8 Jan 2014
http://www.nj.com/indulge/index.ssf/2014/01/paranormal_corner_salem_city_municipal_building_evidence_reveal.html
Paranormal Corner: Salem City Municipal Building evidence revealed
Salem City Municipal Building (File photo)
In November, Jersey Unique Minds Paranormal Society investigated the Salem City Municipal Building on New Market Street as per approval by Salem City Council.
The building, which was built in 1928 and is filled with intricate, original woodwork including back-to-back fireplaces on the first floor, originally stood on Broadway and served as a bank.
After many reports of people seeing apparitions, hearing voices and getting an overall “creepy” feeling while inside the building, we JUMPS investigators took all of our equipment into the historical location to try to determine if the building is indeed haunted.
During the investigation, team members experienced several strange occurrences including being touched, hearing disembodied voices and witnessing unexplained equipment failure.
So, after the investigation, it was time to analyze the hours of audio and video evidence gathered that evening, and what we found was quite interesting.
One piece of evidence that correlates with a personal experience was an EVP (electronic voice phenomenon) captured near a full-spectrum camera set up on the second floor.
The camera was plugged into the wall outlet, but was found drained of all battery power for no explainable reason.
While the team gathered at base on the first floor, a digital voice recorder placed on the second floor near the full-spectrum camera captured an unexplained voice that investigator Jim Worrell believes is saying “I’m upset.”
After the camera with the dead battery was discovered, it was brought downstairs and plugged into the wall. Mysteriously, the camera then showed a full charge and more than 100 minutes of recording time remaining.
This wasn’t the only EVP found during the investigation.
Early in the evening, two investigators were in the main meeting room on the first floor where investigator Al Pagano believed he heard a voice. When the audio recorder from that room was reviewed, an unexplained male voice was heard.
The creepiest EVP for me is one that was captured when myself and Pagano were investigating the attic.
I was sitting at the top of the attic steps and Pagano was standing just a couple feet away holding the audio recorder. We were asking questions such as “Is anyone here?” and “What’s your name?” when he asked if whoever may be there would get closer to him.
Just after he poses the question, a female or child’s voice can be heard.
Upon listening to the recording, investigator Mellie DeVault said it sounds like the voice is saying “It’s not me.”
But audio evidence wasn’t all that was captured during the Salem City Municipal Building investigation.
Back up on the second floor, in a large, empty room, a video camera picked up a small light anomaly that traveled quickly through a doorway, turn and disappear back out the doorway.
While that strange light only appeared for a split second, another small ball of light hung around longer and traveled an even stranger pattern.
With no one in the room, a small, white ball of light traveled from the lower left area of the wall up toward the ceiling, turn then down towards the right.
“This was in a second floor room,” said JUMPS CEO Doug Hogate Jr. “The opposite side of the room from where the light is appearing is an interior window that overlooks the meeting area. On the wall behind the camera was a window to the outside, but the road that ran next to it was Hires Avenue and it was too far and too low, and the angle would be off. It’s weird because of the position of the room and the windows. I don’t get it.”
Hogate said that, after reviewing the evidence and considering the personal experiences during the investigation, it appears that there is a spirit presence in the Salem City Municipal Building.
“However, the severity of this presence, who and why, and other questions remain unknown,” he said. “Whoever is still roaming the building, whether an old employee of the bank, a former government official, or other entity, nothing appears to be negative in any way.
“The simple fact that the spirit holds a special attachment with one of the most unique and incredibly historic locations in the City of Salem is fascinating because we can research this further and have a chance to communicate with that history.”
Do you know of a haunted location that JUMPS could research and investigate? Contact Kelly Roncace at kroncace@southjerseymedia.com with your suggestions.
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