My fascination with the Paranormal starts all the way back to Kolchack the Night Stalker TV Show in 1974 I became interested in things the normal world does not understand or wants to acknowledge.
One of my first truly paranormal experiences happened in summer of 1977 at long closed BSA Camp Semiconon in Butler county which I have written several articles on and I now believe was possible Big foot incident.
Stan Gordon was even called into the area at the time by State Police due to high number of incidents that summer.
That being said in 1978 my true investigation of the strange and unusual began in 1978 while attending Connely Skill Center I started working as a Security Guard for Burns International Detective Agency.
My first assignment was the AM American Forge in the Mckeesrocks Industrial Park . unknown to me at the time this was once the Pressed Steel Car company where it was said a man a day died due to harsh working conditions and a massive strike which killed several workers nearby.
I worked a 12hr shift from 8 am to 8 PM being relived by a guard who did the over nite shift which I only did twice while there.
Now knowing the history of this site which I did not at the time know its full history and working in a huge industrial site all by myself except for a roving guard I saw every once in a while when checking outside of building. There was plenty of strange noises and bangs and booms and you name it to scare you.
However during this whole 6 months I worked there nothing ever happened I could call paranormal.
What I did discover is what was causing these noises and such going on. It was all naturally occurring due to expansion and contraction or rodents and animals. In fact whole time I worked as a guard for several company's who treated you like a number and walked around in deserted old office buildings ,Old Mills Like Hepenstall Steel walking alone thru 8 blocks of structures , Dravo Corp.Yards Etc. never once had a paranormal experience.
whole 6 years I did that type of work I was always able to figure out what was going on. What was making the noise.Plus what might be causing a shadow.. Plus now add 40+ years of working in the trades and learning all abut construction of buildings and what goes on in them and noises etc they make I can pretty much rule out paranormal activity in many cases .
So other than what happened to me at Semiconon it seemed 99% of the time I could always figure out it was Birds a squirrel or rats making noises or steel expanding and contracting , water soaking in and dripping down walls or in the case of strong radio stations nearby sending out radio waves causing issues. or strong magnetic fields being sent out from motors and generators. Even strong deposits of iron ore in the ground .
But then and again there was always that 1% you could not easily explain away thats when the real investigation begins when you have an anomaly you can not explain.
Like hearing doors open and close at Hill View yet nothing moved when you look yet sit by the door you do not hear the door making the noise. Same with the chairs shuffling noise in the lobby. while some noises there like down in the really old boiler room which is slowly deteriorating and it makes all kind of natural occurring noises , you can get spikes on EMI meters which as yet I can not explain. This is the spot where one of the residents froze to death after a nights drinking illegally.
There is also all the strange anomaly you see when reviewing Security Camera Footage especially at night . When there is a sudden flash of light for no reason or misty shadows.
One incident I checked out for customer had there guards all concerned because of misty shadows they would occasionally see in a large refrigerated dock area on cameras during one particularly hot summer .
I was able to prove that an interior garage door normally closed for weekend was left open and the heavy plastic freeze curtain one drives a forklift thru was allowing the hot air from dry side of warehouse into the refrigerated section which normally did not happen when the garage door was closed.
So you might call me a Paranormal Skeptic .But I am not one because I know and have experienced things I can not fully explain and hope to one day say yes it really is an anomaly , it really was a ghost etc. with hard core evidence that can not be dismissed by science.
