Charlotte County Gaol Evidence Reveal

On June 9, GMPS traveled from Moncton to St Andrews to investigate the Charlotte County Gaol. Our team of 7 spent the night in the jail area.. This is what showed up during our stay.

READ THE FULL STORY OF OUR NIGHT HERE: GMPS Website

" The Charlotte County Gaol was built in 1832 of massive granite blocks consisting of 10 cells on the ground floor with the upstairs designed to house women, children, and debtors. The Old Gaol as it is referred to is situated next door to The Charlotte County Courthouse at 123 Frederick Street, St. Andrews, New Brunswick. St. Andrews was established by Loyalists from Maine in 1783. Now it is one of New Brunswick's most popular tourist destinations.

The Gaol is known for being the location for the imprisonment/hangings of Thomas Dowd (1879) and Tom Ronald Hutchings (1942).  It was a working jail until 1979. The Gaol was named a Provincial Heritage Site in 2004. It is now home to the Charlotte County Archives. The cell area has remained untouched and is open to the public." (Taken from GMPS' Final Report)

During set up, one of our investigators had a ring fall off her hand and fall across the floor. Now normally this would not seem fairly odd, but we had been warned beforehand to watch our jewelry, as people who have been on the tours in the jail, have reported losing things like earrings or bracelets. Our investigator reported this has never happened before as the ring fits snug on her finger. In this audio clip, near the end, you can hear us casually talking, and then the ring hit the floor.  

During an EVP session inside the jail, the question is asked “can you move an object?” , right after you can hear what sounds like a “grunt” or someone clearing their throat. This has been reported as not heard by investigators at the time. Another investigator described it as “Like someone trying to push something that is either heavier or harder for them to do so.Almost like they were over exerting themselves”

This is a clip from when the team left the building to take a break, in which we left our equipment running. This is a condensed version, but the audio had quite a few loud, repetitive, and inconsistent knocking sounds. This particular recorder was left on the wooden table that has a display on it in the main jail area. There are no electrical heaters in this area of the building, or heat at all. 

Also from the break, you hear what sounds like a metal hinge sound, from a distance. We cannot explain this as these are very heavy solid steel doors (2 inches or more thick) that do not just move on their own. Even if they could, we had also hung wind chimes in the same area and did not hear them on audio, telling us there’s no breeze. 

One part of the team decided to do an EVP session out where the gallows used to hang those sentenced to death. They caught this "gasp". Possible residual sounds from the events that once happened there. 

This is a clip from an experiment we tried using a flashlight, in which we unscrew the bulb area just enough so the connection is faint. We then ask spirits to manipulate their energy to either turn the flashlight on or off. In this case, one flashlight started flickering for a few minutes. One of our investigators had expressed that they felt maybe the flickering was a fluke in the flashlight. Shortly after, while the team was in casual conversation, the second flashlight comes completely on. We are not 100% stating this is paranormal, but it is noteworthy, and we cannot explain this. 

This was a great experience for GMPS. We were able to take two new members with us, and this was our first "away from home" investigation. Our team had a very creepy night in this place! 

Do you think its haunted? 

Capitol Theatre Evidence Reveal

        "Just a little history of the Capital Theatre before I go into detail, for those of you who may not know it. The Capitol Theatre is an Italianate opera house-style auditorium built in 1922, located on Main St in Moncton. In 1926, just 4 years after it opened, the Capital Theatre suffered considerable damage from a fire that started at The Empress and spread into the backstage area of the Capital. It was able to re-open only seven short months later. Inside the lobby, there is a plaque honoring the only Moncton firefighter to lose his life in the line of duty. Alexander Lindsay lost his life while fighting the blaze between the two buildings. The Capitol closed down in the late 1980's, but re-opened in 1993 after a multi-million dollar investment by the city which restored it as close as possible to it's original beauty. It is the only theatre to date designated as a New Brunswick Historical Site...."

Last year GMPS did a late night at the Capitol Theatre in Moncton. We all  had what seemed like a very eventful night! Here is some of the evidence captured...

When we first arrived at the building we were given a tour by one of the employees. While on the tour, another employee came and told us that he had an experience a while back. He told us that while he was working late at night, he was on the stage area, when he looked up and saw a person walking along one of the rows on the balcony level of the seating. He said that the person turned to look at him, and then continued walking then disappeared. So naturally myself and another investigator started our investigation in that location. This was a piece of the audio we caught while doing so. You will hear us talking, then hear some form of loud audio interference. This was not heard with our own ears. We also had this analyzed by an audio specialist who could not explain what could have caused this. Could we have had a spirit walk right past us? 

This was also taken while on the session on the balcony level. You will hear a slight "Grunt" sound. We did not hear this with our own ears as you can tell we do not react to this sound. We could not come up with a cause for this, so we deemed it "inconclusive"

       

Again we are on the balcony area of the theatre, when a strange orb comes across my face. We are calling this unexplained because we had a flashlight on us, and if it were a bug where it is directed downwards it would have reflected for more of the shot. Also it is moving too fast to be dust, and is far too bright. 

What are YOUR thoughts on the Capitol Theatre? Do you have any experiences there personally? Do you believe it is haunted? GMPS is hoping to one day return to this gorgeous place to investigate again and get more answers! 

Check out our photos from that night on our Flickr account!
https://www.flickr.com/photos/128830434%40N08/sets/72157649206504802/?rb=1

Questions!

Okay so I was thinking and I wondered.. If people out there wanted to know certain things about what we do. So, I asked people what they wanted to know. Here's what I was asked so far.. 

1. "When you do investigations does anything follow you home? That is my fear of visiting haunted places."

Personally, I think it can. After investigations I've had one or two things oddly happen at my house. (Had a shelf fall off my bookshelf randomly, in front of another person. Also came home one time after work and my oven was on 210 even though no one had been there all day or touched the oven since the day before.) 
I've heard stories where spirits follow paranormal investigators home. It's really just kind of a thing you've gotta take with the job. The possibility that something could in fact come home with you. 

2. "What precautions, if any, do you take when conducting an investigation, to ensure nothing follows you home?"
Going in, we all do nothing. We don't do anything for protection going in, because the purpose is we want as much to happen to us as possible while we are there for documentation purposes. We all have our different ways and beliefs to keep us protected. I personally use sage after most investigations to try and protect myself. And carry spirit warding stones in my pockets for a couple days after. 

3. " How do you deal with the fear? Do you have certain rituals you have to do before you do an investigation ? Ie : a prayer, meditation , drink a whole bottle of water etc... + How do you deal with negative entities ?"

I don't really have a lot of fear for this kind of stuff. Haha! Hence why I do it. It intrigues me. The more I can see the better! Yes sometimes we have moments where we are startled. But we all share the same passion of wanting more every time. I would call it an addiction at times, cause it is such a rush!
So far thankfully we haven't had to deal with anything too negative. So for the most part, I'm not sure how I would deal with it yet until I am put into that situation.

4. "Why do investigators always do their investigations at night? The ghosts are there all the time, if they're there. I've had more paranormal experiences during the light of day than nighttime. Plus in the dark, it's easier for your senses to play tricks on you. I've just always found that kinda funny!" 

Well there's a few reasons. Our infrared cameras and night vision cameras (which pick up things our eyes can't see on a different light spectrum) work best in the dark. Also in the daytime there's a ton of things competing for the energy in a room (other lights, sunlight coming in, electronics) so a spirit finds it harder to manifest. At night time,there's no real competing light, so they can use all the energy in the air they need to manifest. Plus other noise pollution is lessened at night time.

5. What is your favorite piece of equipment and why?

Right now mine is the Echovox, and the K2 meter. Mostly because I've gotten the best results from those at times, in real time. I really want to get my hands on a Rem Pod though!
6. Where is the most haunted place you have investigated?

I would probably say the Albert County Museum. We've gotten a flashlight to turn on and off on command there. I had a pendulum swing on command, our ovulus has picked up names that were relevant to our questions. It's a crazy place! 

7. "Is there alot of reports of shadow people in Moncton?"

There's quite a few reports of hauntings in Moncton. Not sure how many are necessarily connected to "shadow people". And unfortunately our team hasn't had a chance to check out all of these reports to document anything yet.

Hoped this answered some of your curiosity!

Capitol Theatre

        Just a little history of the Capital Theatre before I go into detail, for those of you who may not know it. The Capitol Theatre is an Italianate opera house-style auditorium built in 1922, located on Main St in Moncton. In 1926, just 4 years after it opened, the Capital Theatre suffered considerable damage from a fire that started at The Empress and spread into the backstage area of the Capital. It was able to re-open only seven short months later. Inside the lobby, there is a plaque honoring the only Moncton firefighter to lose his life in the line of duty. Alexander Lindsay lost his life while fighting the blaze between the two buildings. The Capitol closed down in the late 1980's, but re-opened in 1993 after a multi-million dollar investment by the city which restored it as close as possible to it's original beauty. It is the only theatre to date designated as a New Brunswick Historical Site....

         With that said, let me just say that when I walked into this building, I was speechless. I will admit I was a kid who didn't get out much, and have not seen a whole lot of things in my life thus far (which I am most certainly out to change.) We were let in through the back of the building, and as we walked through to the stage, it was what I would expect from a theatre. Just regular hallways and an office, etc. When we came out to the stage though was when my jaw dropped. The Capitol is a beautiful building! Just standing on the stage looking out into the seats, and looking up to the ceiling, I swear I could almost breathe in the history in this place. I literally stood there for the first 5 minutes just taking it in, looking around at everything in the room. Unfortunately my camera wasn't working so well, so I asked Charm to take some pictures of this room for me, just in case I never got to be in it again. (Which I will fortunately got to return on October 24^th for the Rebecca's Grave debut)

        Once we started the tour, I got to experience even more that I never had before. We went down into the changing rooms, into the basement, and even up onto the cat walk above the stage. Which wasn't so fun because to get down we had to go down two floors basically on this teeny metal ladder. (Not a huge fan of ladders.) We got to see some of the original brick before we went onto the catwalk, which was still charred from the fire that the Capitol experienced.

       When the tour was done, we ran into another employee who works there. He told us a story about how he had seen a person walking along the second story seats. He said the person just walked across the middle of the rows. He also told us a story about a cleaning lady who had an experience there, and how some force had “Warned” her of a gas leak, involving some lights on a phone lighting up while she was there alone. When she called 911 they arrived to find a gas leak in the basement, that could have potentially turned into yet another devastating fire in the Capital.

         Hearing these stories immediately made me more anxious to jump into investigating. But of course, we had to conduct our setup first. We started with our DVR system, placing cameras in areas we believed would help us catch evidence based on the stories we were told. We then did our baseline readings, to let us know if any readings we did get were unusual or if they were normal for that area.

Then it was lights out.

        Dave and myself started on the second story seats, where we had been told a man had been seen walking before. At first we had heard a few random sounds in the seats behind us, almost like someone shifting in a seat. Then at one point we heard a laugh. We knew there had been other people in the building in a meeting at one point, but they had left prior to this happening. When we presented this to the team during evidence review, it was up in the air with opinions on whether it came from outside or not. In my opinion, I know it came from behind us, not from the door adjacent to us. At one point we asked the spirit box “What is your name?” and at the same time we both looked at each other, and I said “Did that just say Alex?” and Daves reply was “That's what I heard.” Unfortunately, our audio recorder that was going at the time was too far away from the spirit box and did not pick this up. We had also heard a whistling sound about three times, All coming from near the stage area. When we asked Charm and Dwayne if they by some chance if they had been making some sort of whistling sound for any reason, they told us they hadn't been.

         We met up on the stage part way through the night for a break. When we did I happened to take a glance at the DVR screen, and noticed on one of the cameras that a door I had opened and put a door stop wedge under, was now closed. I immediately asked the other members of the team if they had closed this door for any reason. They all replied that they hadn't. So I went to check and once again kicked the door stop under. It did not happen again during the night. I went back afterwards and watched the footage, and the door happens to close behind us as we walk through it at one point. It was so silent none of us even notices even though it comes within inches of hitting the last person coming through. I'm pretty sure I pushed it under hard, but where we are walking through it very well could have been the vibrations from our feet that caused it to move. 

           Charm and Dwayne had an interesting experience under the stage where Alexander Lindsay had died in the fire. They were under there using the Ovulus, when it came through with the words “Bury” then “Burn” then “Under”. Coincidence? Maybe. But the Ovulus carries an entire dictionary of words, so the odds of it picking those specific words in that specific spot are pretty low coincidentally are pretty low. In my opinion. Charm also reports that after that incident that the area felt significantly colder. Dwayne, who is sensitive became overwhelmed with energy and needed to leave that area for a breather.

          Near the end of the night, we brought in our investigator Rebecca Belliveau, who is also a sensitive, to do a walk through. She is not a full medium, but she can pick up impressions from a place. Although our investigations are strictly scientific, we like to experiment sometimes with sensitives, and mediums, and pieces of equipment. The Ovulus being a good example. She reported starting to feel strange before she even arrived to the site. She said she felt like someone was around her. Once going through, she claimed to feel “a dark and remnant energy in the ladies’ washroom, as if a spirit was left there, or abandoned somehow.” And in the top seating area she felt “there that a spirit CHOSE to reside there.“

You can read her entire experience at the Capitol Theatre HERE

         Normally at the end of an investigation, I'm tired and can't wait to sleep. Not this time, this time I could have stayed all night in this magnificent building.  But unfortunately we were on a time limit, so we had to pack up and go. When we got back to our vehicles I noticed a parking ticket on my windshield(winter parking ban). The price I pay for this! Haha.
         

         If you would like to view photos from that night, you can find them on our flickr account HERE .
We also have a YouTube episode coming out for this investigation in the future, so stay tuned! 

My Travelling Bucket List

         Those who know me well, know one thing is for certain about me.. I LOVE to travel. Not even just like travel in the sense of going to Cuba and laying on a beach for a week (which at times wouldn't be half bad) I mean like, random road trips sorta deal. (I put 100,000 km on a car once in a year, and just driving local.) I'm more of a learning traveller. I'm attracted to travelling to any place that I just haven't been to before, or that holds interesting history. Ironically I haven't done much travelling too far, I've been on road trips from Nova Scotia to Ontario and back, but that's pretty much the farthest, and I was a kid. I'm the type of person that if I won the lottery, I would seriously give away everything I own, and live out of a suitcase and hotel rooms, just to travel anywhere I possibly could. And I don't even wanna see just the good things with travelling. I wanna see the good, the bad, and the ugly. (With the exception of forests filled with bugs and snakes) Haha, I'm the girl who got excited the first time I saw a hooker in real life, no joke! I literally wanna see everything the world has to offer, from a safe stand point.

          So, for those of you who read my blog (Thanks by the way!) I have made up my “Travelling Bucket List” for you :)

Okay, let's start small. I REALLY wanna see the mountains in British Columbia someday. Seriously, anyone who wouldn't wanna just be planted there for like a week and just be able to take in the beauty of the place has something wrong with them. I get mesmerized just by pictures of them. I'm a city kid, so to see something like this would be like seeing a whole new world.

Fort Erie, Ontario. Now, when I lived in Niagara Falls, we actually traveled to Fort Erie for a field trip. Old Fort Erie, was a war fort. The original was built in 1764. (You can read up on the history of it if you're interested here) While on this field trip with school, obviously for the history purposes, we learned that they actually give midnight ghost tours! Even as a kid at the time, the ghost tour idea caught my attention. I've been dying to go back and go on one. Although being able to just do an investigation of our own would be better ;)

Another place I would have died to do an investigation was Waverly Hills Sanatorium, which they used to give tours through, and a few ghost hunter teams have gotten into to do investigations. Nowadays I hear they are turning it into a hotel, So I guess I will just have to wait and rent a room ;) (Learn the history of Waverly Hills here )

 

The Northern Lights! I don't care where I have to go, or how cold it is there, I NEED to see these!!

Stonehenge: Now this is a place I'd love to see. It's an amazing site, and it makes you wonder! The rocks that make it up are MASSIVE, and there's a lot of question on how the rocks were placed there, considering when it was built there were no large equipment to lift them. There's a lot of speculation there that maybe aliens were in contact with humans waaaay back when, and some people say that's how the rocks were placed. This is also a speculation, for those of you who don't know, for the Egyptians. It is believed that Egyptians way waay back had communication with other worldly species, that's why there has been pictures of certain technologies that didn't exist at the time found in Egyptian tombs. Also there has been crop circles that have depicted what we know as Egyptian symbols. Back to Stonehenge, there have been reports of there being lights in the sky seen near the site from time to time, adding to the wonder if the speculation has some truth to it. 

                                                     Stonehenge ^                                      
                        Crop circle of what eerily resembles a Egyptian Scarab \/

Norway: Now, I would love to visit Norway just for it's simple beauty. Every picture I see of it is amazing. I mean it even makes the winter time look amazing, and I HATE winter!!

OH and not to mention stuff like this has been seen in the Norway sky. Soo, yeah, I wanna see!

Another couple paranormal hot spots I'd like to visit:

                                          Moundsville Penitentiary. 

             Chillingham Castle(Supposedly the most haunted place on earth!!)

Poveglia Island, Italy.

Now, This one is a whole new can of worms. This place has seen so much death it is unreal. It at one time was used as a confinement station for people who had the plague, and a time after that it was used as a quarantine station, and the buildings were built into an asylum for the mentally ill or long term patients.It was more of a place of exile than a place where people got better. Then when people died in the asylum, they were burned, so story goes that a good portion of the soil on the island is made up of human ash. It is said to be extremely haunted. So much so, that the Italian government has actually cut off public access to people to go to the island. There have though, been ghost hunter crews who have been able to get their way onto the island for a night. 

Eastern State Penitentiary
Has anyone else caught on that I have this crazy thing for prisons?? Haha.

The Stanley Hotel

I'm pretty sure this one speaks for itself, and needs no explanation :)

Now back to normal travels, here's a few other "must sees":

Alaska (Beautiful!)

Scotland

Paris

Africa

This whole blog was just to name a few off the top of my head, the real bucket list is MUCH longer. I will elaborate in further posts down the road. But for now, type in some of your travelling bucket lists in the comment section below! I'd love to hear it! Also you can also subscribe to my blog by typing your email in the box near the top, which will inform you every time I post something new!

Until next time... :)