First things first, as many of you know I have recently been in communication with the DNR to get permission to investigate the Anderson house at the Battle of Lexington state historic site in Lexington, Missouri.
Sad news, they basically said no. More specifically they told me that because they do not allow anyone inside the building unless staff are present, and they dont have staff there at night, I cant be there.
I was also given an a person to contact to appeal the decision. Which I am doing but it will likely take just as long to hear back as it took last time. Hopefully this goes better, I made sure to express my enthusiasm and desperation.
Moving on to the last experiment which you can watch below
I'll admit some of what you see here is unorthodox but sometimes an unusual approach results in learning something new. Unfortunately not this time as I didnt notice anything unusual or out of the ordinary during my time in the woods that night.
I think there is another Friday the 13th coming around in December this year so I'll try to plan ahead for that as well and if you have any specific suggestions for that particular date be sure to get them to me before the day-of, please.
On a good note I came across some cheap surplus mirrors recently and theyre rather large so we're all set for future experiments in that regard. They arent quite big enough to build a mirror box or "psychomanteum" I dont think...maybe...if I were to really squeeze inside but I dont think I'd be able to relax or get comfortable. I'll keep my eyes open for larger ones.
Also I do have a few other haunted locations on my list and now that I dont have to keep a specific date open for the Anderson house I'm going to be making a few calls this weekend and Monday morning to see about a couple other locations that arent too far away. I'd say to wish me luck but with all the mirror breaking lately whats the point?
That reminds me - someone recently asked me to make a zombie apocalypse video of some sort. Let me know your thoughts on that because I'm not going to lie, I'm interested. There are actually a few zombie movies that entertain paranormal theories for the zombies themselves, not just assorted biological issues like the popular pandemic or global virus.
In fact, the classic brain eaters and the idea of a zombie rising from a cemetery or graveyard were paranormal zombies. Long dead tissue, long dead people, not a disease. Even the popular "The Walking Dead" are paranormal zombies in fact. Some what of a mix but definitely paranormal. Anyway enough talk, I've gotta get to reading and forum lurking and reply to a lot of emails/youtube comments instead of turning this into a the great wall of text.
Quick update on the situation with the Anderson house at the historic Battle of Lexington site.
No approval yet.
I do still have a glimmer of hope though as I did contact the DNR again just to confirm that they received my proposal and I was informed they did receive it and its currently being reviewed.
I can only assume the proposal has to go through quite a few hands before its fully approved and thats what is causing the delay. I say that only because it was a rather short proposal, not because they arent busy over at the DNR in Jefferson City, MO.
Now as for a recap of recent experiments there have been two since my last blog post.
They were both mirror related and both suggested by peers.
Below is the first, the Pacemaker ritual.
Now for this one in particular the IR capability of the camcorder was borderline essential. If I had tried this without IR night vision you would have only been able to see a very dimly lit environment.
In this case you were able to clearly see that nothing appeared in the mirror itself and the mirror didnt appear to crack at any time during the experiment.
Next was a suggestion named Mirror World but whats in a name? You can watch it below.
The only difficult part of this experiment was going through all the mirrors. You can sometimes find old mirrors for cheap but in general theyre not free and the larger the more expensive. Regardless it went well enough aside from a cut on my thumb during clean up.
I didnt notice anything in particular from the reflections of the shards after breaking any of the mirrors. I tried this one a few times in fact just to be thorough.
I want to quickly address a few tips I've had about not trying anything from this site
Which has been suggested to me several times as well.
On /nosleep/ you can read the following
"Remember, treat everything like a true recount of events while you're here. Everything is true here, even if it's not."
While the creepypasta wiki doesnt have that some note as far as I know they both produce similar tales often enough and they both allow for submissions from outside sources to the degree that almost anyone from anywhere can submit. So while there is no guide line or restriction keeping out people having fun making up stories they think are 2spooky it also means that anyone who might just want to share a genuine testimony from a terrified friend could end up posting there.
Basically, the question I have to ask is - Is it possible that something well worth experimenting into could be posted on any site that allows for or even typically focuses on 'creepypasta'. The answer is yes...since the only requirements for a story becoming creepypasta is that it quality as creepy and get popular enough that people retell it often.
...and then a skeleton popped out! and he was on a skeleton horse too!!! Directed by M. Night Shyamalan.
That description, 'creepy and popular' could literally fit excerpts from grimoires and other occult texts from well known authors. So I cant discredit anything known as creepypasta simply on the grounds that its known as creepypasta or posted on a site known for creepypasta.
I know this results in me trying lots of experiments that some people consider a waste of time but believe it or not they get suggested quite often, no doubt because of the fact that to become creepypasta in the first place they have to be somewhat popular.
Moving on I want to talk about the scientific method. I want you to stop reading here if youre not into walls of text because thats what follows. Go ahead and play some DOTA2 or CS:GO maybe, watch a movie, do some strength training, go for a run, whatever youre into but DO NOT keep reading unless youre into walls of text.
Now just to be clear on how I define science please read below.
"Science (from Latinscientia, meaning "knowledge"[1]) is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe.[2][3]
In an older and closely related meaning, "science" also refers to a
body of knowledge itself, of the type that can be rationally explained
and reliably applied. A practitioner of science is known as a scientist."
Thats taken directly from wikipedia, obviously.
I want to stress this definition for science in general because there are people who quite literally still claim to "believe in science" and "not the paranormal".
Now just quickly I also want to define paranormal.
"Paranormal is a general term (coined c. 1915–1920[1][2]) that designates experiences that lie outside "the range of normal experience or scientific explanation"[3] or that indicates phenomena understood to be outside of science's current ability to explain or measure."
So what we have here is a clear distinction that yes the paranormal is outside the range of current scientific explanation. Now, at one time so were many other amazing things we have come to understand about our natural world and the universe. As we continue to learn we can understand things that might at one time only be described as "spooky action at a distaince".
But the important part to note is that science is a system to build and organize knowledge as well as a body of knowledge.
That doesnt mean science cant be applied to some random race of blue aliens light years away from us in the universe. It simply means we havent been able to try any experiments on these creatures, we have never observed them or recorded any information about them.
They arent beyond science they simply havent been thoroughly studied yet.
Much like discovering a new species of animal the animal was there all
along. Its mating habits were there all along. Its typical diet
consisted of the same things all along. We simply observed and recorded
that information. There are things to invent and discover still but as
we refine theories based on new observations the universe has remained
the same, its only our understanding of it that has changed.
Unless you make the argument that for some reason certain things can never be understood then what we consider paranormal today is tomorrows science textbook. In fact, all scientific knowledge of all things already exists. We simply dont have all of it observed and recorded yet.
Whether its a textbook discussing studies on ideomotor effect or demons communicating through automatic writing doesnt matter, what matters is learning as much as possible.
Now heres another piece from the wikipedia entry for scientific method.
"The overall process involves making conjectures (hypotheses),
deriving predictions from them as logical consequences, and then
carrying out experiments based on those predictions to determine whether
the original conjecture was correct.[16]
There are difficulties in a formulaic statement of method, however.
Though the scientific method is often presented as a fixed sequence of
steps, they are better considered as general principles.[17] Not all steps take place in every scientific inquiry (or to the same degree), and not always in the same order. As noted by William Whewell (1794–1866), "invention, sagacity, [and] genius"[18] are required at every step:"
Now to relate this to the experiments on the channel we have the question and hypothesis.
In our case its almost always similar. We hypothesize that the experiment will result in paranormal phenomena in some way. It differs at times from moving an object to communicating through a dream or causing bodily harm but its always the result of a phenomena that is in some way paranormal by the definition that the result will somehow contradict the current standards of knowledge we use in physics or biology by causing something to happen in a way that disagrees with those models of knowledge.
Thats a very broad hypotheses but its applied to a very broad range of experiments 1 at a time.
More specifically you could call that the question as in "What would happen if I...." and that might be repeat an incantation in front of a mirror before shattering it or try offering my own blood to an entity I've never seen before while willing that entity to interact with me, etc.
The hypothesis itself might be...the planchette will move, the mirror will break without me touching it, an image will appear, I'll hear a voice in my head describing a future event, etc.
You get the idea. From here testing and analysing the experiment is a matter of actually trying it and then me reviewing the video recording later.
As for the part I believe to me the most important in regards to paranormal research - peer review, that of course comes last when you get the chance to view the recorded experiments on the channel.
I dont think what I do disagrees with the scientific method but I did get a comment about it so I wanted to address that. "The goal of a scientific inquiry is to obtain knowledge in the form of testable explanations that can predict the results of future experiments."
I believe thats what I'm doing and I'm certain that most of my experiments recorded have included the instructions well enough that anyone could peer review my efforts. I really could go on and on but I have to stop myself there and get other things done.
Regardless if you have any suggestions as always please let me know!
Alright after a skipped blog post last week I want to take a moment to mention that the nightvision is GO and the camcorder already arrived, you can see some video of it in action over on the channel or in the videos below.
Now obviously the second video has 4 candles for lighting but switching on the IR in low light is a huge improvement most of the time. This will help see more clearly in all low light experiments and in the more well lit experiments the camcorder will improve the quality through its obviously better video capabilities, not just resolution either. It has a lot of features that put it far and above the Canon still shot camera I had been using until now.
By the way I dont think I mentioned on the blog yet but if youre interested in getting one of these camcorders (I highly recommend them) you can do so from the following site.
Also the guy in charge there, named Cliff, is awesome enough that he gave me a FREE SHIPPING coupon code to share with all the peers of these experiments.
Simply use 'XROOMMOD' as your coupon code on any order and you'll receive free shipping! Cool, right?
Now as for the results of the ouija / spirit / talking board video above. None of us noticed anything strange or any movement of the shot glass. These were moderately specific instructions from a peer who in fact donated to the fundraiser - thanks again Adam!
We will be trying it a few more times though, on and off camera. Please feel free to send in any and all suggestions or ideas for questions myself or either of my friends might ask.
Things youre curious to hear asked. It can be anything you think might result in a response.
Just stay away from anything with the answer '42'.
As for the teaser in the title about the haunted location, let me fill everyone in on something I've been working towards.
I recently contacted a nice lady working at a location in Missouri rumored to be haunted and she told me she couldnt allow me to do an 'after hours' investigation of this location because the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) in Missouri was working on a new policy regarding after hours use of parks in this state.
The historic site -Battle of Lexington / Battle of Hemp Bales -where the building - The Anderson House - is located is apparently handled as a state park. So the policy theyre currently working on applies.
I called the DNR and I recieved a call back. I put together a proposal as instructed and now I'm waiting on a response. Wish me luck everyone, this could be a big step forward. Who knows where it could lead?
