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P.E.E.R    Investigations    

The Christmas Haus, New Oxford, PA September 22, 2007        Built in 1891 by John Hersh, this handsome country Victorian house at 110 Lincoln Way West remained in the Hersh family until 1968. The next family to occupy the house kept it until the current owners purchased it in 2002. From the research that they have done and the additional research PEER has conducted, we have learned quite a few interesting aspects about the death of Henry Hersh, a descendant of John Hersh, that just don’t jive. There are stories that float around town about the previous owners and a somewhat suspicious death. I am not about to claim that what is documented in the newspapers are not true. I can only tell you what has already been written in his obituary and then call attention to the discrepancies.        As the current owners were preparing to move into the house and setup shop, they were going through the house taking pictures just as we all have done. The center hall that runs from the front door to the dining room has a pocket door allowing the dining room to be closed from the hall. The first photo that the owner took of the house was of looking down the hall toward the dining room with the pocket door open. Wanting to change the view, he walked to the end of the hall, closed the pocket door, and returned to the front of the hall for a second photo. Upon reviewing and printing the photos on his computer, he discovered that perhaps they were not alone in the house. There in the first photo, was an apparition, and in the ectoplasm, some say they can make out the image of a man. Could this be Henry Hersh?        Newspaper articles state that Henry died from a self-inflicted shotgun wound to the stomach and that he had been suffering from a pulmonary disease for years. If this was his way of putting a quick end to his pain and suffering, why did he use a shotgun and why shoot himself in the stomach. That would be a slow, bloody, and painful death. There are also several points mentioned in the articles that if challenged, would not stand up under the scrutiny.        Regardless, that is not what we are doing here, read on for the details of our investigation.

Investigation Details        We created four teams to cover the large house. One team was assigned to the attic with a GausMaster EMF detector and a digital camera; a second team went to the second floor using a digital camera, a camcorder and thermal detector and a GausMaster EMF detector. A third team was assigned to float and cover the entire house using two digital cameras attempting to duplicate photos and get similar anomalies on both of their cameras while a forth team was assigned to the basement. This forth team was asked to sit in the basement with a K2 EMF detector, a tape recorder, and a camcorder equipped with infrared. Their task was to try to communicate with whoever was in the house. With the equipment prepped and the teams in place, we went dark. I also floated throughout the house with a digital camera and a thermal detector and volunteered to assist the other teams as needed. As I walked through the house, particularly the sales shop area; I realized it would be difficult to validate any photo anomalies in this area with all of the German ornaments that had the potential of reflecting our camera flashes. After 45 minutes, the teams began to wrap up their specific areas and gathered back in the kitchen to report in with any findings or personal experiences. Those findings are detailed below. There were several photos that captured orbs however; after review and discussion with Allen Gross, we determined that they were probably likely dust orbs. This is the photo that was taken by the owners of the house and what prompted them to ask us to investigate the house. Can you see a person in the mist? Click the photo for a closer look.

Video Recordings        In the basement where Tina and Bob were sitting in the dark trying to get some EVPs supported with their K2 meter and camcorder, they were chatting away with someone that could not be seen. Even though the ringing of a remote telephone bell occasionally interrupted their conversations, their questions were answered with the illumination of the lights on the K2 meter. Tina and Bob explained to whoever was there to listen, that they could answer their yes or no questions by concentrating and releasing their energies into short bursts. One burst was to indicate a no answer and two short bursts of energy would be picked up by the meter indicating a yes answer. They did not get any definitive answers as to who was there, but they were convinced that someone was present and Tina had a strong feeling that they needed to continue their conversations in the attic bedroom. So, it was off from the cool dry basement to the hot and humid attic that they ascended.        We setup the camcorder with the infrared extender and a tape recorder with an external microphone while Tina was in control of the K2 EMF detector. Once setup in the attic, Tina and Bob resumed their questions while seated and in direct view of the camcorder. There was a base reading taken in this part of the house earlier in the evening and it was documented that the readings were at zero. Tina chose to make her questions directed more to the young girl who had been shut-up in this room and it did not take long for her questions to be answered. They’re questions were designed have a yes or no answer. Tina instructed whoever else was in the room with them, that if they could concentrate some energy, that the devise she was holding could pickup that energy and make the lights blink. She asked them to try to use the energy by making the lights blink twice for a yes or positive answer and once for a no or negative answer. Here is a snippet of the transcript from the attic bedroom portion of that investigation. 45:19, (Tina) is Alice here, she is a mischievous girl, - two blinks after a few second pause 46:45, (Tina) do that again if you are Alice, - two blinks 46:50, (Bob) if you can just talk, go ahead and talk, - multiple blinking for several seconds 47:15, (Tina) good, good, okay, do it again so we know you’re here, - two blinks 47:20, (Bob) if you feel like talking, just talk, - multiple erratic blinking for 25 seconds At this point, there was an interruption form another person in the house which broke the communications. After about one minute, communications were re-established with one blink 49:20, (Tina) if you lived in this house, make it blink, - no reactions 49:48, (Tina) are you just visiting, - two blinks At two separate times during the questioning, Bob said that if whoever was there wanted to just talk, to go ahead. On each occurrence, the K2 meter would light up like a Christmas tree for up to 15 seconds, perhaps longer. We also had an analog tape recorder at work during the same times as the video recording. During the basement session, there was too much background noise from the air conditioning system. In the attic bedroom however, the interference was of a different type. For most of the session, a high-pitched static or rubbing noise was heard during the times that we would have expected to have an answer. Sometimes, this noise would persist through the investigators questioning. Even though the investigator was holding the external microphone during this session, the videotape confirmed that the investigators were doing nothing that could have causes the noises or interference. Is this an EVP of sorts? Personal Experiences, Thermal and EMF Readings        Jim and Joseph, one of the teams with a GausMaster and camera had one brief and odd experience in the sales shop part of the house. In addition to Christmas tree ornaments, the shop also sold wood carved pyramids that were designed to spin over the heat of a candle. It did not take much of a breeze to spin the pyramids but interestingly enough they were not affected by our walking around. I had half expected them to be spinning all night long. As they were standing still in the shop near one of the pyramids on the floor, the paddles made a one-quarter turn, quick and sharp. As Jim described it, “it turned quick and abrupt, stopping just as quickly and abruptly.” If it were to turn as designed, from a breeze or other source such as heat or air conditioning, it would have slowly begun to turn and would have coasted to a stop after making several rotations.        On the second floor in the master bedroom, the team of Jan, Steve, and Stan experienced a little problem with their camcorder. Jan asked if the person who died in the house was indeed Henry and if he was upset about the way he died. At that moment, Steve’s camcorder completely shutdown with no indication of battery life. He walked out of the room and in a matter f minutes, the camera came back up with restored battery life.        There were no anomalous thermal readings recorded anywhere in the house. Stan did record one instance of high EMF recordings however. During a base reading of the house, there were no high readings recorded. It was in the second floor office when during one of his passes with a team, that he noted a high reading on the wall adjacent to the staircase. He searched the area for anything that could cause this reading naturally but found nothing. There was no answer to be found and no obvious reason to cause this anomaly. General Thoughts and Readings        Halfway into our investigation at The Christmas Haus, I was asked if the house felt haunted to me. Curious, I replied by asking why I was asked that question. Jim just replied that the house did not feel odd or bad to him, just quiet. I had already heard about a few of the instances that were experienced by other investigators and I had spent a few minutes in the basement and heard some of that conversation. I thought about Jim’s question for a moment and then replied “no.” It wasn’t that I did not believe the house was haunted; it was just a feeling that all was calm in the house.        Let’s not forget about Henry Hersh who died a horrible death in this house. Dieing from a shotgun blast to the stomach could be a slow and painful death. Whether his death was from a self-inflicted shotgun wound to the stomach as the newspapers described, or by the will and hands of another, his death was not quick, easy, or painless. It was cold, hard, and brutal and Henry should never be forgotten. Henry was described by those who knew him, to be a kind and respectful gentleman.        My impressions are that the spirit who was communicating with Tina and Bob was not Henry or the young girl who once lived in the house; but that of our neighbor Alice, the little girl from down the street. Could Alice have caused the ectoplasmic mist on Roger’s photograph as well? We’ll never know for sure but your guess is as good as ours is. And just because we did not seem to have any communications with Henry Hersh or his sister, does not mean that they are not still hanging around the house. I have rarely seen a spirit communicate or show up whenever asked; after all, they have their own mind and life.