Paranormal Investigations

A Typical Investigation from Ghost Finders Scotland

The evening began with a walkround of the Jail buildings with psychic medium, Scott. He managed to glean many interesting facts about the jail, some names and a lot of information. The walkround started in the courtroom. Scott picked up on a lot of people claiming that they had been innocent of the crimes of which they were accused. He also felt that there had been corruption within the court which eventually led to the prison’s closure. Scott was sure that this area was very active and that people would have experienced many unexplainable things here.

He also sensed a woman named Mary Leith. It seemed she had become pregnant while being held in the prison but the child had died. In the courtyard outside, Scott felt that there was a very thick atmosphere, and in one area by the cowshed, he felt that a couple of prisoners had used this area to hatch an escape plan.

In the old prison, Scott felt that the area was dominated by a negative soul by the name of John whose surname was unclear, possibly Carlson or Carlton. This spirit seemed to take great pleasure in trying to scare people. It seemed that this man dominated the prison while alive and even now, after his death. There was a mix of both men and women and a feeling that there were many people crammed into cells.

In the new prison, Scott felt a different atmosphere. It seemed that conditions were much better and that there was more lenience towards the prisoners. In one room, Scott felt the presence of a man who would oversee things happening in the prison including torture. This man did not carry out the torture directly, but was the one who gave the orders. In the new prison, it seemed that men and women were held separately, unlike the old prison. We moved upstairs and for the first time that evening, Scott felt the presence of children. He felt that there were babies born in the prison, but that many of them died very young. He also felt that there were older children kept in the prison, but they would not have been kept there for long, as if they were held for only a few weeks or months and then relocated. Scott felt that when people died (children or adults), there was no respect given to them, and no funerals were held. It was as if they were unimportant and bodies were just disposed of. In cell 8, the name of John Williams was picked up and a couple of our team members experienced a rush of cold air. In cell 6, Scott picked up on the fact that a person had died at the hands of another prisoner, possibly through a fight. He felt that this cell was very significant, as if the most notorious prisoners were held in this cell. He picked up on a man in the atmosphere. It seemed to be John, the man who was picked up earlier in the old prison. Scott was now able to clarify that this man was John Clark. On the upper floors of the new prison, the atmosphere seemed to change again. Scott sensed that the more dangerous criminals were held on the upper floors.

As well as filming using digital camcorders, we took temperature and EMF readings and still digital photographs in all areas of the jail. There were no unusual temperature or EMF readings throughout the walkround. One of our team members had a very strange experience in Cell 6 of the Old Jail. On entering the cell, he felt a sudden feeling of dizziness, nausea and breathlessness and had to leave the building for a short time. He felt the same feelings on another three occasions when entering cell 6 although each time the feelings seemed to be progressively less intense. We would like to stress that this team member had been feeling perfectly fine until he entered this cell and was feeling better a short time after leaving. He felt no similar feelings in any other cell during the investigation.

Courtroom

We began with the whole team taking part in a vigil in the courtroom. We set up several camcorders to record any activity in the area while the team spread out to cover the whole room. We managed to capture many orbs during the filming and there were temperature drops around some members of the team. We heard a loud noise as if one of the doors had been opened, but we knew that there were no other people in the building. A couple of our team members also heard noises that sounded like women talking or mumbling. In the corner where the door was situated, we also managed to capture orbs in some still digital photos that were taken. Our psychic medium sensed that the woman he had sensed earlier, Mary Leith, felt happy that we were here. He felt that she was finally being allowed to move on because of our investigation. Our wireless night vision camera also managed to pick up many light anomalies around this area.

Old Jail

We split into two teams to investigate the Old Jail. The first team took the ground floor and spent some time doing lone vigils in each of the cells. The second team took the upper floor. We set up a locked off camera in cell 6 while doing some communication using digital voice recorders. We captured some EVP in this area. Our psychic medium picked up on several different energies, the most notable being John Clark, the same man who had been sensed earlier. He seemed to be connected to the woman that had been picked up earlier in the courtroom. Scott felt that John had raped Mary while they were in prison and he had been the father of her child.

We managed apparent communication with John through our voice recorders and received answers to questions that we asked. In one of our files, you can hear the team member who had earlier felt unwell in this area asking if it was John who had made him feel this way. We also captured many light anomalies in this area.

New Jail

As there are four floors in the New Jail, we had many rooms to cover. We took one floor at a time and set up a wireless camera to cover the corridor while we did vigils in some of the cells. The wireless camera was set up so that we could record onto tape using a TV/video unit which was placed in one of the cells so that we could see any activity as it was happening. Several large orbs were recorded during this time. We had also set up trigger objects in some of the cells that were not being used for vigils. We had three coins set up on a piece of paper and at the end of the vigils, two of the three coins had moved. We managed to capture many voices using digital voice recorders. While using the voice recorders for communication, one of our team members felt he had been prodded in the back. Seconds later, a different team member felt extreme pressure on his chest and had some difficulty breathing. We then asked if there was someone responsible for making him feel this way and if so, could they please back off. The pressure immediately stopped and he was able to breathe normally. Our voice recorders managed to record many distorted voices during our time in the new jail building. One of the more notable voices was captured in the Warder’s Room (formerly the Medical Room) during a lock off experiment.

Staff Room (formerly kitchen area)

We decided to try using a communication board for the last part of the investigation. We did get some movement on the board. Although no words were spelled out, the planchette was moving quite quickly from one end of the board to the other, going back and forth. We did not capture any other unusual activity during filming of this final part of the investigation. However, we did manage to capture some voices on our digital recorders, one of which appears to say "I know you"

This is only a summary of our investigation. A full report and media files can be viewed at Ghost Finders Scotland Inveraray Jail webpage.