We (Jennifer Storey, Kirsten Thorne and Kimberly Demmary) have visited King Camp Gillette before, usually invited by our very generous and dear friend Rob Wlodarski. What I find interesting about this site is the element of the unexpected. Mr. Gillette’s main office is almost always active, setting off various devices and allowing us to collect some wonderful EVP; however, on this last visit, it was–pardon the pun–dead quiet. I’m pleased when this happens, because it means that our expectations and desires are not controlling or even influencing the outcome of the investigation. When what we want to happen is contradicted by what actually happens, it validates the notion that paranormal phenomena are independent of us, even if at times there is interaction.
Mr. Gillette’s bedroom is an unusual area with mixed feelings. Since he passed away there, one would expect lingering activity or impressions, and that is indeed what we sense–however, on this particular occasion, it appeared that we had picked up on family secrets, as suggested by various ‘ghost hunting’ applications that were all pointing in the same direction. I don’t take these applications terribly seriously unless they are consistent in their message or general theme; this time, they were indicating that dark events played themselves out in that room. I don’t wish to be more specific, since we did not receive any corroborating EVP or psychic impressions.
And then . . . there’s the basement. The basement contains strange rooms used for storage, heating and cooling equipment, rooms with cement floors and giant drains, and entrances/exits that seem to lead nowhere. The effect is disorienting and disquieting for me. The very long, very dark hallway intensifies the sensation that someone is following you or just ahead of you. This is usually the area where we collect the most data. We were hearing whispers, footsteps and odd noises which we assumed must be coming from other investigators. I searched the basement and the upstairs rooms, and nobody was above us. The other teams were outside when we captured the following audio:
In the above clip (Jennifer’s), ‘someone’ is joining our conversation. At four seconds and at fourteen seconds, a whispered voice is chiming in as we discuss our interest in another site. Notice that I pick up on this voice a few seconds after we capture it on audio.
Kimberly caught this audio. This is a male voice in an area where there were no men at all. Remember, I had already ‘cleared’ the area when Kimberly caught this. It’s difficult to make out what he is saying, and of course, why he is saying it.
Also during this time, we are hearing walking up and down the hallway. This was an active area, it appears, in the past; I don’t know who would have been using the area besides kitchen or cleaning staff. We are probably picking up on the typical sounds of a busy day back when the Ranch was home to many parties and events. In that case, we are most likely hearing a ‘stone tape’ replay of the past.
As always, these investigations into the life an old building remind me that everything we do, everything we think, everything we are, remains in the world we leave behind. It also makes me think that perhaps we never leave anything behind, we simply move to the dimension next door, where perhaps we have no idea why three women are asking probing questions in the dark with strange, little devices.
Thank you to Rob and Jerry for allowing such experiences to occur, and for supporting the PHW–and so many other teams–in our quest to unravel life’s biggest mysteries.
–Kirsten A. Thorne, PHW/PhD
Paranormal Housewives 