| Five years ago residents of East Bridgewater captured a picture with over 50 faces looking out of the closed-for-the-evening antique shop called Mrs. Swift & Moore Antiques.
The girls went back to the store the following day and showed the owner, Lorrie Parker, a Hanson resident, the ghostly images they captured on their camera. The antique shop is located in an old Masonic building that was built in 1892.
Since then, Parker has joined forces with seven other local people and formed the Massachusetts Area Paranormal Society.
The co-founders of the society are Crystal Nye and Rick Houlker. Lead investigator Wayne Nye, a genealogist, researches the history of the buildings and houses before the team does an investigation. Parker says each member offers something different to the team.
After lining up an investigation, the team goes through the three R’s, which are research, respecting the property and then coming up with results.
She added that they all enjoy what they do and love to question the energy emanating from investigated sites.
The team recently completed two investigations in Whitman. On March 13, the team investigated the former Carroll Bump Funeral Home. During Nye’s investigation he discovered that the building had been two different funerals homes and then a church rectory. It is now an apartment building.
The team brought in international psychic medium Dawn Carr to work with them on the Carroll Bump Funeral Home case. Carr came to the investigations with no knowledge or history of the buildings. Parker said Carr often comes up with names and events associated with the building. During their investigation, Carr said she could see a scruffy man walking back and forth. As she was describing the man, an Electronic Voice Phenomenon recorder, which disembodies voices that the ear can’t hear, was able to catch a man’s gravelly voice saying, “back and forth.” The voice was also heard on the audio portion of the video surveillance as well as the EVP.
When the team went into the former viewing parlor, where the deceased were laid out, they were able to smell flowers.
The second investigation in Whitman was in a undisclosed residence. The resident of the home had reported 30 years of activity and said it had been escalating recently. The team deemed it necessary to notify a New England Abnormalities researcher to come in and do a cleansing of the house, which involves prayer.
Parker said the homeowner couldn’t sleep at night because of the escalating activity.
In the home, the team was able to record 10 EVPs and also saw a black figure go by. A surveillance camera was set up on the first floor, and with no one on the second floor, a closet door opened. A team member went upstairs and shut the closet door and the door opened once again.
“The house did have a lot of activity,” Parker said. “When we opened a certain room or closet door, you got a feeling of heaviness.”
The psychic medium said there was a vortex (a doorway spirits come in and out) inside the building.
“She did sense a younger man with negative energy in the attic, who was mad because he passed before his time,” Parker said.
Carr said the man’s name began with a P. Nye’s research proved that the original owner of the building from 1892-1921 was named Preston Barker.
These two investigations were presented by Nye at the Whitman Historical Society meeting on April 7. They have also been guests at the Whitman Mothers’ Club.
M.A.P.S. also sponsors a ghost tour in East Bridgewater. The team members dress as different characters in town that are rumored to haunt local buildings.
The team has two upcoming investigations, one of them in Hanson. They also hope to schedule two more Whitman investigations.
To find out more about the investigation results, visit the society’s Web site MassachusettsAreaParanormalSociety.com.
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