Case Report No. 45

Fandom: Bleach, no spoilers

What follows is possibly the most eventful investigation that the Scientific Paranormal Investigation Team has ever done in our years of operation. It is presented here as a warning to potential members about what may happen and what can go wrong during an investigation, as well as the necessity of maintaining professional behavior at all times.

CASE REPORT #45
by Wendell Ottman, President,
Scientific Paranormal Investigation Team (SPIT)

INTRODUCTION

The ------ Sanitarium stands stark and abandoned, covered with graffiti and surrounded by a chain-link fence topped with barbed wire, in an overgrown field strewn with junk: rusted-out cars, old refrigerators, trash bags full of rotting substances, and so on. The Sanitarium itself was closed in the 1930s and left to decay for decades. Formerly, it was a tuberculosis sanitarium where victims of this terrible disease-- adults and children alike-- were banished to recover or to die. Prior to that it served as a mental asylum, and in its first incarnation, before it was expanded and the west wing added, it was a prison.

[Photograph: ------ Sanitarium as it was in the 1920s, with neatly manicured lawns, patients sitting in lawn chairs, and white-garbed nurses posing for the camera.]

After the investigation, SPIT researched the history of the Sanitarium, but could not confirm rumors that TB patients had been used like lab rats to test potential cures for the disease. There was no evidence in the city's records or on the grounds of the sanitarium of a graveyard for the more unfortunate victims of these "cures."

[Photograph: ------ Sanitarium as it is now, fenced in, with broken windows and graffiti.]

This stark building has witnessed much misery and death during its existence, and an observer may little wonder at reports of paranormal activity such as lights seen and noises heard emanating from the building at night. Teenagers in the nearby town of ----- dare each other to sneak inside the building after night falls, and it is said that some of them are never seen again.

Apparitions reported in the Sanitarium include a beautiful woman in dark clothing who appears at the end of a hall and turns the corner, only to be gone when the observer reaches the spot, and the figures of children at play on the third floor of the west wing, at the site of the former Children's Ward. Witnesses also report experiencing an intense hatred and malevolence which seems to be centered on the large ward on the fifth floor of the main wing, although such feelings may occur anywhere in the building.

As the Sanitarium is due to be demolished and replaced with a shopping mall next year, we of SPIT felt it incumbent upon us to investigate the site while it was still feasible.

INVESTIGATORS

Four current members of SPIT comprised the team: Wendell Ottman, SPIT President and the Case Manager for this investigation, Mitchell "Roadkill" Huang, the SPIT Equipment Specialist, Serena Starbird, a "sensitive" who often accompanies SPIT teams and says she endeavors to make contact with spirits and give them peace, and Ines Fetterman, the newest SPITter, a trainee on her first investigation.

EQUIPMENT

Equipment used included a thermal imaging camera, electromagnetic frequency (EMF) meters, a digital thermometer, two digital audio recorders, several digital camcorders and tripods, digital cameras, walkie-talkies for the team members to communicate with each other, a pair of dowsing rods, and a Barbie doll.

PRE-INVESTIGATION

SPIT arrived before dark at the Sanitarium to stage the equipment prior to commencing the investigation. The building was mostly intact, with a few doors hanging off hinges and most of the windows broken. Graffiti and trash filled the rooms on the first floor and a few on the second, but strangely, none on the third through fifth floors. Wind blew through the broken windows and rattled some of the doors, which might account for some reported activity, but for the most part the weather was calm and due to remain so.

Digital camcorders were placed in rooms with reported paranormal activity. The Barbie doll was placed in the middle of the Children's Ward, as it is claimed that sometimes the ghosts of children who died here can be lured out to play with toys.  A digital camcorder filmed the doll and the middle of the room.

The investigators split into teams of two in order to cover more of the building during the investigation. It was felt that the trainee, I. Fetterman, would be better off working with the most experienced investigator, so she was assigned to Team 1 under W. Ottman.  S. Starbird and M. Huang comprised Team 2. Each investigator wore an official SPIT vest with equipment pockets and carried a flashlight, a walkie-talkie, and extra batteries. W. Ottman and M. Huang carried digital audio recorders for EVP (electronic voice phenomena) work, M. Huang also carrying Miss Stacy, his personal EMF meter.  I. Fetterman carried the SPIT EMF meter, the thermal imaging camera, the digital thermometer, a digital camera, a digital camcorder, and a backpack filled with snacks and water in case the team needed quick energy during the investigation. S. Starbird carried her lightweight dowsing rods.

After checking to make sure the equipment I. Fetterman dropped was not damaged, the investigators redistributed the equipment, left the backpack with snacks inside the main entrance of the sanitarium to be retrieved upon later need, and commenced the investigation at 10:07 PM. Team 1 took the 1st floor and Team 2 began with the 4th.

10:07 PM - 11:00 PM, TEAM 1

Team 1 started the sweep of the 1st floor, scanning the corridors and rooms with the thermal camera and taking digital photographs. A few orbs were captured on camera, but these are probably the light from the flash reflecting off of dust in the air or bugs flying by and not indicative of paranormal activity.  SPIT investigators pride themselves in looking at evidence with a skeptical eye, eliminating phenomena produced naturally in order to discern the supernatural.

Nothing of interest was detected on the 1st floor, so Team 1 proceeded to the 2nd. Here the investigators had a couple of personal experiences, hearing a door on another part of the floor open, and feeling a light breeze in a room with no windows. Case Manager W. Ottman decided this was a good opportunity to train I. Fetterman in EVP work. Electronic voice phenomena are voices and sounds captured on audio recording devices when no voice is audible in the environment.  EVPs can range from simple knocks or footsteps to full-out conversations, are often barely audible, and much processing can be required to distinguish them from static and other noises filling the audio track.

W. Ottman showed I. Fetterman how to operate the recorder, then how to change the battery, whose power had been depleted despite having been completely full during the pre-investigation check. This is often a signifier of paranormal activity: the theory states that spirits pull on heat or electrical energy in the room in order to manifest. W. Ottman demonstrated asking questions of spirits in the area, pausing for a short time to allow any entity in the immediate vicinity to reply.

[RECORDING: Team 1, 2nd Floor, Room 224. Enhanced and cleaned by W. Ottman.]

When this recording was analyzed post-investigation, EVP activity was present, although there is disagreement about exactly what is said.  In the enhanced version of the recording, two voices can be discerned in the static after W. Ottman queries, "What is your name?" The first voice says "Why did you come?" before fading out. This indicates that the spirits are aware of the researchers and asking about the intrusion. A second, deeper voice briefly appears, saying something like "[static] boring sitting around [static]." (It is certainly to be expected that spirits find earthbound existence quite tedious at times!) The first voice, or possibly a third voice, says something faint and hard to make out. I. Fetterman is convinced that she hears "[static] ah, not because [static] cherry bomb in [static]," but W. Ottman's extensive experience leads him to believe that it really says "[static] in an abacus [static] aerial run in [static]." This is a prime example of how difficult it can be to make out EVP evidence and how much experience counts in this type of work.

The next word that can be discerned from the audio file sounds like a whispered, drawn-out "lucky," but at this point the recording ceases as I. Fetterman shrieked like a girl and dropped the recorder, stating with some vehemence that she had experienced a distinct physical tap or pat in the region of her behind. After a short discussion on the necessity of maintaining professional behavior and not damaging expensive equipment in the face of unexpected events, Team 1 continued the investigation on the 2nd floor. Thermal imaging, EMF, and temperature readings recorded no unusual activity in the area.

10:07 PM - 11:00 PM, TEAM 2

Team 2's investigation commenced on the 4th floor. S. Starbird led the way with her dowsing rods. These are two light rods bent at right angles held loosely in the hands. S. Starbird claims that in the presence of paranormal phenomena, the rods supposedly cross, and at other times they both swing the same way and point towards the source of paranormal energy. As the investigators ascended the stairs to the 4th floor, S. Starbird reported feeling an increasing sense of oppression, like something sitting on her shoulders, emanating from somewhere above them. M. Huang states he felt nothing of the sort. A short while later he reports the sensation of a strong wind blowing by him in the hall twice, in opposite directions, and the feeling of something like fabric brushing his arms at the same time. S. Starbird then claims to have experienced the sensation of something crushing her chest and making her feet heavy at the times M. Huang felt the wind, and reports that the dowsing rods swung violently in the direction of the wind both times.

Team 2 then began EVP work. M. Huang held the digital audio recorder as S. Starbird asked questions.

[RECORDING: Team 2 4th Floor, Main Corridor. Enhanced and cleaned by W. Ottman.]

Later analysis showed slight noises in the recording that S. Starbird interprets as childlike laughter and a piping voice, answered by a deeper voice, but which W. Ottman feels is just random noise in the static, since no paranormal activity involving children has previously ever been witnessed outside of the west wing.

[AMENDMENT TO REPORT #1: S. Starbird would like to register the opinion that W. Ottman is a pompous ass.]

[AMENDMENT TO REPORT #2: W. Ottman would like to remind SPIT members of the necessity of observing strict professionalism at all times and not allowing personal feelings to taint scientific observations.]

Team 2 continued the scientific and unscientific investigations of the 4th floor, reporting nothing other than S. Starbird's intermittent vague feelings of heaviness and doom, a few shadows glimpsed from the corner of her eye, and a small pile of candy bar wrappers in a corner of room 412, evidence that at least one trespasser had ascended to the 4th floor in the recent past.

11:00 PM - 11:35 PM, TEAM 1

After Team 1 concluded the sweep of the 2nd floor, the investigators commenced the 3rd floor sweep.   When they reached the site of the former children's ward in the west wing, they proceeded into the room to check the status of the Barbie doll and the camera placed there during the investigation setup phase. There was distinct evidence of some form of paranormal activity, as the camera and tripod was lying on its side some distance away from the original area in which it had been placed. This was exciting indeed, but later analysis frustratingly produced no clue as to the identity of the miscreant responsible. The video picture, laced with lines of static, swung wildly across the room, as if someone picked the camera up and shook it, then turned it over and examined it, somehow contriving to remain unseen, before discarding it. At one point the autofocus went in and out, as if trying to focus on a figure, but none showed up.

The Barbie doll was at first nowhere to be seen, but within a few minutes I. Fetterman discovered the body of the doll beneath a rusty wire bed frame, as if it had been kicked there. The head was located by W. Ottman some meters away behind a ward door that was stuck halfway open on a drift of leaves and twigs. If this is indeed the work of a child spirit, it is the sign of a seriously disturbed one.

At this point, M. Huang contacted Team 1 on the walkie-talkie, explaining that Team 2 was getting some interesting readings and urgently requesting that Team 1 join them on the 5th floor.

11:00 PM - 11:35 PM, TEAM 2

It seems that after Team 2 finished their sweep of the 4th floor and proceeded to the 5th, S. Starbird reported a sudden, sharp increase in her feelings of doom, being almost unable to lift her feet and walk. The dowsing rods swung wildly about and M. Huang's personal EMF meter, Miss Stacy, showed a massive spike in its electromagnetic readings. As there had been no power in the building for decades, this was a significant piece of evidence.

Team 1 proceeded with due haste to join Team 2 on the 5th floor. At their arrival, S. Starbird excitedly reported the first sighting of the night: a full-body apparition at the end of the main corridor. She said it was faint and hard to make out, being almost transparent, but resembled a  hauntingly beautiful dark-haired woman with bobbed hair wearing a long dark dress. The apparition took no notice of Team 2, casting a frantic look behind it and hurrying through the open double doors of the main ward. M. Huang did not see the apparition, but reported a second spike in Stacy's EMF readings which coincided with S. Starbird's sighting.

A careful sweep of the 5th floor corridor with EMF meters and the digital thermometer indicated that the main ward was the center of a good deal of potential paranormal activity. Shortly after these readings were taken, all SPIT members heard a terrific crash and the sound of breaking glass from the main ward.

This is the point at which I. Fetterman dropped the thermal imaging camera, which was unfortunately broken. W. Ottman was able to retrieve data saved to its hard drive earlier in the investigation, but it would no longer film. A note has been placed in I. Fetterman's file indicating her responsibility for replacing the camera.

11:35 PM - 11:38 PM, TEAMS 1 & 2

The four SPITters proceeded with due caution into the main ward through the open double doors. S. Starbird reported a sensation like she was about to black out from pressure in her head and chest, while I. Fetterman and M. Huang reported feeling faintly nauseated. W. Ottman felt nothing. None of the large windows along the outside wall had glass remaining in them, and I. Fetterman pointed out the lack of glass on the floor, noting that if there truly had been glass breaking in the room a moment ago, it must have been broken by something going out of one of the windows, not in. W. Ottman commended her on her observation, which he would have made himself if she hadn't mentioned it.

W. Ottman commenced another EVP session, switching his digital audio recorder on and asking if any spirits were there.

[RECORDING: Team 1 5th Floor, Main Ward. Enhanced and cleaned by W. Ottman.]

Everyone agrees, upon later analysis of the recording, that a deep voice responded with a string of profanity, before saying "Get out! [static] them out [static] here!"  The fifth floor main ward appears to be the domain of a particularly malevolent entity, possibly not a simple disembodied spirit but something darker, perhaps an elemental, that considers this area to be its territory and does not suffer trespassers gladly.

At this point in the investigation M. Huang, who had advanced a little way into the room, fell or was pushed back into the rest of the investigators. He reports feeling a heavy blow to his chest and losing his balance, landing on top of his beloved EMF meter. The audio recording, still running at the time, clearly records his sobs upon discovering Miss Stacy was shattered beyond repair.

Both teams decided upon the advisability of a hasty strategic withdrawal, as the personal safety of the investigators must always be placed above the valuable scientific knowledge to be gained by selflessly continuing investigating under adverse circumstances.

11:40 PM - 11:55 PM, TEAMS 1 & 2

A rendezvous at the entry door on the first floor of the building revealed, when the backpack with the supplies was checked, that I. Fetterman had forgotten to pack the food that was to be used for replenishing the investigators' energy during the investigation, an oversight to be regretted.

[ADDENDUM TO THE REPORT #3: I. Fetterman would like to make it clear that she did not forget to pack the Snickers bars, that someone must have stolen them, and to remind W. Ottman that she has not yet been reimbursed for the Snickers bars and the bottled water despite submitting the receipt over two weeks ago.]

[ADDENDUM TO THE REPORT #4: W. Ottman reminds I. Fetterman that none of the investigators would have a reason to steal the Snickers bars, that poltergeist activity like that has never been reported in the Sanitarium, and that therefore the portion of I. Fetterman's expenses corresponding to the Snickers bars will not be reimbursed from SPIT's investigation supply budget.]

It was discovered at this point that the audio recorder had been dropped during the confusion of the strategic withdrawal. It was retrieved the next day and found to have still been recording for a duration of time afterwards.

[RECORDING: Team 1 5th Floor, Main Ward, #2. Enhanced and cleaned by W. Ottman.]

After analysis, no words can be discerned, just a loud roaring sound, thumps and bangs, and what sounds like maniacal laughter, all of which cuts off suddenly and is replaced with silence.

About this time, S. Starbird reported feeling a sudden lift in the heavy, oppressive feeling that had stayed with her all the way to the 1st floor, and the EMF readings on our remaining meter calmed down. The investigators decided to make a cautious sweep of the ground floor.

11:55 PM - 12:14 AM, TEAMS 1 & 2

The second sighting of the evening occurred in room 117, a large conference room on the ground floor with walls blanketed in obscene graffiti. S. Starbird claimed to see three transparent figures, one of which was the beautiful woman she had sighted earlier and another of which resembled a man holding something like a cane on its shoulder. S. Starbird reports that it may have had a large port-wine birthmark on its face, or possibly blood running down from its forehead over one eye. She wasn't too sure as the third figure commanded most of her attention. Despite being almost impossible to see, it loomed behind the other figures, bulky and horned. She reports that a sensation of oppression, although not as heavy as the earlier feeling, emanated from it and that in her opinion it must be a malevolent entity, possibly controlling other spirits and bending them to its will, and responsible for the negative energies and occurrences within the Sanitarium building.

Upon hearing this, M. Huang commenced an EVP session with his digital audio recorder.  He utilized the method known as provocation, a method that experienced investigators use to try to provoke an EVP from an otherwise unresponsive entity. This is not something to be tried by the inexperienced, and although M. Huang has a number of investigations under his belt, he may have been too emotionally overcome by the loss of his Miss Stacy to be employing an entirely logical thought process at this time.

He berated the entity with derogatory epithets, enumerating its potential ancestry and personal habits, for striking him earlier and destroying Miss Stacy.  At this point, all four SPITters experienced the sensation of a quick breeze despite there being no windows in the room, and M. Huang dropped his audio recorder, clutched his arm, and screamed, "It bit me! It bit me! The damn thing bit me!"

(W. Ottman's usual lecture on professional behavior in extreme circumstances was postponed until a less emotionally-wrought moment.)

[RECORDING: Team 2 1st Floor, Conference Room. Enhanced and cleaned by W. Ottman.]

Analysis of the recording later produced nothing but a high-pitched, incomprehensible shriek right before M. Huang dropped the recorder. This may have been wind hitting the microphone the wrong way.

Examination of M. Huang's upper left arm revealed a set of bruises in the shape of a small set of human-like teeth, about the size of a child. The malevolent entity is most likely an imp, appearing larger through illusion.

S. Starbird commenced what she refers to as a "psychic rescue operation," mentally "filling the room with white light," arms raised, and verbally persuading the spirits trapped in the location that they were free to pass on, that they should "look for the door" and "step through it to the next world." Shortly afterward, the EMF meter I. Fetterman was holding spiked, and S. Starbird reported sensing a "circular portal" formed of "brilliant white light" appear behind the figures, which had been staring at her, frozen in fear or awe. The entities then vanished into the light.

Regardless of the actual occurrences, at this point the EMF readings fell to normal and remained so for the duration of the investigation.

12:15 AM - 6:15 AM, TEAMS 1 & 2

No further sightings or disturbances were reported by any SPITter, although by unanimous consent the investigators decided to patrol the main entrance to the building for the rest of the night.

POST-INVESTIGATION

In the morning, SPIT packed the equipment and left to get a few hours of sleep before meeting to analyze the night's findings, do some research on the Sanitarium, and write a formal report.

Library research on the building reveals a story dating from before the mental asylum was converted to the Sanitarium that may explain some of the events witnessed by SPIT investigators.  During the 19th century, an abusive husband had his beautiful wife committed to the asylum so that he could be free to pursue other romantic interests without her in the way. She died in the asylum, protesting her sanity all the way, and he later died in a barroom brawl.  SPIT members feel that they may still be living out their violent relationship year after year in the building, as the apparitions of the beautiful woman and the bloody man, the evil energy in their relationship either feeding or being fed by the malign entity also present.

The spirit world is a dark and complex place, and investigation of it should best be left to the professionals.

In other news, shortly afterward several SPIT members decided to pursue other interests. S. Starbird left a week later, citing "negative energy" in the "psychosocial environment" as her reason for so doing. M. Huang chose to take some time off to recover from his loss, and I. Fetterman decided that the field of paranormal investigation was not an endeavor for which she was cut out.

SPIT is now accepting applications for new members. Must be team players and capable of working in a professional manner.