Posted on 10/25/2009 7:40:30 AM PDT by CurlyBill
Neither the hot film Paranormal Activity nor TV's popular Ghost Hunters can compete with Miami-Dade's historic Deering Estate at Cutler.
Ghost trackers investigating paranormal activity on the site say they recently found more than 60 disembodied voices coming from the county-owned estate -- once the home of wealthy industrialist Charles Deering, of International Harvester fame.
One voice captured on a digital recorder seems to say, ``We're trapped here.''
Don't believe it? The Deering Estate is opening its doors to the public Thursday evening for its first-ever Ghost Story Tour. And two days before Halloween, the Palmetto Bay site will allow ghost hunters to bring in their own equipment -- aura cameras, pendulums, EVP recorders -- to snoop around.
Investigators say they found two ``full-body apparitions'' on the grounds of the estate at 16701 SW 72nd Ave., in Palmetto Bay.
The images were of translucent human forms, a male and female, by the boat basin on Biscayne Bay -- with photographic evidence for naysayers to ponder.
``This is what we consider the holy grail in paranormal investigation -- a full-body apparition is not a common finding at all,'' said Colleen Kelley, from the Coconut Grove-based League of Paranormal Investigators (LPI), which spent two days on the estate in August.
Even seasoned ghost tracker Atena Komar pronounced it ``severely haunted.''
Deering scored a 58 on LPI's point scale, which assigns a value to digital recordings, photographs and eyewitness accounts in determining whether a space has spirits. Any figure 30 and above suggests haunted. LPI had never recorded higher than a 29.
``Any ghost hunting group may have one in all of their collection in all of their years of doing it,'' said Kelley, artist by day, ghost hunter by night.
``We had two.''
The 444-acre Deering Estate once was the domain of Paleo-Indians, North America's earliest human inhabitants, who lived more than 12,000 years ago.
Charles Deering built the two main houses -- the 1896 Richmond Cottage, the last surviving structure of the town of Cutler, and the 1922 Stone House -- as his retreat. He died there in 1927.
His heirs owned the home until 1985, when Miami-Dade and the state of Florida jointly purchased it and turned it into a historic site.
Over the years, staffers spoke of hearing noises and witnessing odd occurrences, such as elevators moving on their own.
In August, estate administrators commissioned an investigation.
Jennifer Tisthammer, the estate's deputy director, says there are places on the grounds where she'd have a sense of foreboding, and other places where she'd feel happy.
``I've been on this estate for three years,'' she said. LPI's paranormal search validated her own feelings, she said.
Psychics picked up on the presence of a young woman wandering about the boat basin. They felt she was frantically searching for someone to save from drowning.
The Miami Herald reported in a November 1916 article that an explosion on the estate killed five Bahamian workers dredging the channel.
A photo of what LPI says could be an apparition reveals a female figure, headless, and clad in white Victorian-era dress. She's hovering above the water, with arms crossed. The shot was taken with a camera pointed at the basin, with its shutter wide open.
``If someone walked through that shot, you'd see a blur of someone moving, not someone standing there,'' Kelley said.
``We couldn't debunk it,'' Kelley said. ``We tried several times.''
Komar and partner Ed de Jong formed the nonprofit LPI out of their Coconut Grove home in February 2008.
In its first year, the firm handled about 20 cases. Business grew -- from homeowners seeking guidance to nonprofits asking for spirit assistance. In the first six months of this year, LPI already has fielded more than 20 cases, from Miami to Lake Worth.
Fueling the interest are popular television programs like A&E's Paranormal State, ScyFy's Ghost Hunters and the Blair Witch Project-like Paranormal Activity movie.
But not everyone's a fan. Skeptics abound, like James Randi, who founded his nonprofit James Randi Educational Foundation 13 years ago in Fort Lauderdale to promote critical thinking on the supernatural.
He calls such talk ``a farce, with no evidence.''
His foundation is offering a $1 million prize to anyone who can provide solid, irrefutable evidence of a paranormal event.
Just because someone doesn't take the prize doesn't mean they don't have proof, Randi said. ``But until they do, and offer evidence, there's no proof either way.''
To a degree, Kelley concurs.
``We don't conclude,'' she said. ``It's always a maybe. Without a doubt, [Deering] is haunted. We can say that for sure. But by whom, we can't say for sure.''
Ghost Ping!
Ghost Ping!
Ghostly bump!
Let’s see....it’s county-owned...it’s beginning tours for the public...there’s no such thing as ghosts...hmmm, does anybody smell a rat? hello? fraud!
ACORN is probably down there registering the spirits votes.
request to be added to “ghost ping” list? thanks
The Deering Estate has been open to the public for years. I used to go to the Cutler Deering estate all the time when I lived down there, and my wedding reception was at the Deering estate in Coconut Grove (aso open to the public for decades). I never saw any ghosts, though.
I’m from South FLA - toured the Deering estate, AKA “Vizcaya” many, many times. A aerial shot of the estate was featured in the movie “Airport ‘77”.
Maybe someone could help me understand this.
They talked about seeing an Inca dressed man in one sighting and someone pushing a person in a wheel chair in another sighting.
I can wrap my head around seeing dead people floating around. But where do they get historic clothes, why aren’t they naked and where do they get a ghost wheel chair from?
Cool!
I believe the Deering Estate and Vizcaya are two separate entities. Vizcaya the home of James Deering, and the Deering Estate the home of Charles Deering. Vizcaya is where Reagan met with Pope John Paul II.
Man at Elevator: What are you supposed to be, some kind of a cosmonaut?
Dr. Peter Venkman: No, we're exterminators. Someone saw a cockroach up on twelve.
Man at Elevator: That's gotta be some cockroach.
Dr. Peter Venkman: Bite your head off, man.
Dr Ray Stantz: [Entering elevator] Going up?
Man at Elevator: I'll take the next one.
If you don't believe that is alright, one day you might get to see a spirit..or smell them or hear them..
When we first moved into our house (it was our weekend lake house) my wife was on the 3rd floor ironing. Our poodle woke up, perked up her ears, and barked at the bathroom. The light in the bathroom clicked on. It was one of the old switches that makes a loud click. We couldn’t get it to stay in a “neutral” position, no matter how hard we tried. We frequently had doors open and close by themselves. The guy who owned the place committed suicide (not in the house) when his business went south. It has been a long time since anything strange happened, and we never felt threatened. Could be shifting foundation or some such.
“I believe in Spirits that never move on..”
That’s why they are referred to as “familiar spirits”.
http://www.gotquestions.org/familiar-spirits.html
Please add me to your ghost ping list. thanks!
I already have too much trouble navigating the droppings so popular with the insane American viewing public.
Why encourage them?
Nutjobs have always been part of the American scene. Now I feel like the kid in Sixth Sense. I see insane people. They're everywhere.
I do know that it says that in the bible,but for some reason ever since I was a child I knew when there was something around..I knew I should not do something that other kids did that was not right to do..I do not and have never looked for any kind of spirit..
My house was new when we moved in we built in the country and have a few acres but as far as I know there was no houses here or graves it was a cotten field, besides this has happend almost every place I have lived and that is a lot of places until we retired from the military..This has been around me for as long as I can remember..I don’t want to be bothered so I just say go away..
One voice captured on a digital recorder seems to say, ``We’re trapped here.’’
—”And we’re forced to vote Democrat!”
Though not as frequent as you (PLD), I’ve had a few unmistakable events. (visits) When it happens, there’s a *knowing* involved. There’s no doubt about it. ... yet, like you suggested, there’s really no explaining or convincing those who don’t want to believe it.
Ft.Leavenworth is also very haunted. It was interesting to hear of the many MANY events when my cousin lived on the military base there. Everyone there knows about it but you don’t hear much about it in media/books/stories.
She is now a full professor of Geology at UT...the one with Town Lake
But the rest of much of this seems like poppycock
I played and fished there 47-55. Worked on property 53-58, there are no frigging Ghosts but lots of BS stories.
ping
I’ve never seen or smelled one but have felt one. Years ago friends of ours who had grown up in the north part of our county took us to an old adandoned house which is now being restored. This was years before they started that. Here is it’s site now:
http://www.forgottenoh.com/Trinway/trinway.html We were told that things might happen but hubby and I weren’t big believes back then. On the 3rd floor in the dark we heard a woosh which was really strange almost like hearing fabric rustle. Then something chilled us to the bone as it passed through us. Mind you this was a hot and humid August day when the temps were hovering near 100 with humidy in the 90% range so getting goose bumps and trembling from the cold should not have happened. We just all 4 sort of stood there asking if anyone else had felt that. It was the srangest thing I’ve ever felt in my life!
Welcome to the home by the sea.
Amen.
That house is beautiful, ..if people do not want these places they should let the state have them and refurbish ..I won’t go looking for spirits I do not have to they find me..
My 13 acre estate was once roamed by MIAMI indians, who moved into the area around 1700.
The first people to live in what is now Indiana were the Paleo-Indians, arriving about 8,000-10,000 years ago, after the melting of the glaciers at the end of the last Ice Age.
These people came to North America by crossing the land bridge with Asia.
They hunted large game, including mastodons, and when the large mammals became extinct, they began hunting smaller game, such as bison and deer.
But you DID see a female figger - dressed all in WHITE; didn't you?
Oh?
Where?
I want to know it too.
Dang!
What did that newlywed DO to you?
That has tagline potential.
The ghost, their clothes, and appurtanances like a wheel chair are not physical things but projections from the spirit beased on their self image. I know truthful people who have seen such things and I believe them.
My sister saw the spirit of my dad after he escaped his damaged body. She was praying in the hope he was with Jesus and he appeared in room and assured her he was with Jesus. He looked great and happy.
I love that song (and Genesis)
beleive it or not, I was told by a very famous paranormal investigator that menstral cycles on women tended to bring out paranormal activity. Especially poltergeist activity.
In addition, there are often cases of strange noises and items moving on their own where there are women and girls in the home having emotional crises’
My grandmothers house has such problems. My parents live there with her, because she has mid-stage dementia. Lights go off for no reason and we’ve all heard sounds of people speaking in rooms where no one was present and no tv or radio was playing.
About 5 months ago I was in the house working on my mother’s computer and heard a female voice say “come in here a minute honey” and it took me a minute for it to register that there was nobody home but me.
We couldn’t get it to stay in a “neutral” position, no matter how hard we tried.
I've had this happen twice in my life at two different residences.....
.....but the lights in the room I was in didn't come on, they shut off.
Thinking the power or a circuit breaker tripped the lights as I went to the switch, I was amazed when the switch turned the lights back ON!
One of these switches were the old heavy click type you had. I'm not a believer in ghosts, but to this day I cannot explain the incidents.
...Paranormal Activity nor TV’s popular Ghost Hunters can compete with.... Ping
Thanks for the explanation.
LOL!
Have you ever run into an evil spirit?
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