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THE OFFUTT HOUSE - STRANGE EVENTS |
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| This section of our investigation report deals with the many interesting events that we encountered during our investigation of the Offutt House in Platte City, Missouri. We were constantly searching for natural explanations for these events, for every natural explanation must be examined and excluded before you begin to consider something as possibly paranormal. That being said...even the events with natural explanations can have a psychological impact on you. Here are the strange events and our analysis of each of them.... | |||
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| CRACKING SOUND FROM AREA OF TELEVISION - EXPLAINED Stef reported to us that she will frequently hear a cracking or popping noise from the area of her television set, which is perched high above her bedroom on top of a tall armoire. She stated that the cracking sounds will occur even when the television has not been turned on for sometime. The sounds gave Stef the impression that someone or something was touching the television or moving it slightly. |
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| A television is a combination of metal, glass, and plastic parts. For the most part,
the entire casing of a television set is made of plastic. Our theory at the time was that the expansion or contraction
of the large glass picture tube and the plastic casing would occur at different rates and different temperatures.
Even if the television set were turned off for days, the heating and cooling of the room by central air would cause
the temperature of the air around the television to vary anywhere from 3 to 6 degrees depending on the draftiness
of the older house and the location of the thermostat and heat vents. When the glass picture tube expands and contracts, this would put a strain on the plastic casing and cause cracking or "popping" sounds as the plastic moves or adjusts to the changing size of the picture tube. This would probably occur even more often when the television was in use and warming up, or had just been turned off and was cooling down. Though the relative silence of the cooling down period (since the television is no longer generating sound through its speakers) would make the cracking noises more obvious than during the warming up period. Since the investigation, we have found confirmation of our theory on the internet. Customer Service sites for television manufacturers and retailers, as well as consumer message boards regarding televisions all refer to the cracking sounds that can sometimes be generated by televisions. It seems the larger the television, the more likely that temperature changes will cause cracking noises from the plastic. Some brands of plasma television sets are particularly plagued by this problem, and make very loud cracking noises within their plastic casings while they are warming up. |
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| SHADOWS MOVING IN 12-YEAR-OLDS ROOM - EXPLAINED During the all-male vigil team's vigil in the 12-year-old daughter's room on the 2nd floor, both Mark and Stef observed shadows moving on the west wall of the room near the door. The other participants in the vigil did not observe the moving shadows, and no one was moving in the room at the time the shadows were observed to be moving. |
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| Finally we moved to the south window of the room, and discovered that the curtains on this window were long enough, that they were being moved very slightly be naturally occurring air currents in the room (older houses have drafts). This long curtain was observed to be moving very slightly with the drafts in the room, and it slight movement was changing the light coming in the south window just enough to cause the appearance of moving shadows on the west wall. | |||
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| PHOTOGRAPHIC "ORB" IN 12-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER'S BEDROOM -
EXPLAINED At the time we saw the moving shadows on the west wall, Mark took this photograph. As you can see on the photograph below, a photo-anomaly commonly called an "orb" appears. Click the photo for a larger version of it. |
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| Truly paranormal orbs give off their own light, and do not simply reflect the light
of the camera's flash. The light they are giving off will often be evident on surround objects or surfaces. Truly
paranormal orbs are usually in motion, and will appear as a streak of light in the photograph. Truly paranormal
orbs will usually move several feet or more within the fraction of a second that the shutter is open. We believe that photographs of truly paranormal orbs have been taken. But 99.9% of the "orb" photos that are presented on the internet as paranormal...are simply NOT paranormal. They are either dust, moisture, or particles in the air. |
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| We look forward to a time when the paranormal community turns its attention away from these dust "orbs" and begins to focus on more productive efforts. | |||
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| MESSAGES RECEIVED - ANECDOTAL During the Investigation, Mary...a sensitive that consults with us on investigations...spent time with the 12-year-old daughter on a couple of vigils. During these vigils Mary reported receiving information from spirits in the home. |
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| While the messages received were dramatic and emotional, it is impossible to classify this as more than an anecdotal experience. | |||
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| "TUG" ON THE HAND - ANECDOTAL During the all-female vigil team's first vigil, in the 12-year-old daughter's bedroom on the 2nd floor...one of our investigators reported feeling a "tug" on her left hand. Here's Jen's account of the experience... |
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| TEMPERATURE VARIATIONS - POSSIBLY EXPLAINED While temperatures variations were reported in the house throughout the night, it was impossible to rule out the natural thermodynamics (lack of insulation, poorly run air-conduit, drafty windows) that tends to occur in a house of this age. At no time did we measure an isolated or dramatic temperature change that could not be attributed to natural causes. |
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| LOUD SOUNDS FROM UPSTAIRS - POSSIBLY EXPLAINED During the first vigil of the night, Ghost Vigil investigators in the Master Bedroom of the home heard a loud noise on the 2nd floor of the home...directly above them. They reported it sounded like a wooden chest being moved across the floor, or a similar scraping sound. Later, it was discovered that a dog was running around upstairs at the time of this sound, and it is possible that the scraping sound was the dog running and sliding with its claws across the wooden floor above the investigators who head the noise. |
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| CAT STARING AT SOMETHING IN STAIRWELL - POSSIBLY EXPLAINED The cat has been reported to stare as "unseen" things on the stairwell of the home, and during the investigation the cat was observed staring at "nothing" on the stairwell. While pets staring at "nothing" tends to creep pet-owners out when they witness it going on, there is almost always a natural explanation for the animal's attention to "something that is not there." Both cats and dogs have much better hearing that humans, and tend to pay more attention to their auditory senses. The smallest wood creak or groan, a squirrel scrambling across the roof, a bird building a nest in the eves of the house, a mouse chewing a hole, or a sound originating from outside the home can all get a pet's attention, without the pet's owner hearing a thing. The pet's reaction is to stare...or cock its head in order to figure out where the sound is coming from. This is easily misinterpreted as the pet "staring at something that is not there." |
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| CONCLUSIVE EVIDENCE? NO.
Having completed an analysis of the unusual events we encountered at the Offutt House, we can now say that none of these experiences provide conclusive evidence of paranormal activity during our investigation. While several of our experiences were interesting, and some remain unexplained... they do not constitute conclusive evidence. -Mark Stinson |
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