Private Business - Talladega

On June 27, 2008 the OPS Team conducted an overnight investigation of a private business in Talladega, Alabama. Numerous reports of unexplained phenomena have been reported to have occured within the building. Among the claims are sightings of two different apparitions - one being an elderly lady and the other a man. The man was seen by a boy who was using the restroom. The boy claims that the man kept playing with the restroom door while the boy was in there. The lady was seen on a monitor of a survelance camera that keeps an eye on one of the back rooms. However, that camera does not record, so it was not captured on film. Also, unexplained voices and strange occurences with electronic devices have been reported.         We arrived at the location at 7:30pm and did a walk-through of the building with the owner to discuss areas of interest. We set up cameras and audio recorders throughout the building. One camera was placed in the first room where our monitoring station was located, one was placed in the room where the apparition of the elderly lady was seen, one was positioned to face the restroom where the boy encountered the male apparition, one was placed in a back room where some electronic devices have been known to act strange, and one was stationed in the basement where many people have gotten strange feelings over the years.         After setting everything up, the investigation began at around 9:00pm. Unfortunately, we were unable to capture anything substantial on either audio or video. However, there were a few personal experiences had by investigators and the owner.         At one point in the night, one OPS Team member accompanied the owner down into the basement for an "EVP session". We began asking a series of questions in hopes of getting a response on our audio recorders. No responses were recorded, but the owner soon began reporting a feeling of being touched by someone. At first the owner felt a touch on the hand a few times, then on the legs, and on the back. It seemed like the longer we stayed down there, the more the owner felt. At the owner's request we decided to end the session.         Later, the owner returned to the basement with two other investigators and again she felt numerous touches by something unseen. While down in the basement on this occassion, the OPS Team members at one point distinctly reported the smell of alcohol, as if it was right in their faces. The odor seemed to come out of nowhere, and hadn't been noticed all night up until that point.         Another team of investigators went down into the basement later, and they too noticed a strong smell of alcohol at one point. It only occured in the basement, and was never smelled over the first several hours of the investigation. It just seemed to been noticed about halfway through the night. Searching the basement, we could find no source for the odor.          During the night, two investigators noticed very high EMF (electro-magnetic field) readings in the very back room where the electronic equipment has been known to act strange. We are unsure at this point if that EMF field could have caused any malfunctions in the electronics, but it was worth noting. This field, however, could have definitely given people a strange feeling while in this room.         We wrapped up the investigation around 3:00am. We were disappointed to have no video or audio to help the owner back up their claim of a haunting. We did, however, have the strange experiences in the basement. Unfortunately, the gap between "evidence" and "personal experiences" is a huge one. Was it that we just weren't there on the right night? We may never know for sure. UPDATE: After the investigation, one of our investigators talked to a chemist about the strange smell of alcohol that came out of nowhere in the basement. The man noted that if there is a strong smell present in a room, it is normal human reaction to smell the odor when you first enter a room. Then, over time, the odor becomes less noticeable as you get accustomed to it. However, in the case of basement of this business, we were there for several hours before ever noticing the strong odor. So, this experience would not fit normal human behavior to a strong odor being present in a room.       The investigator and chemist have compiled a list of elements that could create a smell similar to alcohol. They are planning to attempt a return visit in order to locate anything in the besement that may have been the cause of this smell. As always, we want to try every way to rule out anything rational before looking at an experience as paranormal.

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Click on the image below to see a clip of the EMF field we found in the back room.  This reading could have easily been mistaken as something paranormal without paying close attention and completely investigating the cause.