The Sallie House Haunting: A True Story

by Debra Pickman

  In typical TV fashion and if my memory is correct, when Peter says he found the grave he’s not actually at the grave, I’m not certain of this but it is possible. Visually, it wasn’t a good spot, so they may have faked it and moved him.

  This researcher also reported that the information found was given to those in charge of the story. I wonder why it wasn’t included in one of the show’s segments, but the editors often said they had had a difficult job editing our story because there was so much to work with and they hated to cut out any of it just to make it fit into the show.

  I regret that we were not with Peter and the crew at the time they were at the graveyard, because we have no way to confirm or further research this information.

  The Hall family mentioned in the obituary lived on Mound Street just around the corner from the Sallie house. We have speculated that perhaps this family had worked for the doctor’s family in various capacities. It was thought that the doctor and Mrs. Hall may have had an association beyond business. This was portrayed in the made-for-TV movie The Heartland Ghost, made by Paramount several years later.

  nineteen

  Sightings’ Fourth Visit

  Sightings’ fourth visit began much like the others. I was told that no story the show had done had generated more email and interest than ours and this time they wanted to bring in a ton of equipment to monitor the house and its activity for a twenty-four-hour period.

  This, of course, was a very hard sell for me to pitch to Tony and we passed the days arguing over our concerns, fears, and wishes. Tony wanted to be done with it all. He wanted to go back to some normalcy and not have family and friends question him because of what they saw on television. I simply wanted more answers—real answers. After days of heated discussions, fits of rage, and periods of not speaking, Tony agreed to let the crew come back.

  We were told that every available monitoring piece of electronic equipment used in paranormal investigating was going to be used. Our kitchen was turned into a virtual electronic studio able to monitor everything. There was a thermal camera to measure heat changes, an oscilloscope to monitor voltage signals, and closed circuit surveillance cameras to monitor all areas of the house. These cameras were placed strategically in areas where we and the crew had reported activity, namely the nursery, the top of the stairs, and the living/dining area.

  The team had counted on Tony and me going to bed at some point that night and for the sake of our privacy did not place cameras in our bedroom. However, there was a frequency counter placed at the top of the stairs to measure the number of cycles in an electric signal during a preset time interval. Multiple cameras from different vantage points were set up on tripods downstairs to gain the best overall view of an entire area. Mobile hand-held cameras were also ready to go.

  For this event,Tony wanted to be sure there was no reason for anyone to believe that he might be causing any of the physical injuries himself. He removed all jewelry and suggested that someone constantly be near him to monitor his actions and whereabouts. The crew agreed to this, and as it happened he spent most of his day in a chair in the living room.

  By his side for most of the investigation was world-renowned parapsychologist Kerry Gaynor. He arrived mid-afternoon, and right away seemed genuinely concerned for the safety of Tony and our family. For most of the night, he sat on the end of the couch right beside Tony.

  For his experience and professional understanding of paranormal situations, Kerry had been consulted for several months about this case and his interviews had been aired during segments of our story. He had already been shown the footage of the initial scratches that erupted on Tony’s stomach and mentioned that it was “exciting that the camera didn’t pull away for nine minutes.” At the end of his initial interview, he reported that he felt there was possibly more than one thing going on in the house. He felt that along with the playful activity that had been reported, there was some potentially more dangerous activity as well. Knowing that he had some knowledge of our experiences and of other malicious haunts, we welcomed his presence and input.

  Tony was asked often if he wanted something to eat or drink and someone would bring him what he wanted. If he went to the bathroom, he removed his shirt and the crew took notes on the marks already existing on his body. When he returned, they went through the same ritual to detect any additional marks. There were never any new or questionable marks reported during these inspections and new injuries didn’t show up for close to twenty or thirty minutes afterwards.

  When new marks were discovered, they were thoroughly inspected for authenticity and trickery. The scratches were all genuine and there was no magical powder hiding a scratch or waiting to be acted upon in order to bleed on demand, as was later suggested by a fanatical skeptic. I was actually very impressed by the diligence of the team members to ensure that there was no foul play. Although a bit uncomfortable at times, Tony and I welcomed these inspections so that rumors of trickery could be ruled out once and for all.

  While the team set up equipment and rearranged our home to suit their needs, Kerry worked with us to gain a more thorough understanding of our experiences and concerns. He had us each fill out a lengthy questionnaire while he talked to the other one. This questionnaire delved into our religious beliefs, our personal traumas, our family life, and our medical and mental status. It also asked about possible past paranormal events, our feelings and thoughts during the ongoing experiences, and specific paranormal events that had taken place to date.

  During Kerry’s stay, he witnessed eleven separate attacks on Tony while he sat in the chair next to him. Some of them were pretty brutal, and except for the cold air that seemed to signify something was near, Tony felt nothing. Each successive attack frustrated Kerry more than the last, because no matter how closely he observed Tony, he was unable to detect when they happened or a reason for them.

  After nightfall, Kerry requested that the investigation continue under low-level light. I’m not sure why, because we had reported that it didn’t have to be dark or night time for activity to occur. As we sat without any activity occurring, Kerry suggested that Tony make a verbal request to Sallie. I know this was difficult for him, especially on camera, but he did make an attempt. He asked Sallie if she was there and if so, would she please make her presence known. This she seemed to do, but not as everyone expected.

  It was not done via an attack on Tony’s person, and nothing moved or flew through the air. In fact, no one recognized it until the crew was back at the studio going over the raw footage. What was very apparent on the review was a low-pitched groaning sound. I can remember getting a call from them right after they discovered it in the edit room at the studio back in California. They were extremely excited to share with us that they had seemingly captured an anomalous sound. As we spoke, the audio in question was being sent to an expert to further analyze it. For almost a week we waited for results.

  Rick Wilson, president of Digisonics, was a forensic audio specialist who had worked with the CIA and FBI. He had also worked on black box recordings with the FAA. His findings ruled out any electronic, mechanical, or human sounds. The frequency of the sound was too low to have been produced by a human body. Rick ruled out any natural reason for the sound, but suggested it might be magnetic. He was unsure how this would have been introduced into the audio in question and because he was not experienced in the paranormal had no way to say for sure that it was a ghost.

  The sound file was then taken to Sarah Estep, who is often referred to as the mother of Electronic Voice Phenomena. At the time, she had taped and studied recordings from numerous haunted locations for over eighteen years. She reported that in all her years, she had never heard anything quite like the sound captured in our home. She referred to it as an “energy sound, perhaps put out by the other side.” She found it quite interesting that the sound came right after Tony asked the spirit to make its presence know
.

  We recorded the show when it aired, and watched that particular segment of the audio and video several times. One thing I noticed was something I had seen many times before. When Tony asked Sallie to do something for him, Taylor looked up at the ceiling and seemed to track something flying back and forth above his head in the darkened room. We had witnessed the baby doing this many times, and felt it was a sign that he could see what we could not.

  In reviewing the footage, it was determined that there may have been some sort of activity or reaction upon one of two oil lamps that were being used to illuminate the room. Any draft in the room should have had no effect on the short wick within the glass chimney of the lamp. However, there was a distinct flicker and movement of the flame within the one sitting between Tony and Kerry. Soon Tony felt the familiar cold presence in front of him and his midsection.

  Kerry bent down to look at Tony’s stomach, and as he stood up, said, “Yeah, we have a new scratch!” Viewing it with in better light, he went on, “Yeah, we have fresh blood. This wasn’t here two minutes ago!” This type of thing continued several more times through the night.

  I tried my best to make things as normal as possible for Taylor and took him upstairs to the nursery to play for a while. At the top of the stairs, the team had placed a frequency counter, and when I went past it, the digital readout jumped from 399 to 575 MHz. This happened several more times through the early morning hours of the all-night vigil.

  The closed-circuit camera recording the hallway and stairwell from the top of the stairs distinctly displayed interference and then returned to normal, all while no-one was in the vicinity. Likewise, several times throughout the night the camera in the nursery was overcome with a fuzzy sort of interference and drifted so badly at times that it would completely lose the signal before returning to normal. It was explained to us that being on a closed circuit, the cameras were unaffected by interference from nearby appliances or wiring.

  Although we had planned on going to bed that night as usual, it was a little nerve-racking to know that virtual strangers were monitoring our house from within. Tony, not being the night owl that I am, gave in and went to bed about 2:00 a.m. I, on the other hand, was incredibly interested in what the equipment might pick up and didn’t want to miss anything.

  I watched the monitors with the skeleton crew of television staff that remained through the night, and talked about the experiences in the house. We tried to come up with ways to get activity or gauge a reaction. One of our ideas was to leave a few shiny objects as gifts on the living room coffee table. We then sprinkled the table with baby powder, so that we could detect any movement of the items that might occur.

  Throughout the rest of the night, however, our attention was focused on the activity that took place with the oscilloscope and cameras at the top of the stairs. By morning, after the rest of the team had returned to the house, we had all but forgotten about checking the coffee table and the items we had left there. When we finally remembered to check the table, we noticed that one of the items had slid slightly in the powder. We were unable to confirm that this discovery was paranormal, though, because others had been in the house and may have moved it themselves.

  Morning had come with no more significant activity, and after the final interviews were done everyone went home. I remember Kerry’s interview; the things he said were a little startling. He claimed that in his twenty years of experience and the 850 cases he’d been involved in, he had never come across anything quite like the activity in our house. He spoke of the fourteen straight hours he had just spent in the house and that the some of the attacks on Tony were quite frightening. He referred to our case and the experience as “interesting, exciting, and potentially dangerous.”

  twenty

  The night after the television crew left, we were approached by an individual who felt she had some insight into our experiences and wanted to help us through a shaman-led cleansing. She explained that she had a shaman guide on the other side, one that she had worked with for years and that he had never led her astray. She was more or less a vehicle for him to work through.

  She seemed sincere in her desire to help us rid our house of the negativity that had become a part of our life. She had already gained input from this guide that told her there were things in the house that didn’t belong. Her offer to help seemed to come at an opportune time, since Tony looked like a scratching post after the previous nights. It seemed like each time the television crew, came the attacks were more frequent and more severe.

  We agreed to let her do the cleansing, and she announced that she would have to prepare. She would return to her hotel room for a few hours and come back after dinner. She alerted us to the fact that she would be dressed in traditional Native American garb.

  Although we talked with her for quite some time and she seemed very sincere, we really had very little idea what to expect. A few hours later, she returned, beautifully dressed from head to toe in a white leather dress adorned with beads, turquoise, silver, and feathers. I remember heading to the front door when the doorbell signaled her arrival. When I saw her, I turned to Tony, who was standing close by with an “Oh my God, what did we get ourselves into?” expression on his face.

  She looked absolutely out of place, and I wondered how many of the neighbors saw her and what they thought of her. She looked like she was dressed in an elaborate Halloween costume, exquisite as it was.

  Once in the house, she told us that she had made her own dress, as was traditional, and that everything that adorned it had significance. She went on to explain more details of what she was going to do. She mentioned that the house might become quite active as she was going to ask the spirit, or spirits, to move on. The house already felt very heavy and somewhat menacing, but I’m not too sure this wasn’t simply my mind playing tricks on me. I was getting rather apprehensive about what we were going to do.

  Since we had already put the baby down in the nursery for the night and didn’t want to wake or move him, we decided that we would stay in the upstairs hallway to be on the lookout for any activity that might be near him. This also seemed to be a good location because there had been a lot of activity in and around the area at the top of the stairs.

  We watched as she smudged the house, burning sage to balance the energy and soften the spirits. She did this from front to back and top to bottom. We then set up an analog recorder, lit a candle to set on the floor in the center of the hallway, turned out all the lights in the house, and took our places, sitting cross-legged around the candle. Our instructions were to join hands and not break the circle, no matter what. Our shaman-led medium said a few prayers and told us to follow her lead.

  For some of the time she meditated. At other times she enlisted our help by asking us to join her in saying the Lord’s Prayer. At one point, she was able to sense an older gentleman. He had apparently been in the house for quite some time, unbeknownst to us. She described him as a perfect gentleman. She also became aware of a woman hiding from us, and from her. She told us that these two needed to go, to cross over and into the light.

  Before long, she described a seemingly frightened young girl in a corner of the nursery. I knew this was Sallie, and felt bad that she was so scared. The medium asked if we wanted Sallie to go with the others.

  I was unsure how to answer this. On one hand, I felt that there was probably a better place waiting for Sallie on the other side. On the other hand, I didn’t want to make her leave, since she had seemed so needy and so comfortable with our family. I also felt obligated to her in some way. I had often wondered if Taylor had been prone to SIDS and if Sallie woke him in the middle of the night to remind him to breathe. If this was the case, I owed her Taylor’s life—how could I just throw her out of our house?

  When I voiced this dilemma, we were given the option to let her stay for now. If we ever wanted her to go, she could be removed another t
ime. Tony and I agreed to let her stay, and the medium and I invited her into our circle. Strangely enough, I soon felt the cool sense of her energy and presence in my lap.

  Then there were more prayers asking the gods for protection, light, and guidance. The medium asked us to help visualize each room filled with white light. She started in the kitchen, and as if she was talking to someone in a trance, she calmly and slowly guided us from room to room. Visualize a light in the center of the room: God’s light. Visualize the light getting bigger and brighter…visualize the warmth of the light…visualize the warm bright light filling the room from top to bottom…visualize the light going into the corners and out the windows and doors.

  We visualized this same light in the dining room, living room, and in the hallway coming up the stairs. The process took about six to eight minutes for each room. We filled the nursery, the bathroom, and then the utility room at the back of the house. Somewhere in between filling the rooms with light, the medium helped the man cross over. He didn’t understand why he had to go, but he went just the same. Filling the upstairs hall with light seemed to be more of a challenge. Even more of a challenge was the female figure; she was stubborn and refused to leave.

  We spent quite a while working on the hallway and trying to move the light into the master bedroom. All the while, the medium seemed to be having a turbulent time convincing and then demanding that this woman spirit leave the house. I can remember not being able to see very well at this point, because the candle had burned down close to the level of the wax and there was very little flame left. We could not break the circle to pour out any of the wax and make the flame burn brighter.

  While the medium worked through her shaman guide to cross the female over, Tony began making slight, painful sounds. I suddenly felt his hand grip mine tightly. It was very apparent that he was being attacked in some way. The medium confirmed this, and shared with us that the stubborn female was angry and taking it out on Tony. She told him to be strong. We again started to fill the room with light.