Downingtown Area Paranormal Investigators BLOG

DAPI invited to the Rotary Club of Kennett Square.

2012-01-15T08:02:00.001-05:00

DAPI has been invited to do a presentation of some of our finding at the Rotary Club of Kennett Square this coming week. Should be fun. Dawn Beck, member of DAPI was doing a radio interview on the Eat, Drink, and meet Mary show on WCHE1520 and the folks from the Rotary club heard the interview and wanted to see for themselves the evidence that we’ve collected.

DAPI is always available to participate in events. If interested just drop us an Email and we’ll set up an appointment.

The Ghost Hunting Experience

2012-01-15T07:48:00.001-05:00

DAPI will be offering up it’s popular class for the 3rd time “The Ghost Hunting Experience in the spring. The class will be offered through DARC. The class fills quickly so make sure you register early. More details will be posted on our website as spring approaches.

Help DAPI make it’s first documentary.

2012-01-14T23:17:00.001-05:00

DAPI is working on its first documentary. It's going to be on the Twin Tunnels in Downingtown. What we're looking for are people who have verifiable historical information about the Tunnels. For instance, Why are they called The Twin Tunnels? there are actually 3 tunnels. We'd also like to know when they were built, were there any accidents during the construction of the tunnels. (We captured a very interesting EVP indicating that there was an accident)

We’re are also looking for people who have stories about , and experiences in the Tunnels.

We've all heard about the woman who with baby in arms, hung herself in the opening in the middle of the tunnel dropping the baby to its death and if you stop in the middle of the tunnel and listen you can hear the baby crying. Did you ever hear the baby crying? Do you have recordings of this encounter? strange pictures? We've also heard about the man who hung himself in the middle of the tunnel opening as well. These events maybe just folklore. We want to be sure.

What we know to be true is a woman's body was found in a suit case in the 3rd tunnel by a fisherman in 1995. More information can be found here.

The Doe Network

It was always rumored that a biker gang had killed the woman, dismembered her and spread her remains around Chester and Bucks County. No one has ever been arrested for the crime and "Suitcase Jane Doe" has never been identified. We have an EVP of a woman saying the name "Mary" Was Mary the name of Jane Doe?

If you are interested in being part of this effort please drop us an Email

We will be conducting interviews during the next several months collecting information. Your privacy will be protected/respected. We will not release or publish the name of any person who assists us in this endeavor unless you grant us permission to do so.

Thank you.

Downingtown Area Paranormal Investigators.

Another successful Ghost Walk for Downingtown

2011-10-30T07:53:00.001-04:00

For a third year Downingtown Historical and Parks and Downingtown Area Paranormal Investigators presented The Downingtown Ghost Walk. The event sold out both nights. This year we added a new option which was a sit down tour held at the Minquas Fire Station. It was well received and we’ll be offering it again next year.

This years Walk was especially good because we got to investigate 3 private house's in the borough and show the evidence on the walk. DAPI thanks these home owners for allowing us into their homes.

All photo’s are being posted to the web sit and can be found here, http://www.downingtownparanormal.com/investigations.html

Thanks to everybody who came out to the 2011 Downingtown Ghost Walk.

Public Presentation at the Downingtown Library

2011-10-05T23:45:00.001-04:00

DAPI is having a public presentation at the Downingtown Library on Wednesday October 19, 2011.

DAPI will be presenting evidence collected at the Downingtown Library and other haunted locations thought out Chester County.

This is a fun and informative event for the entire family. The event is free to the public and will last about an hour.

At the end of the presentation DAPI will answer questions.

The Downingtown Library is located at 330 East Lancaster Ave. Downingtown PA 19335. Call 610-269-2741 for reservations. Don’t wait too long, seating is limited.

The Ghost Hunting Experience

2011-09-07T12:23:00.001-04:00

DAPI’s second class starting this Sunday the 11th is almost full.

The class is available through the DARC catalogue. The class will run for 4 weeks on Sunday evenings from 7 - 9. The first class will meet at the Alert fire station on Pennsylvania Ave. to learn about tools and techniques. The second class will be an investigation at an historic haunted location in Downingtown. The third class is back at Alert, where students will learn to analyze their evidence. The fourth class also at Alert will allow the students to present their evidence to the class.
The class is $60.00 paid through DARC and the proceeds benefit the Alert fire station.
Just click on the DARC link below for the Fall 2011 brochure and registration form.

DAPI’s popular Ghost Hunting class is back for the fall.

2011-08-26T09:00:00.001-04:00

Downingtown Area Paranormal Investigators is once again offering it’s popular ghost hunting class this fall. The class is available through DARC. The class will be held at The Alert 1 Fire Co and the investigation will be held at a Downingtown historic site.

Classes will meet for 4 weeks on Sunday evenings from 7 – 9 PM.

This is a very informative class explaining Terminology and technique. The proper use of ghost hunting equipment and the review and presentation process.

DAPI will supply you with the equipment that we use everyday, but if you have a laptop, digital camera, or digital voice recorder you may bring them.

Seating is limited so don’t wait too long to register.

The class is $60.00 paid through DARC, with the proceeds benefiting
The Alert 1 Fire station.

To see the evidence captured by the spring class Click Here

DAPI is looking forward to seeing you in the fall.

Mas Mexicali Cantina with Rick Wood

2011-07-19T16:06:00.001-04:00

DAPI held an awesome investigation last night at the Mas Mexicali Cantina in West Chester PA. Joining us was Rick Wood Life coach and Psychic Medium. www.rickywood.net. It was an awesome experience. We believe the woman who committed suicide by jumping from the roof of the building in the 30’s is still there along with other sprits. DAPI along with Rick Wood will be presenting evidence from this investigation in the near future. Watch our web site www.downingtownparanormal.com for updates on this event. It’s going to be an informative and enlightening night

D.A.P.I is offering a second class in the fall

2011-07-06T14:34:00.001-04:00

Ghost Hunting Class
September 2011
Have you always wanted to be a ghost hunter?
DAPI is offering our second class through DARC
in the Fall DARC catalogue. The class will meet for
4 weeks on Sunday evening from 7 - 9. The first
Class will meet at the Alert fire station on Pennsylvania
avenue to learn about tools and techniques. The
Second class will be held at a historic haunted location
for the investigation. The third class is back at Alert,
where the students will learn to analyze their evidence.
The fourth class (also at Alert) will allow the
class to present their findings. The class is $60.00
paid through DARC, with the proceeds benefiting
The Alert 1 Fire station.
To see the evidence captured by the spring class Click Here

Downingtown Ghost Walk 2011

2011-07-06T14:27:00.001-04:00

I know summer has just started but we are already preparing for the 2011 Downingtown Ghost walk. This year is going to be bigger and better with the added offering of a sit down tour at Minquas Fire house. This would be a be good option for anyone who doesn’t want to walk the tour route. Either way you’ll have a frightful, informative night. The sit down tour at Minquas will be Friday October 21th from 7 – 8:30 PM.

The walking tour will be on Saturday October 22nd from 4 – 9 PM and Sunday October 23rd from 3 – 8 PM. and will start at the Minquas Fire house and end at East Ward. As you may or may not know, our tour is different than most Ghost Walks. We actually investigate the buildings that are on the tour route and present the evidence that we find to the tour groups. Tours start every 20 minutes.

Tickets go on sale on September 1st. Keep watching our wed site for more information on ticket prices and sale locations

New Evidence and other Information

2011-07-06T14:17:00.001-04:00

New evidence is being posted all the time at our web site. www.downingtownparanormal.com.

If you haven't checked out the site in a while, take a look. We have some very interesting evidence posted.

DAPI’s first class comes to an end.

2011-05-02T13:22:00.001-04:00

DAPI’s last class of The Ghost Hunting Experience ended on Sunday night. I think everybody came away with a better understanding of ghost hunting and the tools used to capture and record the evidence. We even had a reporter from the Downingtown Dish come for the investigation. She wrote a very informative article on the class. Click here to read the article.

In the next couple of weeks we will be posting the evidence that the class captured during their investigation.

DAPI will be holding other future classes and events. Please check out the web site www.downingtownparanormal.com for updated investigation evidence and future events. You can also email us at info@downingtownparanormal.com and we’ll put you on our mailing list and you’ll be notified when future events are coming up.

Would be ghost hunters getting schooled.

2011-04-15T14:31:00.001-04:00

DAPI’s first class is off to a great start. We have 10 brave soles in the class and everything is going great. Everyone seems like they are enjoying themselves and hopefully learning something. When we asked the class why they took the course the answers ranged from interest to having experiences of their own.

We had one student who has had 2 personal experiences the night of the investigation. In first incidence she was engulfed in a cold spot. In the second incidence she was standing next to a partition wall in the upstairs girls room bathroom (which always seems to have something paranormal going on) and the wall pushed in toward her. There was no one else in the room with her at the time.

This has also been a great experience for DAPI as well. We’ve met a great group of people who share the driving interest of DAPI, and that is to discover and document paranormal activity.

DAPI was formed out of a like class a few years ago. Hopefully if they have the desire,this class could start it’s own ghost hunting group.

We’ll probably be doing similar classes in the near future so keep checking our web site for information. www.downingtownparanormal.com

You can also sent us an email requesting that we add your email to our mailing list and when we have future events in place we’ll send you an email letting you know that an event or class is being offered. info@downingtownparanormal.com

D.A.P.I. is holding Class.

2011-03-04T21:48:00.003-05:00

D.A.P.I.is proud to announce; The Ghost Hunting Experience with Downingtown Area Paranormal Investigators. This class is available through DARC Downingtown Area Recreational Consortium. http://www.darcinfo.com/

The class runs for 4 weeks on Sundays, April 3, 10, 17, and May 1 from 7Pm to 9 PM at the Alert 1 Fire house. As you may or may not know the Alert 1 Fire house was a featured stop on the Downingtown Ghost Walk the last two years and is considered to be one of the more haunted locations in the town. This is good news for the class participants because you stand a good chance of capturing evidence of the several sprits know to inhabit the station.

Please visit http://www.darcinfo.com/ for more information and Registration.

DAPI is linking Evidence

2011-01-20T23:14:00.002-05:00

DAPI is linking evidence with the investigations on the Investigation page. New evidence is being added everyday so please check us out at http://www.downingtownparanormal.com/investigations.html

One of the things you’ll see is a piece of video footage that is the best evidence that we’ve captured to date. You can check it out here. http://www.downingtownparanormal.com/Basement%20Miner.html

We have a lot of exciting events coming up in the next few months. Keep checking the web site for updates.

Ghost Walk Pictures posted

2010-11-02T12:16:00.004-04:00

Hi all,
we just posted photographs from the 2010 Downingtown Ghost Walk on our site. www.downingtownparanormal.com We will be posting more photos as we get them.

Thanks again for coming out to the walk. It was awesome meeting so many people who are interested in this field of Investigation, or just hearing scary voices.

Also coming soon we will be posting evidence from our public investigation at the Springton Manor Farm. This was a great investigation that we did with about 65 people split into 3 groups. Almost everyone had an experience.

Downingtown Ghost Walk 2010 a bid success.

2010-10-27T20:14:00.010-04:00

The 2010 Downingtown Ghost Walk 2010 was a big success this year. We had over 750 people for the two nights. Everybody enjoyed themselves and had a great time.

Here is what one brave sole had to say about the walk - Karen; " I did the walk last year and was fascinated with the information and evidence DAPI presented. So this year I recommended it t o a friend who I know loves this kind of stuff, and this is the email I received today, the day after.... I have been on ghost walks in Cape May NJ, Salem Mass. Ocean City NJ, Gettysburg (a few times) and now Downingtown. Downingtown was the best!!! They did a great job".

What makes our Ghost Walk different or should i say the best is that we investigate the stops on the walk. We then in most cases will invite you into the location during the walk where we will present our findings to you.

People had a lot of questions for us this year. Unfortunately there wasn't enough time to answer all question. But we may have come up with a way to answer all questions for future walks and we'll talk about it more later in the year.

I would like to ask all Downingtown residents and everyone in the Tri-state area to tell us your Ghost story. We would love to hear it and if you want us to we will come and investigate your house and see if we can find out who is hanging around.

Keep checking the our web site http://www.downingtownparanormal.com/ for pictures and other ghostly happenings that was the 2010 Ghost Walk.

Thanks to everyone who came out for the Walk and we look forward to seeing you next year.

A Breakdown Of Our Investigation Process

2010-07-28T20:03:00.003-04:00

The first thing we do when at a place of interest is to get a tour of the area by the client. This is when we see the areas that have the most activity as well as listen to the personal experiences that people may have had at any particular time.
After the initial tour we would then discuss where the perfect spots for our IR(infrared) cameras would be and set-up.
We then break up into groups of 3 or 4, depending on the size of the building or grounds. Each group then goes to a designated area, such as a particular floor in a house, to collect evidence. Typically we have 30 minutes to an hour at each designated area in which we do a rotation. A usual investigation last between 2 to 3 hours.
Upon collecting possible evidence, we then gather and pack up all the equipment that we had set up at the beginning of the investigation. This then concludes the physical investigation.
We then individually review any digital voice recordings, digital photography, and video that we had captured throughout the physical investigation. At this time we extract anything of interest, a possible EVP(electronic voice phenomenon), a unique photo, or even a personal experience to share with the rest of the group.
Upon our personal review, we then hold an evidence review where we share our findings with one another. This is when we as a group, consider whether a recording is an actual EVP. We also examine photos that we feel could be something paranormal. The evidence then gets gathered together to form our reveal.
Two to three weeks after our physical investigation we meet back with the client and reveal any evidence that was captured.

Ghost Tour a big success

2009-11-14T11:16:00.003-05:00

The 1st anual Downintown Ghost Tour was a big success. On Saturday night with all the rain that we had, 168 people came out and braved the weather and the haunts to take the tour. On Sunday night we had 310 brave soles who took the tour. DAPI hopes that everyone had a good time. Plans are already in the works for next October with new investigations and evidence from Haunted Downingtown. We would like you to tell us what you thought of the Downingtown Ghost Tour. Good or bad, it will make for a better tour for next year and into the future.
DAPI would also like to thank the Great folks from Parks and Historical Soceity of Downingtown. Without their help the tour would have never left paper. Also a big thanks to the Downintown Fire Departments Minquas and Alert and the Downingtown police for all their help and support.
See you all next year.

Time and tickets are running out.

2009-10-13T08:07:00.001-04:00

Hi all, just a quick reminder, October 24th and 25th are fast approaching, there is still time to get tickets for the 1st annual Downingtown Ghost Walk. Tickets cost a mere $3.00 and can be purchased at two Downingtown area business’s.

Downingtown Country Gifts
147 E. Lancaster Ave.
610-518-1550
(across the street from Minquas Fire Hall,
just down from Georgio's Restaurant)

Bud N Bloom Boutique
52 E. Pennsylvania Ave.
610-269-3077
(right next to Roberts Chevrolet)

If your live outside the Downingtown area but would still like to buy tickets, I have a limited number of tickets. Please email me @ cmccall45@verizon.net I work in the West Chester area and could arrange meet you. .

This is the Area’s best Ghost Tour without a doubt. If you have ever been on other Ghost Tours then you know how it works. A person will walk you from place to place telling you about the ghostly happenings inside. Out tour is different. DAPI will show you real evidence captured inside each stop on the tour. And in some cases you will even be inside the actual building. So don’t miss it. You will have a hair raising good time.

DOWNINGTOWN GHOST WALK UPDATE

2009-10-04T09:42:00.010-04:00

http://www.downingtownparanormal.com/walkinfo.html

Good news to all who are interested in attending the first annual Downingtown Ghost Walk taking place on October 24th and 25.

Tickets are available now at;

Downingtown Country Gifts, 147 East Lancaster Ave. Downingtown

They are open today Sunday at noon 10/04/2009. Other ticket locations will be announced later in the week. There is only 250 tickets available for each night so don't wait too long. We expect an early sell out.

Downingtown Ghost Walk

2009-08-19T20:37:00.005-04:00

DAPI along with Downingtown Historical & Parks Comission are sponsering a Ghost Walk in October. The dates are the 24th & 25th. The walk will feature investigations done in Downingtown. There will be photographic evidence, and Electronic Voice evidence. There will be true stories of actual hauntings in Downingtown. You will also interact with the tools used by DAPI to conduct an investigation. Please check out our Ghost Walk blog for update and new information.
http://downingtownghoststories.blogspot.com/

West Chester PA House Investigation

2009-02-25T10:33:00.070-05:00

DAPI was contacted to investigate a house in West Chester PA. The house is over 100 years old and at least one of the previous owners died in the house. The claims of activity were the owners would hear their toddler son talking to some one, when asked who he was talking to the toddler replied “The Man”. He has been heard on several occasions talking to “The Man”. Other reports of activity is the bathroom exhaust fan would turn off and on by itself. The attic door would open by itself. We arrived at the home Friday night the 13th. Because the house was small and we are a large group we decided to do the investigation in shifts. This would help keep the sounds from other investigators to a minimum and makes it less likely to end up with tainted EVP evidence. The house was empty so this made set up a snap. We went through the house getting base EMF (Electro Magnetic Field) readings. All rooms were between .1 and .3, nothing really high. After all readings we recorded we set up the IR (Infrared) camera in one of the bedrooms that the toddler held most of his discussions with “The Man”. We then began conducting EVP (Electronic Voice Phenomena) sessions. We got several good EVP’s. EVP1 , EVP2, EVP3, EVP4, EVP5 .

We also got lots of Orb pictures. Too many to post all of them. Here is a sampling. Orb1, Orb2

We also cought an orb on video. Notice the tail that trails off from the back of the orb. Video

Our Ghost hunting equipment.

2009-01-26T20:48:00.003-05:00

We thought that it would be a good idea to post a blog showing the equipment that we use. There are many different tools available to help investigators determine if there is paranormal activity. One of the most used tools is the camera. It can be digital or film. We use digital cameras. The one’s pictured are a Nikon CoolPix S210 (1st picture) and Nikon D80 Digital SLR (2nd picture ). They both have a large view screen to study the photo immediately after taking it. With a 2 GB SD card your camera can hold over 2000 pictures. All pictures can be transferred to your computer for analysis. Staying in the camera family, we also use a Sony Hi8 video recorder (2nd picture) with night shot. Night shot gives the camera infrared capabilities meaning that you can record footage in almost total darkness. If you add an external infrared light (2nd picture center top) you will be able to add considerable distance to your night photography.We haven’t captured a full body apparition yet but we have captured orbs moving about. We also use a Infrared CCTV camera as a stationary camera set where there is reports of high activity. When using this type of camera you will need a computer with a capture card installed or a DVR (Digital Video Recorder)

Next we come to another heavily used tool which is the Digital Voice Recorder right side center. The digital voice recorder is invaluable for recording EVP. (Electronic Voice Phenomena). As with the digital camera, you can transfer your recording to you computer for analysis. When used in conjunction with a sound editing program like Audacity, a free for download cross platform sound editing software makes a very powerful tool.

EMF meters: there several different kinds to choose from. Some of the more commonly used are the KII meter top left. the one in the picture is modified with an on/off switch. The KII without the on/off switch has a pressure switch that has to be held down while using it. The KII uses a light indicator as its meter instead of a needle indicator. Much easier to see in the dark. The second EMF meter on the left in the picture is produced by Cell Sensor. This EMF detector has a needle that indicates the strength EMF fields. This model is also equipped with an external probe. The 3rd EMF detector on the left in the picture is a Lutron EMF – 822A. This is a digital meter, is very sensitive and reads in increments down to 0.0

In the center of the picture is a Laser thermometer which is use to take temperature reading any where from a few inches to over 200 feet.

Top right corner of the picture is the most indispensable tool in the whole arsenal. The flash light. Don’t leave home without it.

Make sure you get a sturdy case to carry all your equipment in. It’s a big investment and you’ll want to protect it.

This is just a sampling of the equipment we use for paranormal investigation.

Slow blogging.

2009-01-21T15:32:00.003-05:00

I know we have been a little slow posting new blogs. But now the holidays are over and everything is starting to settle down.We have some exciting investigations coming up in the next couple of months and we will be posting the findings as soon as they are available. We are working on an equipment blog featuring the equipment we use. That should be up in a couple of days. We are also going to be introducing the members of DAPI in future blogs. So please check back regularly and please comment on what you read here. We like getting feedback.

2008-12-27T09:44:00.043-05:00

A LESSON LEARNED FOR GHOST INVESTIGATORS.
DAPI was contacted to perform an investigation on an area business. The employee’s were experiencing touching, shadows and unusual noises
We were informed earlier in the week that there would be 2 extra guests connected to the business coming to the investigation. When we arrived we found that the word had spread about the investigation and the 2 guest grew to 13 people. That made a total of 21 people. It was very confusing but we managed to get somewhat organized and preformed the investigation. It was a great learning experience for us. It’s always a good thing to remember to limit the amount of people there are on an investigation. When too many inexperienced people get involved it gets noisy. And that could cause problems such as tainted EVP Even people 2 floors away could ruin a night’s EVP work. You have loud talking, laughing, squealing, floor board creaks, and bumps. All kinds of noises that could cast doubt on what the sound is.
One of the things that helps make an investigation successful is the frame of mind of an investigator. You need to be in a positive mood with a clear head. If you have someone at the investigation that has a negative attitude, thinks it’s a joke or just looking to get scared could affect the outcome of the investigation.
Another consideration you have to be aware of is a sprit attaching itself to someone and following them home. It’s always a good practice to say a protection prayer prior to and at the end of an investigation. We as investigators could handle something like that happening but the average person probably could not.
You also have the problem of some of the guest not respecting the client’s property. This will usually come from the same person that thinks the investigation is a joke.
Just remember, keep the number of people to a bare minimum. If you have a lot of people that are interested, invite them to the reveal. It’s much more interesting for them and lets you do your investigation with out distraction.

House Investigation 10.18.2008

2008-11-04T13:33:00.056-05:00

House Investigation 10.13.2008
On October 28th the members of DAPI performed an investigation in which a person had died. One of the reports we received from the owners is of someone walking in the upstairs hallway. We set up a Sony Hi8 video camcorder that has infrared lighting capabilities that enable us to film with little or no light. When we reviewed the video we found that we caught an orb that comes out of the stair way. It moves down, and as it reaches the bottom front of the dresser that is sitting on the left side of the hall, it turns to the right heading away from the camera and goes up about a foot. It then picks up speed as it enters the bedroom on the left. You can view the video from that night Here
Watch closely. Best to watch in full screen mode.

Church Investigation 8.2.08

2008-11-03T19:14:00.009-05:00

On 8.2.08 DAPI investigated a church that has been the site of all types of paranormal activity, including full body apparations, cold spots, shadow figures, and disembodied voices. Our team broke into 3 investigation groups, and we broke the facility into four areas. This report includes some of the highlights of the investigation.

For the EVPs, you should have external speakers on your PC. Some have a combination of an investigator speaking, followed by an EVP. For these, you will need to turn down a bit for the live talking, and then turn it up for the actual EVP.

In the upstairs social hall, one of the investigators encountered a cold spot. In that area, he also got an EVP of a woman saying "Hello." This sound has also been heard live.

Click here for the EVP.

We got the same EVP on a video camera running in the room. Click here. When it runs, it will take a while to download. When it's done, hit play again, and it will run at full speed.

More EVPs and pictures to follow. We're still building our blog site. Stay tuned!