Greetings everyone, and welcome back to the BOO BOYS investigation blog! In this installment, we'll be delving into the haunting of the WHISPERS ESTATE in Mitchell, Indiana. This investigation actually took place a day after our Pythian Castle investigation so if you have yet to read that, I highly recommend you check it out prior to beginning this one. Without further ado, let's take a trip back in time to the paranormal road trip that led us to this charming and spooky little house in an unsuspecting neighborhood...
The Journey
It was just before noon when Zach and I awoke at our KOA, feeling somewhat sore from exploring the castle on the day prior (I guess I'm getting old). We had a long drive ahead of us to reach our next investigation, and with about a two-hour time cushion before our expected arrival, we were feeling excited to continue our cross-country adventure. Unfortunately, I guess the universe had other plans, as immediately upon leaving our KOA campsite we would get a flat tire...
"Ok, no big deal!" I thought. "We can just change it out for the donut, head to discount tire, and be on the road again!"
So after fumbling around for maybe 30 minutes like a couple of puzzled monkeys with no experience changing a tire, we finally got the donut on and set our course for the nearest tire shop, which was less than 10 minutes away! Feeling optimistic, we continued down the road on our way to the shop! About a or two later, something would start to feel a little... off. The car was awfully bumpy, and the road didn't look all that rough. We once again pulled over to inspect the damage...
[This was not our day]
Low and behold, we were struck with another disaster, and our journey was off to an extremely rocky start. Not all hope was lost, however, as a gas station was within running distance, and we figured that we could just bring the flat with us, and get it patched and aired up. This plan would also go down the toilet since the air pumps were not working, and it seemed like we were truly SOL. After walking all the way back to the car in shame, we resorted to calling for an UBER, and after all was said and done and we got the tire replaced, we were on our way! (and now running behind on schedule)
Whispers in Time
Whispers Estate was built in 1894 and had originally belonged to a Doctor George and Sarah White. It would later be purchased between1899 and 1901 by Doctor John and Jessie Gibbons, who were known to be avid philanthropists, adopting abandoned and orphaned children. Unfortunately, karma would not be so kind to them, as tragedies would plague the residents of the home. One of their children, a 10 year-old girl named Rachael, would pass away in one of the home's bedrooms after suffering terrible burns from an accidental fire that she had started in the parlor. Some visitors have reported seeing or hearing her spirit running about the house, unable to find peace... If one wasn't enough, tragedy would also strike their 10 month-old child, Elizabeth, who died in the master bedroom without a known cause. Guests have also reported hearing her cries throughout the house, as well, serving as another eerie reminder of the home's bleak past and misfortune. Jessie Gibbons would meet her demise in the very same room as Elizabeth, after losing her life to a bout with double pneumonia.
A majority of activity that has been reported in the house has been in the master bedroom where both Elizabeth and Jessie passed away. Some guests lying on the bed within the master bedroom claim to have difficulty breathing and feel a pressure on their chest in the night, as though someone is pressing down on them. Additionally, the closet door has opened on its own, with the doorknob rattling and suddenly ceasing, then rattling once more. It is believed that the Gibbons family may not be the only ones haunting the premises, however, as Doctor Gibbons would care for patients in his first-floor office, with some likely passing away in the home. It has been confirmed that at least two others have died, as well, one being an elderly man and the other, a young boy who fell from the front room staircase.
After being passed around between various owners, in 2006 it would eventually be purchased by the owner that would give the home its enigmatic title. Once in this new owner's possession, strange things would begin to happen within the home, and guests would report hearing an ominous, disembodied whispering in their ears while on the property. It is because of this that the house has earned its current name, with a plethora of paranormal encounters being reported and documented within its walls. From slamming doors to strange smells, and even moving furniture, it has been made clear that the Whispers Estate has a well-deserved reputation, and we're determined to get to the bottom of it.
The Arrival
Although we arrived an hour later than scheduled, the night was young and time was still on our side, so we entered the house filled with a hope for a haunting...
We began the night by staging our equipment in the kitchen and reading through some experiences from prior guests to get a feel for what we were about to embark on. Since we had arrived late, we decided not to take a tour or have the hostess walk us through, as we thought it best to dive right in and allow her to get her rest.
[Just a few of the many pages of documented investigations]
While reading through the journals, we found that there is allegedly a spirit portal within the house that is to blame for the activity within the house. Additionally, there could possibly be some kind of inhuman entity that has come from the portal that the many visitors have dubbed "Big Black." Visiting psychics have claimed that it is "not of this world" and have spotted it primarily in the Doctor's rooms and throughout other parts of the home, as well. While unverified, there are supposedly four graves in the backyard, along with what is referred to as a "pit grave" which is said to contain various limbs, organs, and even fetuses. Unsure what to expect at this point, we felt that we should begin setting up equipment and exploring the house.
We decided that it would be best to place our stationary cameras in the
basement and the parlor. We believed that the parlor camera would be especially important since that was the room in which Rachael had caught fire.
[The Doctor's room and basement]
Kicking off the investigation, we began making our way up to the third floor, equipment in hand with a goal to investigate each room in the house from top to bottom. This systematic approach to the investigation would allow us to cover each area extensively, leaving no stone unturned.
Just a few minutes after departing the first floor, our camera in the parlor room would pick up some strange static interference, followed by our motion ball lighting up.
Our first stop was a small room on the third floor that contained nothing more than a seance table, a mirror, and a Ouija board. We figured this would be a great starting point and might even help to ramp up the activity if we sat and played, which is exactly what we did...
Though we spent several minutes attempting to communicate using the board with our various pieces of equipment spread out throughout the room, all was silent and there was no response to any of our inquiries. We continued our investigation in the next room on the floor, which appeared to be some sort of bedroom.
In this room we would primarily attempt to reach out to the entity referred to as the "Big Black." We would have our REM-Pod and an EMF meter on the bed and use our infrared thermometer to detect anomalous changes in temperature. Additionally, we would incorporate the use of a motion ball on the small desk at the end of the room.
[Visual representation of how the REM-Pod works]
[Visual representation of how infrared thermometer is used]
We didn't seem to be picking up anything unusual in this room, and the Big Black seemed to be unwilling or unable to communicate. Perhaps the entities didn't have enough energy to make themselves known... With this thought in mind, we decided to use the SB-7 spirit box to make contact. Using this method, maybe the Big Black or another spirit would be able to use the white noise generated by the box to make communication easier. To minimize the risk for error, we utilized the Estes method, a way of using the spirit box in which one person acts as a speaker and another asks questions.
Regrettably, we did not find out anything about the roast beef... Feeling highly confused by the interactions in this room, we continued our descent into madness and began making our way down to the second floor to proceed with our investigation.
We would begin our investigation of the second floor in Rachael's room. The room was adorned with a variety of toys and offerings of money left on the bed. Though I doubt the ghost of a 10 year-old child has little need for currency, it was a kind gesture from visitors nonetheless. Once we had all of our equipment laid out, we turned out the lights and focused our attention on contacting Rachael's spirit.
We asked Rachael if she could make herself known in a multitude of ways, and explained how she could use the EMF meters or REM-Pod to communicate. We also had our digital voice recorder rolling while trying to conversate, hoping that the Whispers Estate might live up to its name. We had read in some of the journals in the kitchen that Rachael enjoyed playing with the inflatable beach balls on the corners of the bed and had a tendency to push them to the floor. Because of this, we asked her if she wanted to play and encouraged her to push the balls around. Although the beach balls didn't budge, we did capture a small figure on our SLS camera standing just beneath it, that would disappear when we moved the ball away, then reappear once the ball was moved back.
We speculated that the camera was likely just aligning the figure under the ball because it traced the beach ball as a head, though we had an additional incident in which a small figure would appear standing on one of the chairs for a brief moment before disappearing. With no other evidence presenting itself in this room, we moved onto the next room on the floor.
We speculated that this could be the very same staircase in which the 10 year-old boy who had lived here after the Gibbons family might have fallen from and died. With another Ouija board present, we took a second crack at using it to communicate with whoever might still be present in the home, trapped and unable to move on. This time, Zach and Matt would be hands-on and I would be keeping an eye on SLS and our equipment.
With our investigation of this floor now concluded, we were beginning to wonder if maybe these ghosts were just afraid of us or perhaps moved on. So far neither Dr. Gibbons nor Big Black had made their presence obvious to us. With only the first floor and basement remaining, we were already halfway through with the exploration of Whispers Estate. Hopefully the cameras placed on the lower floors would capture something during our time spent upstairs, but we were still optimistic as Dr. Gibbons' bedroom was a hotspot for activity that we had yet to spend time in. So began, once again our descent into madness...
Since we had already spent a fair amount of time on the first floor and had our surveillance camera and equipment set up in the parlor, we spent minimal time investigating the space. Instead, we turned our focus toward the Doctor's room and the basement. We would be splitting up this time, with Zach in Dr. Gibbons' quarters and myself in the basement.
While in the basement, I would begin to feel somewhat cocky and started enticing the spirits of the home to attack me, promising "no hard feelings". Despite all of the wild experiences with the house that we had read about, no compelling evidence had been found thus far. Was this house just a tourist attraction with made up history and journals filled with mass hysteria? I mean, they definitely get an A+ for customer service with the discounted pizzas and fridge stocked full of free sodas, but I came for a haunting.
The only activity that I had managed to pick up in the basement were sudden deviations in the ambient temperature surrounding the SB-7 spirit box. The amount of evidence we had gathered up to this point was miniscule, and unconvincing of a legitimate haunting, and it was looking to be a closed and shut case. Since I had no reason to really be afraid or worried, I started to make my way back up to the third and second floors for some solo sessions. Maybe it's just a rumor or psychological, but it seems that for some reason ghosts are reported to be more active when exposed to smaller groups or individual investigators. Zach and Matt would remain on the first floor, while I would attempt to capture evidence on my own for the next 30 or so minutes.
While later reviewing the surveillance footage, we would find some unusual mists and light anomalies had manifested during the course of my solo investigation.
Having completed my solo exploration of the house, we decided to try investigating for the rest of the night without the use of cameras. The hostess has said that there have been instances in which activity would increase with the absence of recording devices and since we hadn't gotten much evidence thus far, we figured we might as well give it a shot. Though we didn't have much else occur except for temperature spikes, we did have something interesting happen in Rachael's room during an Estes session...
Zach and Matt heard a pretty loud floorboard creak just outside the room while we were all inside for the Estes session. Sure, old houses creak and make a lot of noise, but the fact that it was that loud and, in the hallway, just outside the room was slightly unsettling. We continued investigating the rooms following this incident with no further occurrences...
Evidence Review and Conclusion
Though we didn't seem to encounter any instances of poltergeist activity such as beach balls moving or coins being thrown at us like guests prior, we did have some interesting things take place at the house that could have possibly been reminiscent of a haunting. Let's just take a moment to review each piece of evidence gathered during our investigation and see if we can't draw a conclusion:
Exhibit A - Temperature Deviations: Since the presence of a spirit is said to warrant unexplainable cold spots or sudden temperature changes, these incidents are certainly admissible pieces of evidence. Not only did we have several instances of this occurring, but many of them happened just after requesting for signs of a spiritual presence. This alone isn't enough to solidify a legitimate haunting, however, so maybe our other evidence can back it up.
Exhibit B - Motion Ball:
The ball was placed in such a manner that it would be difficult for us to set it off unless we were within the immediate vicinity. We had done an initial test of its sensitivity prior to leaving it, and the table had a net-like tablecloth to keep it from rolling. Despite the many times that we had passed through the room, the only time that it was activated was while we were exploring the third floor, ruling out that we were the cause of this occurrence. This also lends further credence to the theory that the spirits of Whispers Estate have some desire to stay hidden.
Exhibit C - SLS figure:
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