Adelaide Ghosts and Hauntings - Paranormal Field Investigators

THE INVESTIGATION

BACKGROUND

In June 2006, P.F.I. booked in to Gladstone Gaol with the purpose of investigating the rumours of the Gaol being haunted. We had heard from people how they had been experiencing things whilst in there. Two cells in the womens block had reports of people waking up to find bedding pulled off them and waking up to find figures in the cell with them.

We learnt that there had been at several deaths at the Gaol and at least two had been suicides.

There were 6 investigators present for the night consisting of Alison Oborn, Jeff Fausch, Patrick, Anna Bird, Johanna and Mishelle.

It was a clear but extremely cold night with a new moon.

As full investigation reports can be tedious to wade through, we have just put a shortened version here for your interest.

THE NIGHT

No one from PFI had been to Gladstone Gaol previously except for Michelle. They knew very little about the history or even if the gaol was truly active. Kathy, the manager filled them in on what she had experienced and a few stories that were told to her by visitors.

It was in the kitchen area that Anna was the first to encounter possible unexplained phenomena. She witnessed a shadowy female form standing in front of her in the kitchen area. It surprised her and she let out a yelp that the other team heard in the debtor's wing. It was certainly something that she had not expected. At first she thought it was Johanna until it disappeared in front of her. It was interesting that Anna felt very uncomfortable in the alcoholic wing but when she went in the kitchen it felt much lighter and did not have a repressed feeling, yet this is where she saw the figure. Being a lighter, airier room this would also have highlighted the figure that she witnessed. Just after Anna witnessed the figure the temperature dropped in the alcoholic's wing, it got so cold that it felt like standing in a fridge. It is not known if the drop in temperature is connected to the figure Anna saw but can't be ruled out.

Later Alison, Patrick and Anna experienced extreme cold sensations in the high ceiling area of C-block. Alison described perfectly the way they felt in her report, "we felt like we had just crossed a threshold into something VERY unpleasant and uncomfortable in the high ceiling area". This is the area that Kathy talked about three cells two of which had suicides in them. Alison found it extremely uncomfortable and had to force herself to stay there, Patrick and Anna had similar feelings. They all experienced a very strange sensation. One investigator would experience extreme cold and then it moved to the next person and so one. No one felt the extreme cold at the same time. They described it as so extreme it would cause intense shivering. The shivering would stop suddenly and the next person would start. The investigators have never experienced such a phenomena. The extreme cold sensations made them move back to the low ceiling area were they felt much warmer. Alison then witnessed a small red light with the naked eye that flashed across the end doorway. Whether the faces that Kathy has seen in the cells are connected to the phenomena experienced by the investigators is unknown and unprovable at this stage. It should also be noted that the high ceiling block is naturally colder then the other areas so could just be a simple explanation to it, although it did appear to be moving from person to person.

Michelle appears to be the person that heard the whispers of the gaol. In the debtors wing she heard what seemed to be a lady humming or singing. This is also the wing where the only inmate (female) to spend sixteen days in solitary confinement was kept. She died at Gladstone gaol in 1919.

While Michelle was stationed in the tin shed, sitting near Jeff she heard someone go Shhh…, as if telling her to be quite. She thought it was Jeff, but he had not said anything as he was taking photographs of the area.
So whoever was telling Michelle to be quite in the tin shed did not appear to be part of the investigation team.

While Jeff was videoing the Gaol the next morning, he was standing in the old vegetable gardens where now the kangaroos reside. He felt a finger move from the top of his spin down to the bottom of his spin. He thought it was someone playing a trick on him when he turned around there was no one there. Anna was a distance away patting the kangaroos. When he was writing up the interview with Kathy she told the story about when she was living in the room near the toilet. She felt a hand on her shoulder and the feeling of the hand dragging down the shoulder and turning around to see who it was. What Jeff experienced is not quite the same as Kathy experienced but is similar enough to compare them.

Jeff and Anna were in B-block after the rest of the team went to bed; they observed some interesting phenomena, it was not negative of uncomfortable. Anna saw a shadow flash across the ceiling of the corridor and minutes later Jeff saw a shadow move passed the junction of the three-wings. The shadow was the height of an adult but had no form, just a dark shadow moving at walking pace. He went to investigate thinking it was an investigator but found no one or anything that could have caused the shadow. They both heard a whistling sound, as if someone was whistling. The night was a still night so a breeze could not have caused it and there was no sign of any birds in this particular area.

When Johanna was sleep in her cell she was woken by the feeling of being touched by someone on her

At 6.00am Anna was sitting in front of the fire when she heard what sounded like the metal gate/door open and then heard banging sounds. She described the noise as if someone had walked in and was getting ready for work. The noises were heard three more times. Anna thought Kathy had arrived or someone was delivering something. But when she investigated there was no one there. Jeff was the first to get up at about 6.15am and then Alison came in at around 6.30am. She had slept in the car with the engine running because it was so cold. Kathy did not arrive until 7.30am and the caretaker who slept in a portable room outside was not seen until 7.30am. When everyone was up Anna asked if anyone else heard the noises, Patrick was the only one to hear the noises but thought it was one of the investigators moving around or going to the toilet and did not think much about it.

Kathy thought what Anna experienced was very interesting. She said prisoners who were to be released would be locked in a cell near the entrance of the block the night before and released at 6.00am before the other prisoners got up and taken to the train station.

While Jeff was videoing the Gaol the next morning, he was standing in the old vegetable gardens where now the kangaroos reside. He felt a finger move from the top of his spin down to the bottom of his spin. He thought it was someone playing a trick on him when he turned around there was no one there. Anna was a distance away patting the kangaroos. When he was writing up the interview with Kathy she told the story about when she was living in the room near the toilet. She felt a hand on her shoulder and the feeling of the hand dragging down the shoulder and turning around to see who it was. What Jeff experienced is not quite the same as Kathy experienced but is similar enough to compare them.

It has been a privilege to investigate the Gladstone Gaol and Paranormal Field Investigators would like to thank Kathy for her support and making this investigation possible.


Report by Jeff Fausch and Edited by Alison Oborn 2006
Debtors & C-block report by Alison Oborn.

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