Ouija Board Investigation
Location: Danbury, CT
Time or Date: May 29, 1998
Investigators: Joe Franke, John Helstosky, and Orlando Ferrante
Equipment Used: Epson PC Digital Camera, 8mm camcorder, VHS video camera, (3) 35mm cameras with flash, and two cassette recorders for auxiliary audio.
 
Overview: Two couples share an apartment that they believe is haunted after playing with a Ouija board. Previous owners left the board there and disturbances began and later increased after they played with the Ouija. When the activity became overwhelming, they moved in with a relative leaving most of their belongings there. Jayne, one of the occupants, explained that there are two spirits in the house, Jimmy, and Michael. Jimmy is the hostile and more powerful spirit while Michael is the opposite and seemed to be controlled by Jimmy. According to Jayne, Jimmy gave the impression that he was gentle and cooperative, but as time grew he became arrogant, demanding, and violent. Jayne explained that the entity had become infatuated with the other female occupant Sue. When Sue refused to continue the Ouija board sessions, Jimmy was filled with rage and threatened her boyfriend's life in retaliation for her denial.
 
Investigation: We scheduled an interview Friday night May 29, 1998 7:30PM and arranged for both couples to meet us at the apartment. We arrived there first and noticed the house was an old Victorian that had been divided into 4 separate apartments. All of us took several digital and 35mm shots of the outside and the couples arrived shortly after. The apartment is on the first floor in the back of the house, and when we attempted to enter the house it was clear they were terrified of what had happened there because only Jayne and Scott would enter the apartment with us. Bob was overwhelmed with fear and he elected to stay outside while Sue comforted him. Jayne and her boyfriend walked ahead of us and explained the disturbances to us while showing the apartment. Their clothes as well as other belongings were scattered everywhere and we got a sense as to how frightened these people actually were. There was one room that was closed, and Jayne explained that Bob & Sue slept in there and that Bob refused to go back into that room. When we asked why she explained that after one of the many sessions they had with the board, Jimmy told them that it stayed and slept in that room with them. Jayne also said that at one point, Bob stated that he saw an apparition of a man’s face staring at him when he woke up for no apparent reason in the early morning hours.
  
We then set up all of our equipment in the living room and decided to gather everyone for an actual Ouija board session with cameras & audio rolling. During the session, they contacted Michael and he seemed to be constricted and held back from conversing. Sue began to ask questions and asked if Michael would like to pass over to the light and he said that Jimmy wouldn't let him. Sue then asked "How so?" Michael said that Jimmy was scaring and threatening him that if he tried going to the light he would hurt him. Michael described himself as a human spirit about mid twenties to early thirties. He described Jimmy as a little boy about 12 years old, but not a human spirit that possessed great strength. He went on to describe Jimmy as evil and that his face scared him at times. We then asked the couples to contact Jimmy for more information and Michael said that Jimmy would only talk to a friend of the couples whose name is Sharon. We then asked them to tell us about Sharon and they explained that Sharon is a sensitive who can see and communicate with spirits. We asked them to contact Sharon and invite her to the apartment. While we waited, we continued to shoot three rolls of 35mm film and 20 digital exposures as we examined each and every room. Sharon arrived and we interviewed her briefly before we began another session. She was able to contact and communicate with the spirits as well as identify them both. Sharon stated that there was an young guy (Michael) and what she sensed was a little boy about 12 years old wearing a baseball cap very low over his eyes (Jimmy). She said that Jimmy is very strong and has a grip on the other spirit and will not let go. She tried to help Michael to the light but the other spirit was restricting him. Sharon began communicating with Jimmy a bit and he told her that he would not have anyone to play with if he allowed Michael to pass on. After about an hour and a half she claimed to have passed Michael over to the light and was helping the boy. By the time this ended she said she was able to help both of them, but we are not sure.
 
Findings: While we waited for Sharon to arrive we examined the rest of the apartment and there was one particular room which Bob & Sue's infant child slept in that felt much cooler than the rest of the house. Our temperature sensors were not functional that night so accurate measurements could not be taken and documented, but we do know that there were no air conditioners in the apartment. The landlord was away on vacation and we did not have access to the two upper floors, so the investigation was limited to the first floor and basement. During the time that Sharon was communicating with the spirits, one of our members did experience strange phenomenon. Joe Franke was video taping the event and noticed that the hair on his arm began to wave back and forth as if someone were rubbing it. Orlando snapped several pictures and witnessed the goose bumps on his arm at the time this occurred, but nothing showed up on film or digital images.

After examining many pictures, video, audio and EMF readings, we determined that there was nothing conclusive in any of the sources and the only evidence we have is in the digital photos above. One shows a ghost-ball and the other looks like there is a face in the glass with fangs. On the other side of those doors are another set of doors that lead outside which are closed permanently. The couples showed us a set of “lip prints” on the glass on the outside set of doors and stated that they don’t know how they got there. We examined the prints and they seemed to be human lip impressions that were in between the glass and could not be smudged!

CPRS could not do a follow up on this case and has considered it closed because the lease for the tenants expired later that week and access to the apartment is not available. We believe that something paranormal may have been occurring there, but it is not as severe as the couples perceived it. The woman who said she helped the spirits cross over to the light claims that she succeeded in helping these spirits, but we're not sure of her credibility and or abilities to determine the validity to her claims. None of us had ever met this woman before and as of today we have not heard a thing from any of the occupants or Sharon.