Recently, the ASUP, Inc. was asked to come to an apartment in Arlington. The client had contacted The ASUP through MySpace initially, because of the disturbances in her apartment; she stated that she was bothered by noises such as knocks in the interior walls and ceiling (in a crawl space), especially in the late evenings, which seemed to have no logical origin from either inside or outside of the apartment. There had also been items that flew off and across the room from shelves a few times, and other strange disturbances. Inside the apartment were also two spayed female cats and two birds who resided with the divorced woman. One cat, especially, seemed to be bothered by an outside disturbance occasionally, bristling up, eyes wide as saucers as she stared at an unseen object, and sometimes hiding under something or in a corner, cowering for no apparent reason.
Investigators also found some unexplained reddish markings on one wall that the client said materialized some time between when a poster was initially tacked up, then later framed and rehung in the same space This framed poster of Billie Holliday subsequently fell off of a hook with a secure hanger on the back of the frame one evening. That is when she saw the marks on her wall. The cat had also acted very strangely staring into the corner repeatedly over the preceding weeks she had noted, and still would not walk to that corner of the room.
During the investigation of the premises, the team set up video equipment and left the apartment for about two hours. Upon their return, after they began to send in team members two at a time, it was discovered that one video camera shut itself off, approximately 10 minutes after they had left the building. Upon later review, it was found that another one which had been set up across the room, recorded an unusual event within just a few seconds of the loss of power of it's companion. The second camcorder recorded a round table shaking violently enough to make everything on top of it rattle back and forth as something seemingly ran past it and then shook the video camera as well. Unfortunately, although the cats do not appear to be strong enough to shake that particular table when later tested (it has three secure, wide-spaced legs and is fairly heavy, ASUP could not dismiss the possibility of one of the cats having caused this particular incident.)
Coupled with the above, was the fact that in the evenings, it was difficult to get dependable, consistent EMF readings because the wiring in the floor would make the EMF meters rise up to approximately 3 milligaus and fluctuate back and forth depending upon where one stood in the apartment and at different heights (even up to and in the middle of the bed or dining room table at times).
One member, used his IR flashlight to try to determine what the substance was on the wall. It, and other areas on the same wall, both high and low, lit up in the dark indicating it had some sort of as a protein in it, and therefore was some sort of bodily fluid, even though the apartment had supposedly been repainted before the subject had moved in four years before. The coordinator, a retired police officer, noted that such fluids cannot bleed back through paint.
Two team members decided to spend the night in order to attempt to catch some evidence. Nothing untoward occurred until 3:10 a.m. when as the client was still sitting in the living room with the Director or Research, the aforementioned cat woke up, looked toward the hallway, with her hair raised up on end and eyes huge with fright. Then the sound of heavy footfalls, as if a man wearing boots, were heard stomping up the hallway from the bedroom toward the dining/living room areas. Photos were taken as soon as possible, but nothing was captured on film.
They proceeded to the bedroom where the other team member, The Director of Field Operations was resting. She was obviously sound asleep, was wearing no shoes, and she only weighs approximately 120 pounds. Within the next 20 or so minutes, she got up, went to the bathroom and sleepily laid back down. The two other women heard her only slightly, and checked quietly to find her in the bathroom. Early the next morning, she came out and told them that she had had an uneasy dream in which a man was holding her arms down to the bed from the back and laughing in her ear maliciously which was the reason she had awakened.
The team decided to return again one more time a few months later. Upon re-entering the premises, two male team members tested the bloody-looking substance with luminal. Again, it was confirmed to be some sort of bodily fluid, but inconclusive for blood.
The second visit, two members remained behind and spent the entire night. Nothing strange happened that time until approximately 2:30 a.m. when the client, the cat, and a field investigator simultaneously turned toward the fireplace on the opposite wall "feeling" as if someone was standing there watching them. The experience lasted only a few minutes and then dissipated. At approximately 5:00 a.m., an investigator who had been sleeping in the bedroom heard a woman's tinkling laughter as if someone was standing right outside the open bedroom door in the hallway. She knew it did not sound like the client's laughter, but she got up anyway, and tiptoed toward the living room where the client was sleeping to find the client in a deep sleep on the couch.
Photos taken during the second investigation showed odd dark shadows on the ceiling and on the side occasionally. These photos were taken by the ASUP’s Director of Technical Operations, and he was observed by several team members at the time as they had all gathered to conduct a K-II meter question and answer session in the living room. The team witnessed, as they are trained to watch out for these types of things, that nothing was in the way of the lens, such as a camera strap or finger. During two subsequent K-II sessions, on the two separate nights, different meters did go off at different times and seemingly in answer to questions (one flash for no, two for yes). However, once again, due to the high EMF readings in the home at night when every tenant is home and making higher draws on the electricity in the building, scientifically it is difficult to prove that this is an actual intelligent haunting answering questions on command.
After the team left, the client continued to report occasional occurrences and disturbances, some more frightening than others. Some of her friends also reported hearing odd things such as a dragging sound in the kitchen one evening as if a fork had scraped across a non-existent plate. At the time of the occurrence, nothing in that room was out that could have caused it, as all dishes were washed and put away.
There was a later report from an employee in the apartment manager's office that another tenant two buildings down complained of unusual paranormal experiences in his apartment after a male neighbor passed away over two years before. This has led to some speculation that this is a transient spirit visiting more than one apartment upon a whim. Unfortunately, though, although there were a few personal experiences and a few interesting things caught on tape and film, it is difficult to say if this is an actual haunting. It is most likely paranormal in some manner, however.
