For this investigation the PRS team headed to the Knickerbocker hotel to investigate reports of some pretty intense activity. Immediately it becomes fairly obvious that the owner, Peg, is very emotional and my impression was that she may not be entirely rational in her thinking. There is, perhaps, good reason for this though: Apparently during a family gathering at the hotel she experienced something near the creature that scared her and over the next few months many of the people who attended died suddenly, were injured, or suffered other major misfortunes which she attributed to the entity she saw.

During the investigation the Penn State team did experience potential paranormal activity at dead time: One of the girls said she heard a woman speaking several times but couldn't understand what the woman was saying. They caught some EVPs on tape that they thought also sounded like a woman speaking, but speaking a foreign language or jibberish or something. To be honest, I couldn't even hear what voice they were talking about. For her part, the investigator who originally heard the voice said the tape sounded similar, but what she heard was much louder — like someone in the room started speaking in a normal tone of voice.

Ryan called up Peg's sister-in-law to interview her about any potential experiences she may have had in the hotel. Interestingly she reported having seen a woman wearing white a number of times at the top of the stairs leading up to the third floor. She said she tried to speak with the woman and ask if she needed help but when the woman spoke to her she couldn't understand a word the woman was saying.

C.J. Sellers, a psychic Ryan brought in to get impressions on the building (without telling her anything that's been reported) said she felt a malevolent entity in the area near the kitchen. When she went up to the third floor she said she saw a woman who was wearing a white dress and she thought the woman was a servant. She also reported the name Katy. Peg was beside herself when she heard the psychic's impressions and confirmed that during the late 1800's a woman names Katy Hicky (sp?) had worked at the hotel.

Sergei continued to earn my respect. He usually sits quietly in front of the electronics but when he steps out it's usually for a good, solid debunk. This was no different. A number of people had reported invisible footsteps following them down the stairs and even being pushed. He couldn't speak to the pushing, but was able to determine that the steps were old and flexible, rebounding after someone steps off of them and making a sound just like someone had stepped on the stair right behind you. Ryan tested the hypothesis by running down the stairs and confirmed it really did sound like someone was walking behind him, every single time because of the stairs themselves.

Also, there was a room Peg reported feeling choked in, although her sister-in-law had no problem sleeping there. Sergei was able to determine that room had very poor ventilation and there was a lot of dust (orbs!) in the air, which could easily affect more sensitive people to have difficulty breathing. All-in-all, he's shaping up to be my favorite regular on the team and I hope to see him have more input in future investigations.

For his part, Ryan seemed to remain extremely skeptical the entire time. Even the connections and confirmations between his investigators, Peg, Peg's sister-in-law and the psychic didn't seem to impress him. It seemed as if Peg's constant emotional state made him very wary right from the beginning of the investigation.

Towards the end of the investigation as the team was reviewing evidence the power went out briefly and they heard a yell. Peg had apparently been in the kitchen taking the psychic's advice and "reclaiming" her space by telling the malevolent spirit to get out. She said that the moment she did that the power went out as a sign that the entity was gone. Ryan didn't seem remotely excited (or convinced) and she seemed a little put off by that.

The team confirmed that not only did the neighboring buildings also experience the power outage, but they said it happened all the time in the neighborhood. Peg's answer was that it didn't matter how often it happened, it was a sign because when it happened was exactly when she told the spirit to get out.

At the end Ryan briefly considered the question of whether it's all right to tell someone that what they believe is wrong, even if you have absolute proof, if telling them that takes away their hope or faith. He didn't reach a clear answer but I've got my own: As far as I'm concerned people need to be able to deal with reality, no matter how unpalatable. The more we let ourselves believe happy little lies that make us feel good inside, the less progress we make both as a society and in our quest for knowledge.

But that's just my opinion.