Philo: January 2008 Archives

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Philo writes: We were contacted by a tenant over at The Steinhart who reported seeing a tall man in a black top hat in his apartment since the day he moved in. "Dexter" felt certain there were spirits in his home, particularly in and around a certain closet. The Steinhart is a beautiful old building on the Register of National Historic Places and it has been an apartment hotel since 1910. Christina and I were excited by his report of a visual apparition. Having previously lived for several years only a block from there myself, in a haunted apartment of my own, I knew first hand what he was going through. We agreed to pay him a visit and investigate.

Arriving at The Steinhart we made our way up the grand stairs and took the classic elevator up to his floor. From the moment I entered his unit I could tell that something was amiss. There was an energy in the air, a feeling I'm quite familiar with. We sat down with Dexter and had a cup of tea and we talked about his experiences. I picked up on two spirits in the home during our conversation and we agreed to return a few days later to investigate.

Upon returning we began taking initial base readings with our instruments and found nothing significant anywhere in the apartment beyond the usual suspects, a microwave oven and a clock radio. Given that Dexter had made the decision not to put anything in that closet, possibly for good reason, Christina and I and our one crew member for the night decided to spend some time in there ourselves. Temperature readings were consistent with the rest of the home, but it wasn't long before Christina and I were both picking up on a male spirit. The name I was getting was John or Charles or John Charles and the surname Fountain or Fontaine came up as well. "I'm also hearing the name Debbie loud and clear," I told her and Christina immediately agreed - "I just got the name Debbie too." It seemed to be that the male spirit was entering the apartment through a portal in the closet and that he was looking for a woman named Debbie. He was associated with the building in The Steinhart's earliest years, the 1910's. It was clear that he didn't mean anyone any harm and that he wasn't even attached to the property, coming and going as he pleased. We conducted considerable EVP work in the closet and took a variety of readings all of which were inconclusive.

Leaving the closet I began to zero in on a female energy in the bathroom. Taking several photographs we were both a little surprised when the flash suddenly stopped working and our cameras ceased to function. Could this be Debbie we wondered? Entering the bathroom the three of us sat down on the floor. While we had very different experiences in there, what we agree on is that a female spirit was trapped in the bathroom, primarily getting up from the bathtub and running to close and lock the door, only to find herself back in the bathtub again and getting out to run for the door and that this cycle had been playing out since 1967. Not being a spirit on the same timeline as the man from the closet, we had our doubts she was Debbie.

My time spent in the bathroom was actually incredibly loud, a male voice screaming the name Lucy over and over and over. Meanwhile, Christina found herself almost immediately overwhelmed by the distress of our female spirit. Did she commit suicide in the bathtub or did someone kill her in this bathroom? We couldn't agree, but we were both clear she needed our assistance. Having done considerable EVP work and readings, Christina talked to her and we worked on opening a portal for her to move on. Moments later you could feel the energy in the bathroom begin to shift.

While our audio recordings at the Steiner did generate several odd and indistinguishable noises, we did not generate anything clearly registering as electronic voice phenomenon at this location. We have yet to attempt to check property records on The Steinhart for any of the names that we encountered. While our photographs didn't reveal anything unusual and our scientific tools failed to generate a single reading out of the ordinary, our personal experiences and clairvoyant readings within the home proved to be incredibly interesting. Most importantly, Dexter's experience of his home has now changed as a result of our visit. He writes, "I can't get over how different the bathroom here feels, the whole apartment really. It's like an entirely different home except for John Charles. Now that I know that he's just passing through too I'm finding the whole experience amusing. Thanks so much for coming."

San Francisco Paranormal Investigations (SFPI) provides free consultation, research and investigations of paranormal activity in San Francisco and the surrounding areas. Using a variety of scientific based diagnostic methods, coupled with psychic investigation, it is our sincere hope to provide you with the best possible information related to what may be taking place within your home or business. San Francisco is a city more beloved to its residents, past and present, than just about anywhere else. It isn't surprising that there are those who remain attached to our local properties.

If you've been watching paranormal reality television shows, you will find that in some ways SFPI operates very similarly, and in other ways we are something different. While we are true admirers of the work and dedication of The Atlantic Paranormal Society (TAPS), we do not agree that scientific evidence is the beginning and end all. While we utilize many of the same tools in our work we know that a lack of documented findings does not necessarily mean a location isn't haunted or experiencing paranormal phenomenon. Meanwhile, over on Most Haunted, Yvette Fielding and the UK based crew dedicate the majority of their show to psychic readings of their locations, although it is extremely rare for them to deliver anything remotely scientific. As for Paranormal State, their work is often quite good, although their playing into the fear that virtually anything encountered is ultimately demonic in origin for ratings is really quite erroneous.

San Francisco Paranormal Investigations combines scientific exploration and research with psychic investigative work in an effort to bring you the most comprehensive picture of what is happening. We want you to have as many of the facts as possible because we've been there ourselves. Most of our team grew up in haunted homes, a factor that has proven to be the primary reason we were attracted to this work. So if you're experiencing something paranormal where you live or work, we want you to know first and foremost that you're not alone, nor are you the least bit crazy for taking your curiosity and/or concerns seriously. Philo Hagen and other members of the SFPI team bring more than a decade of specific experience to our work and we are here to help.

We bring experience and professionalism to each case we investigate and have outstanding references. We understand that it can be difficult to contact us, to talk about what is going on with strangers, much less to invite us into your home. After all, it's where you live and we know that when there is already unrest within your personal space it can put everything in your life on edge. We typically come by to see the place during daylight hours and meet with you to discuss the case and your concerns. We want you to feel good about us being there. We will listen to your experiences before we attempt to find good evidence for or against paranormal activity. We're here to better help you understand the nature of the problem sharing our thoughts, readings, findings and experience with you.

Should there be a need to investigate what typically happens is as follows. You should know that the most active paranormal hours occur in the middle of the night. Should the location be your home, we typically have you and those you are living with stay elsewhere for the night. Why? In doing audio and/or video recording of the investigation it is vital for us to be certain that everything we listen to or view later on has not be contaminated by outside sources. It is also our experience that the more people that are present at an investigation, the less likely spirits are to manifest. Our investigation team typically consists of four including our tech crew.

At the end of our investigation we quite often conduct a cleansing ritual to allow spirits to cross over, as well as to heal and harmonize the energies within your home or business. "It feels like a totally different place," is something we have heard time and time again from relieved clients after returning. It will take us some time to sort through all of our recordings and other data from your investigation. Once we have done so we will contact you, bringing anything that we have discovered with us which is when we can tell you in greatest detail about what transpired. You are welcome to copies of any of our recorded media and we continue to remain open to all of cour clients in the event that you should find you need additional help. If we take a case on, we are here to see it through.

From time to time, and if we have the time, we like to share stories and evidence of our investigations here at sfparanormal.org and this is always done only with your consent.