GHOST HUNTING AT BLACK STAR CANYON

There are several apps that you can now download to your phones.  One happens to be Ghost Radar and since we were going to be going to Black Star Canyon, which is said to be one of the most haunted places in CA, I thought it would be fun to give it a try.

What it claims to do is locate ghosts.   It has a like a radar screen on it and when a ghost or energy force is located it shows up just like planes do on the radar at the airports.

It also has tons and tons of words that a ghost is somehow able to manipulate and speak to you. 

I went with two friends and turned on the Ghost Radar.  Now I'm not saying it works or that it doesn't.  I'll let you decide for yourself.

My friend had the phone and she would tell me when and where a blip would show up.  I would hurry and click a photo in that direction.

It wasn't long after we started into the canyon that our first "hit" came.  Click.  The first photo was taken.

You can see for yourself that a distant away from us, there is an orb in the photo.

I also clicked several pictures where there was nothing showing up on the Ghost Radar.  Strange thing is there weren't any orbs in any of those photos. 

Again, I'm not saying if the orbs are ghosts or not.  I'm just taking you along on our hike and showing you the photos so you can decide for yourself what happened.

As we walked we noticed how dark and creepy it was out.  We talked about how because of that, our imaginations could really make us think we see or hear something.

Then we notice walking towards us there were some people ahead.  We could see their flash lights and hear them talking as they got closer.

It turned out to be four teens.  They were heading back towards the cars and I said "hi" as they were getting ready to pass by.  They stopped and asked if we knew of any of the stories about Black Star Canyon and where any of the locations were that people claimed to have have seen any.

I told them I used to give tours here and so I did know the stories, locations and have even had a few strange things happen to myself and to those who had been with me.

I told them that where we were walking people claimed to have seen a lady in white.  It was then that one of the guys got really excited and said "Oh man!  I told you I saw something.  I told you!!!"  The other guys then started to get nervous and was jumping around and saying things like "That freaks me out!"  and "I believe you now".

Turned out one of the guys said he saw the lady in white and she was standing by a tree back where they came from.  As he looked harder he saw her walk behind the tree and then before she was fully behind the tree she disappeared.

I told them they were welcome to come with us and I would tell them more stories and legends and show them the hot spots.  They were thrilled to go.  It was one of the boys birthday and they had heard stories and had always wanted to go.

We reached the mine area.  It's been closed off for many, many, many years.  Yet, several people claim to hear voices and yelling coming from the location.  They also have seen many shadow people in this location.

The boys walked over to check it out and low and behold the Ghost Radar showed a blip.  So, I clicked a photo.  If you look at the photo above you can see an orb right above the blocked off mine entrance.

Three of the guys moved away and was waiting for the others.  The radar went off again.  This time my friend told me there were two ghosts right were the three guys were.  Funny, there are two orbs in that photo.

There is also what looks like another fainter looking orb up higher on the right side but I believe that is actually part of the trees/bushes.  Also, the two yellow lights are signs.  They are glowing because of my flash.  I wasn't sure what the red glowing thing was that is to the left of one of the guys but I think it most likely is the reflection of another sign or post.

We stopped in one spot where turned off the flash lights and just listened.  Everyone was quiet and we felt like we were being watched or followed.  We heard some sounds like something or someone was walking in the bushes/tree area. 

We just brushed it off as most likely some kind of animals.  I did search for some kind of animal tracks on the trail perhaps of a mountain lion, rabbit or opossum.  There wasn't any.

When you look at the photo you can see what appears to be lots and lots of orbs. 

Were these the lost souls of the Indians that were massacred by the fur traders in the early 1800's?  Did we hear the foot steps of miners that had died on the job? 

Or was it just the noise of animals and perhaps the orbs are just dust.  After all, it was breezy there.  The only thing that makes me question of it was dust (because after all dirt and wind will make dust kick up) is that the other photos didn't show up like these.

We reached another area that we heard noise out in the distant.  We also saw what appeared to be two glowing objects.  Were the the eyes of some kind of animal peeking out and watching us?  Or was it something else?  Again, it's up to you decide.



For some reason my camera was unable to take a photo when it was pointed in the direction of the two glowing objects.  I stood in the same spot and pointed the camera in another direction four times and each time, the camera took a photo.  But, when I turned back to this spot...nothing would show up.

At one point we came across yellow tape that said Caution.  It was tied to a tree but looked like it was torn down. 

One of the boys said he had a sinking feeling in his stomach as we were walking along this area.  Could it be where something bad had happened in the not so distant past?

The other side of the patch also had the tape.  Only it was on this side the Radar went off again.  On the upper right side you can see another orb. 

Now, I feel I must tell you that while we were there, it was so dark in spots that I couldn't really see what I was pointing the camera at.  It wasn't until I came home and downloaded the photos that I saw what the pictures caught.

We stood around and talked a bit.  We tried to put all the words that the Ghost Radar had spit out, together to see if we could figure out what was being said.

I don't remember all the words but there was material, roots, broken, end, Casey, Thomas and things like that.  We couldn't figure out anything. 

We had to turn around and head back to our cars because at 10:00pm the police come and give tickets. 

It was on our way back that we came across the scariest thing!

This giant spider was crossing the path.  YIKES!

As we were walking back, the radar went off a few more times.  Each time an orb or more was captured. 

You can see from the photos that these orbs are never in the same spots so I know it wasn't something on my camera.  If they were just dust, I believe there would be tons of dust from us walking, the wind blowing and all.  So I really don't think it's dust at all.  I doubt if they are bugs because I didn't notice any bugs and I highly doubt a bug would have followed us for three hours along the trail.  No, I don't have any reason for what would have made the orbs.

Plus, like I said, only the photos I took in the locations of where the Ghost Radar said there was something, had the orbs.

We had a fun time.  We were all tired from our hike too.  No one knows if we had any real paranormal experience that night.
 
But, just before the trail ended the my friend that was holding the phone with the ghost radar on it says she heard her name called from behind us.  She said it was clear and loud.  The only thing was... no one was behind us. 

What do you think?  Do you think the ghost radar works?  Do you think it's just a coincidence that the radar showed something was there and then those photos showed up with orbs?  Or do you think it was just the wind and darkness playing with our minds?

If you want to read more of the legends of Black Star Canyon you can read my old post from 2010 here.  You can also read my post about when I went to Black Star Canyon with another group here.

ARE THERE GHOSTS IN THE FLAVEL HOUSE?

One of the places we stopped on my cruise was Astoria Oregon. I went on a shore excursion to the Flavel House for tea and then a tour of the house.
The Flavel House was the home of Captain George Flavel, one of Astoria's most influential citizens in the late 1800's.

The house is approximately 11,600 sq. feet. It has six original fireplaces. The first floor has 14 foot high ceilings and the 2nd floor has 12 foot high ceilings.

The house was very modern for it's day. It was fitted with indoor plumbing and gaslights.

The outside of the house is done in the Queen Anne architectural style.

There is a beautiful octagonal shaped tower and a wrap around porch. Lots of moldings and patterned shingles were used.

They are in the process of upgrading the house so we couldn't go in through the front door. But, even the side and rear entrance are amazing!

The Flavel's were one of the richest families around. Captain Flavel was a noted river bar pilot on the Columbia River and a prominent business man.

He married his wife Mary Boelling when she was only 14 and he was 30. They had two daughters, Nellie and Katie and one son, George Conrad.

The two daughters never married, but, the son did and he never lived in this house.

As we entered the beautiful house you couldn't help but feel the history of the place.

The family owned and lived in the house until 1934 when Captain and Mrs. Flavel's great granddaughter, Patricia Flavel, gave the property to the city.

From 1937 through the World War II the Red Cross, Public Health Department and the local Welfare Commission all had offices in the house.

In 1951 the city wanted to tear the house down and turn it into a parking lot. However the locals organized to save the home and the Flavel House was made into a museum.

In 1995, the Clatsop County Historical Society, was given the title and returned the home to its original state.

So let's go take a look around.

This was the bedroom of the daughter, Katie. She spent many years sleeping in this room.

However, once her father died, she moved into his room and passed away in that room.

Volunteers have told stories of strange things happening in this room.

The curtains have been closed by the volunteers and when they leave the room and returned after a few minutes the curtains are opened again. Yet, no one else is around.

They believe that it's the ghost of Katie, who always wanted her curtains opened durning the day, that is opening them up.

This is the library. It is where Captain Flavel spent many hours doing research on the tides and reading.

This was the room they called the heart of the house.

This room is the formal parlor. It was used by the family on special occasions and where the daughters entertained their male visitors.

It is also the room where the Captain's body was viewed after he passed away in 1893.

This is the music room. Both daughters loved music and could play several instruments.

They would spend most of their time in this room while they waited to receive visitors and practicing their music.

In the evenings the often entertained visitors with a song or two.

One of the volunteers, who now work at the house, said she would often hear music coming from a music box that used to be in this room. It had a large, heavy lid, which had to be lifted to start the mechanism.

The volunteer would sit in the hall near the front door and could see everyone who came in and out. Yet, no one would even be in the house when she heard the music box playing.

Once she told other volunteer workers about hearing this they also said they had heard it several times too.

In 2006 a writer asked about the music box. He was told that the music box used to be in the music room but, one day when the volunteers came in, it was gone.

To this day, no one knows what happened to it. There was not a break in.

I didn't notice it at the time but when I uploaded my photos I noticed an orb was in this room. I put a circle around it as it's a bit hard to notice.

You can click on the photo and it will enlarge making the orb easier to see.

Could this be one of the sisters watching us tour the room they so loved when alive? I don't know.

The main bathroom was something else for that time period. It was super modern with a built in tub, running water and even a flush toilet.

I took a few photos and then felt a tap on my shoulder and heard "Look again". I turned around fully expecting to see one of the other people on the tour with me. Yet, no one was there.

I was last to leave this room. So I clicked another photo and saw an orb was now over the tub area.

I wasn't sure if my mind was playing tricks on me or what was going on. But, out loud I said "If someone is in here with me can you show up more so I can see you better." Then I clicked this photo.

As you can see an orb that is much larger in size showed up.

Could this just be a coincident or was it a ghost who tapped my shoulder and said to look again? Again, I can't say for sure. But, I can tell you it was an eerie feeling.

I loved the sink faucets.

The box looking item is the indoor flush toilet. You would lift up the lid and the seat would then be exposed.

This is Nellie's room. She did not die here but had been very sick.

You can see another orb on her headboard.

The Historical Society keeps the curtains closed and shutters closed to keep the sun off the furniture and while they allow you take photos you are not allowed to use your flash.

Therefore, none of the orbs seen, could possibly been due to the flash on my camera as I had it turned off.

This is one of the beautiful fireplaces. The tile and wood work are all original. They were all lovely.

The Historical Society volunteers provided us with a wonderful tea. I loved my tea cup. I also found out that I enjoyed the tea and had two cups. I don't normally like tea but whatever this was very enjoyable.

The Tea was held in the dinning room. It was a lovely room with high ceilings and beautiful woodwork.

They served the standard Tea items. Finger sandwiches, scones and little cookies as well as lemon bars.

We were served tea out of the Flavel Family's actual silver tea sets.

The kitchen was pretty small compared to the rest of the house. But it had all the modern appliances of the day.

Even a large refrigerator/freezer.

This is the what the back side of the house looks like. It's still lovely, isn't it?

Another volunteer told of a story about her son and daughter in law and grand children who came to visit her. She took them through the Flavel house and they took lots of photos.

When they got home they noticed that one shot was taken with two different cameras and both showed shadow figures of three women dressed in "old fashion clothes" up in one of the windows.

Another volunteer said she was going to go up in the tower and was 1/2 up the stairs when she got a strong feeling to not go up there. Several others had that same feeling in the past and one claims to even have heard someone tell her to "Not go any further".

Since so many workers have had things happen on those stairs the tower has been closed off to the public.

Another volunteer told a story of a man who paid for the tour that came running down the stairs and ran outside. He refused to go back in the house.

When asked why, he told them he saw Captain Flavel in his bedroom and when he called for his wife, who was in the other room, he noticed the Captain disappear as if sinking into the floor.

So is the Flavel house haunted? Well, many people besides me would say "Yes, it is".

Speaking of haunted places, this Saturday I'm going to take a class from TAPS. They are a well known Paranormal group and have been seen on several TV shows.

After the class, which is 5 hours long, we are going to do an investigation of the Granada Theatre in Ontario CA, which is said to also be haunted.

I'll try to get photos up and a post on Sunday about that.

PARANORMAL INVESTIGATION ON THE QUEEN MARY

I know I said I was going to post about this two days ago but I've had problems getting the photos to upload properly.

Anyway, Glenda, from Many Fond Memories and I went on a tour at the Queen Mary called Paranormal Investigations. They only have this tour on Fridays at Midnight. It is lead by a well known Paranormal Investigator.

We got there a little bit early so while we were waiting we decided to look around a little bit before the tour started.

Glenda had taken a few photos and then while taking a photo of a staircase she noticed she had what is called an orb.

For those of you who don't know, an orb is what they call it when you catch a "spirit, ghost or energy" of a dead person on film. You can not see them in person. They just show up in photos or on film.

Glenda showed me her photos with the orbs. I then took out my camera to see if I got the same things. After all, sometimes what appears to be an orb is really nothing more then a speck of dust or water or some other mark on your camera lens.

Having two cameras taking photos of the same area would not likely show an orb if one was not really there.

So I clicked my first photo of the stairs and this is what I got.

An orb! I was really surprised to see this. You see, I assumed all these ghost stories I've heard about at the Queen Mary was really nothing more then just that...stories. Stories of sightings in order to bring in the tourist.

So, after seeing that I too had an orb in my photo I then said out loud "OK then, is there anyone else who wants to come along on the tour with us? If so, come out now." Then I clicked the camera again.

Much to my amazement that photo had even more orbs. Now I was not sure if I was starting to believe yet or not. So again I spoke out loud. This time I said "If you are really a spirit showing up then make yourself much brighter so I can really see you." Then I took another photo.

As you can see I got a much brighter orb this time. There is also a smaller fainter one at the top of the stairs.

I have to admit I was a bit freaked out by this. Not scared. Just a strange feeling.

We then left and went back to meet up where the group was gathering waiting for the Paranormal Investigator to show up.

We spoke to the guy who had checked us in and told him about our photos. He was a young guy who had been working at the Queen Mary for about 2 years and when he first started he said he didn't believe in ghosts or anything with the paranormal. After working there he said he has never seen anything but he has felt things. Things like the room getting cold and someone touching him when no one was in the room.

He asked which set of stairs we took the photos at. When we told him he smiled and said that many people have seen things there. He then said those stairs were right by where the children's play room used to be.

Could we have captured some spirits that were really there? I don't really know. I do know it was strange that I asked for certain things and then the next picture they showed up.

Finally our Tour Guide showed up. His name is Pat and he is the one who founded the Paranormal Tours at the Queen Mary. He also is the founder of a Paranormal Magazine. I forgot which one. To be honest, I never even knew there was one.

He then explained what the equipment was that was used when doing investigation and showed us how everything worked. Then he handed out stuff so everyone had a flash light and some piece of equipment to use.

It turned out there was a team of Investigators from San Diego on the ship doing research. We ran into them at the pool area. We were asked to be quiet and careful so as not to disturb their work.

They were set up just outside the pool area in the hall. They were picking up some kind of readings of activity with their camera, infrared machine and something that measures the electromagnetic readings.

I didn't see or feel anything as I watched them.

Our investigator told us there have been stories by many people of a little girl that has been seen in the pool area. There have been sightings of wet footprints coming from the pool even though there is no water in the pool any longer.

Also a lady in white with no head has been seen there.

There is another tour at the Queen Mary that is a special effect show/tour and they darken the room and foot prints appear to be walking on the deck. Our guide told us he was the one who painted the foot prints for the special effect show and so we shouldn't come to him saying we saw foot prints as they were not real.

I took a photo to show the painted foot prints. However, right near them...an orb shows up. Right in the area where the little girl is said to be seen.

Her name is Jackie and it has been reported that she has been seen upstairs in this area and also heard. I didn't hear or see or feel anything and nothing showed up in my photos.

The investigator told us that while doing a four day investigation in the pool area they picked up the sound of a little girl giggling in this area at 3:00am.

This is just another shot of the pool area. As you can see, I didn't pick up orbs in every picture. In fact, more often then not I got nothing. So they clearly were not just something on my camera lens.

This area is in back of the pool and was the woman's changing room. There have been lots of reports of people seeing things and hearing voices in this area. Many believe this is where there is a portal that is a pathway between this world and the hereafter.

There are no lights in this area any longer. Glenda and I waited until everyone left this area and turned off our flash lights to see if we felt or heard anything.

Nothing.

We moved on to areas not open to the public at all. We went to the front cargo hold area. To get there you have to go through back rooms, storage areas and climb lots of stairs.

This is also the area where they kept the Prisoners of War. Many of whom died here.

We are sitting in an area just before we entered the actual room. We were warned that if we had any fear of heights or closed spaces that we should stay here and wait for the rest of the group to return.

To get to where we were going we had to climb down a very old, narrow and long ladder. Once we got down we would be in the very bottom of the ship where the Prisoners were held durning World War II.

We were also warned that down there we had to be very careful because there were several places of missing floor boards and we could very easily fall down through the boards and get hurt.

Do you see the orbs in the photo above? Could these be some of the Prisoners or Soldiers from the War?

This is a shot looking down to where were going. Believe me it's much further down then these photos look. It was a scary and eerie feeling just looking down there.

I did have a strange feeling about going down there. Like it wasn't a happy place. A feeling of sadness and gloom came over me.

Do you see the orbs?

But, we were brave and went down. Not everyone in our group did so.

Another shot just before I turned around to go down the ladder. I had a fear that maybe I was doing the wrong thing by going down there.

No orbs in this shot.

This is once I'm down there. I was taking a lot of photos. I caught many orbs down in this area.

It's said to be the most haunted place on the ship.

Our guide played a recording for us of sounds and voices that he had captured over time.

It was scary as we heard voices saying "Help me!" and "We are dying". There were banging sounds and clinging noises.

Our guide had us all sit down so we would be safe. We were going to turn the lights out and record as he asked questions. Everyone was very quiet and we all waited to hear answers to questions such as "Is there anybody with us? Can you make a noise so we know you are here? Will you show yourself to us? Do you want us to leave?".

My heart was beating a bit faster as I waited. It was pitch black down there. I just knew were were going to hear something or see something right before our eyes. The feeling in there was so strong that we were not alone.

After about 15 minutes he stopped the recording and we turned our lights back on and listened to the recording. Again...nothing.

Yet the photos once again showed more orbs.

I snapped a few more photos before heading back up the ladder. Which, by the way, was even scarier going up then it was going down. I had a feeling someone or something didn't want us to leave.

I had a photo showing the ladder and near it were orbs but even though I finally was able to get it to upload here I notice it is now missing again.

Is there a problem with blogger or does someone not want that picture to be shown??? I don't know.

We then went to the engine room. You can see one of the other investigators was in there running tests.

You also notice that to the left of the door it says 13. That is door 13 where a young man of 19 who had just become a fireman was killed as the door shut on him trapping him between rooms.

It is said that this young man still is there in the engine room. Seen by many over the years.

At this point I was standing next to Glenda and we both took a photo of this area. She took a picture first and I then clicked my camera thinking maybe I would capture an orb that may or may not be the young man that was killed.

What I saw was not an orb. I saw a shadow. This shadow did not show up on Glenda's photo so I knew it was not something on the wall or the way the light was shinning.

One of the San Diego Paranormal Investigators heard me talking to Glenda about maybe seeing something. So he asked to see my camera. He agreed that was was captured was not what we could see with our own eyes. He said he wasn't sure what it was but it wasn't a shadow made by any light up in the area as nothing was up there. He found it to be very interesting.

I zoomed in and took another photo and captured it again.

Click on the photos to blow them up for a better look. Everyone agreed it looked like a shadow of a person with a hat on.

The real strange thing was Glenda did capture this same type of image only in the swimming pool area.

Did someone decided to walk with us on the tour???

Now I don't know if what we caught on film is a ghost or spirit. I do know we could not explain them or rule them out as being anything certain.

Are they from those who lost their life while on the Queen Mary years ago? I can't say. I'll let you decide.

I had so much fun on this tour. However, I did think our Investigator was all wrong for this tour. He would try to put a damper on everything everyone saw, heard, felt or captured on film. He said it was his job to explain what these unknown things were. Though he did agree that not everything could be explained.

At the end of the tour we returned all the equipment and he said "So did you have fun? Wasn't that boring? That's what 99% of the time is as a Paranormal Investigator". I was shocked he said that. After all, doesn't he want people to think they saw things, heard thing or felt a presence? Isn't that how they get more people to sign up for the tours? Strange.

There are a lot of words I would use to describe this tour but boring was not one of them.

I want to thank Glenda for finding out about this tour and for asking me to go along. It was really like no other tour I've ever been on before.