1:15 AM on the 21st.

The Project

It was my intent to do a series of two, possibly three sessions using EM Fields in an attempt to determine whether or not the presence of such fields could induce EVP responses. A series of protocols were worked out which would provide recording with no field present, would monitor for activity in conjunction with voice communication, and would do this both with no EM Field present and with a field generated. The field would consist of a steady state 200 Hz signal, white noise converted to EMF, and with unmodulated voice converted to EMF.

Monitoring would be done both audibly in real time, as well as recorded. Separate channels would also monitor for activity as an EM Field and an electrostatic field. In addition a static EMF monitor would be used to keep track of any long term variations in the background fields associated with the earth itself.

Two locations were preselected. The fourth floor was chosen based on the number and types of claims associated with that location. Also the so-called Death Tunnel, because numerous claims of voices and sounds were detected there by earlier investigators. The third location was left open, and would be selected on-site based on activity reported by others who were a part of the investigating team and what they encountered in the course of their investigations.

The above series of experiments and research was based on having the run of the building from 8:00 PM until 4:00 AM, when we had to be out of the building. I was told ahead of time this would be acceptable.

The Investigation

Upon arrival at 8:00 PM, everyone met in the “safe area”. This was a lighted location where Waverly personnel would be available and would keep watch over activities to ensure security. The investigation was to start with a brief run down of a few rules before we started. (No smoking, no provoking, etc.) Common sense.

The first inkling of trouble came when I was told I could not begin to set up equipment until everyone entered the building, yet another group was given permission to begin their set up. They had been there previously and knew where they wanted to go. The fact I had also researched the location and knew the layout didn’t seem to matter. Plus I had a considerable amount of equipment to get up to the fourth floor where I intended to begin. Besides we all paid the same fee to investigate. So, when no one was looking I managed to get my equipment moved up four flights of stairs myself. I even made it back to the Safe Area without getting caught!

By now it was 9:00, and still no one had given us our talk, everyone was still just standing around waiting. Finally they came over and informed us we would be on teams, and that we had a very limited time on each floor so everyone could see the entire building. This was not what was promised, I was told “run of the building”, which to me means that if I chose to stay in one place all night and not cover other areas that would be acceptable.

Finally after some protest at 9:40, after prayers were said to keep us safe and to have nothing follow anyone home, our team was on the way to the fourth floor. The fourth floor is the location where the child is claimed to roll a ball around the hallway. Several members of our team did see the ball roll when asked to do so. We spent a few minutes there then went to the location where the experiment session one would be run. This was at the bend in the west wing, fourth floor.

The session was run according to protocols and lasted 21 minutes. No activity was detected in the course of the experiment using real time monitoring of the audio channels. However 6 tracks of data were recorded and this would require later evaluation. (More on that under conclusions)

By now about an hour had elapsed and it was time to move on. This presented a problem because I needed to get my equipment moved out for the next team coming to the fourth floor. A couple members of my team spent the next several minutes helping me get my stuff moved to the safe room. Thus our time on the fifth floor was limited. Finally we all made it up there for a brief time, the area was quiet. No real activity was detected by any of us.

By now everything was running very late as far as time factors. The time allotted was pushing everything back and it was clear not everyone was going to see all locations. But it was our turn to go to the Death Tunnel. So I began moving some gear over there for the next session. Once there I decided to walk to the bottom to scope it out before going back and getting the rest of my stuff. I am glad I did.

The tunnel is about 800 feet long and ends at a gate not far from the road below. After seeing the conditions and the acoustics of the tunnel I decided to forego running session two. The noise coming in from outside would have made any evidence collected questionable at best. Plus with the limited schedule there would have been insufficient time to properly study the tunnel and do a valid session. After returning to the top of the tunnel I removed the equipment and loaded it back in the truck.

It was now after 3:00 AM; I had run one session, aborted another and seen three locations in the building. But from this I had formed a few conclusions regarding Waverly Hills and how investigators are duped. Harsh words yes, but my thoughts regardless.

Conclusions.

As I said I believe many investigators are duped by Waverly Hills. How? And why? Well it’s the methods they use to investigate. If your idea of investigating is like you see on TV, fine. Take a walk through, snap a few pictures, see if you get anything on your voice recorder, maybe try your KII EMF meter. But if you expect to do a thorough investigation then time constraints will kill you. It is impossible to do a complete investigation of the building in a single night. And to expect people to rotate through it on a time schedule prohibits an in depth study. In that regard I was disappointed.

I also got the impression one is “conditioned” upon arriving at Waverly Hills. The “prayer” for protection for example. From what? Bringing something home? Where is the proof that anything in the way of a ghost actually exists at all? While I certainly don’t object to prayer, I am investigating to seek answers to the paranormal claims. I am not locked in to any one theory. Who can say what is present at Waverly Hills or anywhere else for that matter. But the conditioning is set to accept the theory that some of the thousands who died there have not left. If so, show them to me. The conditioning encourages people to see things whether or not they are there.

But even so I did do some research and did get some data. First, consider the ball. We all saw it roll, first one way then the other. Sometimes even when asked. One member of the team rolled it away then asked the child to roll it back. The ball returned, then just as quickly reversed direction and rolled away again. Spirits?

Not so fast. Consider first the design of the building itself. It is a bat wing shape, with the face pointing south. Now notice the data under Environmental conditions. There was a breeze blowing form the south at about 10 mph. We are on the fourth floor in a building devoid of any doors or windows. The breeze could be felt blowing across the hall, in the south side and out the north. Clearly strong enough to move the ball. So why does the ball roll east and west?

Wind is not constant. The speed varies slightly, and also there are pockets where it is more intense than others. Since the bat wing design stretches east and west, there will be times when more pressure is exerted on the west wing, other times on the east. At times when the pressure is higher on the west air will flow through the hall to the east. Then when pressure is higher in the east that will force the air east to west. Thus we have a situation where varying air pressure sets up east – west currents in the hall even though the prevailing wind remains south to north.

Secondly the ball itself is a factor. It is about 12 inches in diameter and inflated with air. Its weight is light compared to its surface area. Also its surface is smooth, there are no irregularities in it, aside from a single small inlet for inflation. It takes very little air movement to cause it to roll.

Finally the commands. Several times the investigator asks the child to roll the ball and nothing happens. One accepts this because on the fourth or fifth request the ball moves. Then sometimes the ball moves without asking anyone to roll it. Often that fact is overlooked. In reality, if one expects the request to be considered one has to also consider that random wind patterns will sometimes coincide with the request to move it, and that the request will also sometimes occur in conjunction with the changing wind patterns.

Next let’s look at the experiment itself. Nothing was heard during real time monitoring except for the voice of the person doing the attempted conversation. We were able to ensure that the target area was not compromised while the session was in progress. A couple planes flew over, and a distant car alarm could be heard outside, but these were identified and were on no consequence.

However later evaluation of the tapes revealed a high pitched sound faintly heard on the track from the high gain dynamic EMF detector. A frequency of 4 kHz gradually increasing to 5.5 kHz and rapidly fading intensity could be heard. No one present at the time heard this. It was not an RF signal as there was nothing detected on the broadband RF detector / demodulator.

Back at the lab I viewed this on an oscilloscope and did a spectrum scan. There it was shown to be a sawtooth waveform. No other signals were detected. Based on the characteristics noted it appeared to be electronically generated, although I had no equipment present that would produce such a signal. However one other source could not be ruled out. Though we could control who was in the target area on the fourth floor, we could not confirm no one was present at the time on the third or fifth floor, or for that matter anywhere else. And based on the nature of the signal it would fit with the profile of a power source used in a camera flash. Thus it is my conclusion that someone unknown to us may have been nearby, albeit on another floor taking a flash picture. This person could have been directly above or below us and been within 10 feet of the EMF detector.

And finally there is the Death Tunnel. As stated earlier it ends at a steel grate, put there to keep out trespassers. But it does little to keep out extraneous sounds that come up from the road below. Plus the tunnel acts as a conduit for these sounds, easily carrying them from the bottom to the top of the tunnel. While I heard nothing unusual, I would propose that many of the “EVPs” captured here are in reality this type of sound. And the tunnel itself may cause another form of anomaly. It is below ground and as such is cooler. Certainly there are times when the vent openings provided for fresh air also serve to allow damp outside air to enter. This could easily form a mist which leads to “ghosts” in your pictures. Though I experienced nothing like that, conditions could develop that might cause this to occur.

So to summarize, Waverly Hills is a grand old building. It is worthy of restoration and even worth taking a tour of. As far as paranormal investigation though, unless you can get in with sufficient time to conduct a thorough investigation without time constraints, better off saving your money. As an investigator, I would say to do a complete investigation of the place will take you at least a week. You’ll never do it justice in a few hours.