This blog started as our website back in the day, but it is pretty basic, even by our means. We will soon be launching an actual website with a fresh look, a ton of things we have been up to. Matthew and Todd have successful businesses up and running, Nick is all things CT Scan and X ray at a hospital, while I graduated college in the Spring and am a Respiratory Therapist...we have accomplished goals outside of the paranormal, but now our focus has returned with a vengeance! We have been invited to speak at colleges, have a slew of investigations at amazing locations, and are ready to take a step up into a bigger league and bring you the truth as we always have...but now in a less Goodwill package...more like Saks 5th Avenue!
Big changes are in store...and we have already started!

Yes we are back and posting

After a little holiday break, and a lot of different cases, we have some new treasure troves to share with you. As we get to go to some new locations coming up, we will keep you up to date with what other evidence we find, as well as what we are thinking from time to time.

This photo is from a recent residential case (yes, we still do them!) where the mother was worried about some paranormal disturbances centered around her children. In the photo, the client's daughter moved, so it blurred her image...but it did catch something lurking in the background. After a simple boost of the exposure, you can see in the bottom photo what looks to be a man in a uniform of some type, staring right at the photographer.

The Case for Black Moon Manor

With all of the controversy over the place, and knowing some of the background, a few of our members went out to Black Moon Manor to find out if the place really had anything going on, or is it a sham. The answer to this, as we found out, is a little of both.

What Matt Speck set out to do was to create a "Haunted Attraction", but somewhere along the way, he says he found the place to be truly haunted. Now this may be totally true, and it is fine, but then there is a blurring of the lines between the "Haunted Attraction" and the place actually being haunted with his facts. For instance, I have it on good authority talking with a very very reliable source and honest fellow that he was approached by Mr. Speck to buy some items with him to spruce up the creepy factor of the house. We do know that the wheelchair that is within the house was not there when he obtained the site, as he has said, for the mere fact that other people lived in this house around ten years ago...and they said it wasn't in there. Yet, Mr. Speck has said that this is the wheelchair of someone who perished from freezing to death within the place, even after he states he abandoned his goal of creating a "Haunted Attraction". This is on top of the many things that have been falsely said of the Estes family, and of people that were said to be deceased, that in reality aren't, make for a lot of confusion. 

The Estes family was notified of these claims, and after much patience with the local community, and people researching the house contacting them with all the allegations, they have taken back the house, and it is scheduled to be demolished in the very near future. 

Our investigators wanted to see if the claims and evidence that were coming out of this house were real or were they fabricated. As there wasn't really anything but a few minor experiences that were had, and really nothing of audio or video evidence, one picture did come up as odd. This is a picture from the upstairs looking down...look around the bottom right hand of the photo. As I saw this image that was sent to me, I wanted to see what was going on over there. Being that I am a photographer, I lightened the exposure up, and the next image is what I found.

 SOUP can totally say that we have never fabricated nor will we fabricate evidence of the paranormal just to make ourselves look "cool" or anything of the sort. We have been offered some TV deals, and other media things, but we are really just not about that sort of thing; we are really about getting some answers and helping some people. We have done some radio programs and a few articles in print, but nothing for profit, and any money our team has ever come into has gone to charity. Now with that being said, I can't tell you what this is in this picture, but without a light source being in the area, the exposure being ramped up and having more of an image of something showing up, I can say I don't believe this to be a fabrication made by Mr. Speck. 

I do believe that some of these places that make you pay to investigate may just be an attraction and have some surprises that the administers of the fun house have added to make sure everyone is happy, so BUYER BEWARE! SOUP has gone to only a few of these places as fun trips, and never has taken any of them all that seriously, but I will say that there are some that are really amazing, and really do have something going on within their walls. It is up to the team, that goes into ALL places, to do their research, and know ALL that has gone on their as well as look a little into the people that are asking for the money for you to be there.

Hello to all the great people that we met this last weekend at The Paranormal Fest in Columbus Indiana! SOUP had such a great time talking with so many people, hearing a lot of great stories, and was handed a couple of new leads.
This year looks to be our busiest and some of the largest investigations yet. WE ARE REALLY ECSTATIC and so thankful for all of your support once again!!!!!!!

P.S. Was so happy to hand out lots of our GHOST POOP to you all this weekend. Yes...that is just the type of light hearted group we are!

A new edit on an old video while going over evidence

This is a re-edit of a case that we did as a joint investigation. Yes, teams sometimes get together and help out each other, and no, all teams don't have to be competitive. It's about science and helping people, not an egofest.

Things to look forward to

We have all kept busy as Indianapolis has put Todd and I through our paces working downtown during the Superbowl lunacy that has taken the city by storm. Outside of that, SOUP will be participating in the Paranormal Fest on May 19th down in Columbus, Indiana, at the notoriously haunted Crump Theatre. There are a bunch of other groups going to be there, a few paranormal television stars, and for an extra fee, they are having an investigation of the Crump with some of the paranormal celebrities. You can find all the info at the website: www.theparanormalfest.com
We have been investing in a bunch of new equipment lately as to better our technical systems, and in general test out some theories. For one, we are going to see what happens when we use a bunch of negative ion generators in close proximity to our cameras, and then test out some new cameras that can see for 350 feet, with 600 line resolution along with our new external microphones.
SOUP is also gearing up for a return to Waverly Hills on March 4th., and we are all very excited with our extra investigators that are coming along with us. Outside of that, a couple of really interesting cases have been brought to us, and now for the arduous part of trying to nail down a time in our busy schedule to investigate. As always, if the client gives us the release that says we can post video, audio, and pictures after they have reviewed the evidence, we will share that evidence with you all to see what your take is on it.
Thank you all as always for backing our little tribe. We are looking to have a full website coming up with a blog feature involved...which of course means a nicer layout, and more money being spent! Stay tuned....

Happy New Year!

     I hope everyone had a great holiday, and Happy New Year to you all! I just wanted to say I am so very lucky to be part of a group that loves to hang out with each other, in and out of the dark, while people representing some of the most historic sites just hand us keys to the front doors and entrust us with these amazing structures, fully riding on our reputation alone! It never ceases to amaze me of how much we keep growing as a group, and how we are always trying to further educate ourselves while helping those around us.We have a lot of changes happening this year, and we are excited to see where the year takes us. I really want to thank all of our clients,past and present, for letting us prove that we really can help to make a difference in their lives.

     This year we've helped people who have not needed us to turn on one camera, or push one button on a meter. There have been people that have had spirits attatched to them that were wreaking havoc on their lives, and we were able to stop the activity with some simple instructions. Sure, we could have taped the environment around them and probably would have caught some crazy things on those tapes, but that wouldn't have helped them at all. What I am saying here is that I am glad we didnt get into this to become "Ghosthunters", and that we did it to be the Paranormal Investigators and scientists we are now. SOUP has noticed many groups have been "Selling Out" at an alarming ratea lately, and just trying to get press, and a TV deal; basically trying to help themselves and their wallets. Just know, the same four guys that you've come to know and love are not gonna go Hollywood folks. We've been offered these things, and really it isn't amusing to us. 

      This year we are going back to Waverly Hills Sanatorium to see how far we've come as a group, and in general, see how much more we can uncover in the large structure.We don't usually do the historically haunted sites as we have enough cases as is, but something has been eating at us for a while: I know we will hear more screams and see more shadowpeople than you can shake a stick at (as we witnessed  last time); but we want to start figuring out why these spirits stay there; why haven't some moved on by now, and really look into what is driving it all. We know that we may be doing some other hospitals that are shutting down in the near future, so this kind of gives us a leg up on figuring out how to clear some of the more negative entities, and also help those that reach out to us. I know it is a tall order being that Waverly Hills is looked upon as being The Mecca of Haunted....but why not? Lots of other historically haunted places have declined in activity from other groups caring and helping clear the spaces of spirits. Leaving a place to be haunted just so it is a funhouse for others is kind of a weird and cruel sense of amusement, right? I guess that it is all up to the individual, but we hope to find another piece of the puzzle, and have a great night of work down in Louisville KY! Hope to see you all in the NEW YEAR!

October

Since it is October, thought I'd repost in its final presentation form the shot from Waverly Hills. As I said before, this wasn't an actual case...this was our group getting to have some time off and have some fun doing what we do best!

updates

We have a bunch of large structure investigations to get to, as well as a few residentials. We are presently going over evidence from our last investigation that was really interesting. As soon as we get a sign off on the permission for release of evidence papers, we will let you know the story, and hopefully we caught on audio/video some of the phenomena that we witnessed that night.

BUSY TIMES

Just wanted to let everyone know we haven't posted anything here in a while because everyone has been really busy with their personal lives and a lot of life changes for all happend at the end of summer. The four of us are all fine and still intact, but really looking forward to getting back into the swing of things again. We have done a few small things here and there, but nothing really to post or to speak of. Lots of people with lots of STORIES and nothing actually happening. Once we lock down a couple more things we will be up and going again soon. STAY TUNED!!!!!

The Crump Theatre

A little over a month ago, we did an investigation of three places within one night. We had three groups of investigators revolve between three sites we had previously investigated, all within three blocks of each other in downtown Columbus Indiana. One of the more active sites that whole day was the Crump Theatre. From the time Todd and I (Craig) first opened the side door in the afternoon and walked on the stage, we saw something staring at us from the projector room. We yelled up to whomever it was, but they turned around and walked back. We ran up to see who it was since there was only one way down from there, and that was through us, but no one was around. We immediately broke out the EMF meter and Paracorder as we began a mini investigation. While sitting in the balcony, our meters both went off, and we heard a giggle that sounded like a small child that many people would hear throughout the night. We caught this whimsical little entity later on in the night.

The Hatchery part 2

Here is a better EVP. The story behind this one is quite remarkable; we could hear the EVP, but wasn't quite sure the word or name it was saying. When I drove back to Angola to play it for the first time with the clients, both Jon and Amy froze up and went pale. Amy informed me that it was saying "Cory", her deceased mother's name...and it was her deceased father's voice saying it in his own inflection! The team didn't have any idea of Amy's parents names, and now everyone knows who is trying to get their attention around the restaurant! SOUP would personally like to thank the Hatchery for a really great time and for being such gracious hosts.

The Hatchery

Here is one of a couple of EVP's that we discovered while investigating The Hatchery Restaurant up in Angola Indiana. There was a lot of whispering far off that we could hear, and then some that we couldn't. Here is a little of that in video form made by my ultracool new Windows Movie Maker!

Crump Theatre

The group is hosting an investigation at the Crump Theatre in Columbus, IN...along with a suprise of two other locations in the Columbus downtown area on the same night! This event is already all booked up, but if enough interest is shown, we will see what we can do to hold another event later in the summer/early fall. The event will help fund the Crump Theatre's restoration as well as another charity of a friend in need.

I will also be posting the evidence from our investigation of Angola's Hatchery Restaurant. This was a really great time, and an amazing structure. We've done some other investigations in between but those have been asked to remain confidential by the clients...so no evidence from those to post. Just tweaking a couple of the EVP's in the audio software and should have them up in the next day or two; keep checking back and thank you all for your comments and interest in our group!

By the way, we have been asked to do a bunch of historic, large structures coming up (our specialty), and we will be announcing those investigations as soon as we get papers signed and permission.

Remember you can always find us on Facebook or Twitter, and you can email us at soup1@live.com

The State of Things

After a couple of fruitless investigations, and being led on a wild goose chase with another, I am happy to say we are back on track with an investigation this coming weekend that has major potential. We were able to debunk pretty much everything at one investigation, then we were helping out for another investigation, when things out of our control hindered all possibilities of gathering any evidence. But, we aren't deterred that easily, and after entering the business for the first time, a long time ago, I knew I always wanted to investigate where we are going to be this weekend. I will keep you posted of what we find from there.
ALSO...we've been inundated with a massive amount of cases all scheduling, or talking with us at the same time. There are 3 that came in within this week alone that are DREAM cases in historic structures, and a bunch of others that we've worked on that have all fell into line in the last few weeks. I just really want to thank everyone for supporting us. The four of us are really living out our dreams, and we get to do what we talked about for so many years while sitting in each others living rooms on a regular basis now. The best thing is we get to do this together, and for that we are all richer.

P.S. We want to give a special thankyou to Michael Gaebler for helping us when we needed an extra hand on short notice. He knocked it out of the ballpark, and we loved the company. Thanks.

Stay tuned...its just getting interesting!!!!!!!

EVIDENCE from Caretakers House

We were brought a case about a Caretakers House that has set empty for a long period of time, and the management of the property would go in to check out things and batteries in cameras and recorders would go dead within minutes, as well as many tales of people seeing full apparitions at times. The Team did an investigation a couple of months ago and got permission to post these bits and pieces.

This is a picture taken by the management in the basement that had us perplexed. Other than the picture was taken with a slow shutter speed on the camera and it streaked...notice the hand coming down through the ceiling by the window. If you zoom in you can even make out the pattern on the shirt and it is a male. The management staff that took this was all female. We tried to debunk a lot of things in this spot, but kept getting motion detectors set off, EVPs as you will see, and someone walking up and down the stairs that are directly to the left of this photo. So here it begins

We usually break up into two groups, and one group investigates while the other is sequestered somewhere away as not to contaminate the other groups investigation. The group investigating also stays together for the common reason of having two sets of eyes, ears, and noses to corroborate what happens, and it also helps during analysis in knowing where everyone was during a certain time. 

This video is another where we know where everyone is...and no one is near the camera sitting on the kitchen counter...but you can definitely hear someone breath right into the microphone.

Same camera, and we did hear this right after the question was asked and didn't know what it was or where it was coming from.

And on this piece, we were towards the end of our investigation, and you can see that the battery on the IR has definitely died. This is video from a room that is on the inside of the house, so no light from outside reaches into it, and there aren't any windows or mirrors around. The investigators were upstairs at this time. Look to the right middle part of the screen for an unexplained light anomaly.

To Everyone

Happy New Year from all of us at SOUP! May 2011 be the year your dreams are realized, and your life ablaze with opportunity!

Collaborative Effort

This is another piece from the collaborative case with The Hogues, and Spirit Paranormal. A shadow was seen on the back porch more than once from the living room where everyone had gathered. One time I saw it happen and rushed back there...and didn't find anything, but this caught a sound just before the incident.

The video from the joint investigation with Spirit and the Hogues.

Helping out in the Paranormal Community

Craig and SOUP are fortunate to be friends with many other groups that are out doing great work in the Paranormal Community. Tim Poynter of S.P.I.R.I.T. Paranormal asked Craig to help with a case that was being headed up by Kerri Cornell Hogue and her husband Tim Hogue on Thursday November 4, 2010. A man, his young daughter, and his girlfriend have all had encouters of being touched, grabbed and pushed on top of sightings and sounds within a 3 bedroom 1920s house. There was a death in the house of a man in the 1970s believed to be a suicide. While doing the investigation, words were heard spoken aloud close to the investigators, as well as a heavy feeling befalling the place. Tim Poynter sent me pictures of something he caught crawling up Tim Hogue's back and forming a hand.