Carlos Campos, Tyson Nuss, and Peter Stansfield, in that order performed investigatory walks through the hotel as our Sensitives; Dan Lord handled instrumentation, e.g. measuring environmental EMF readings; Xavier and Teresa Ortiz and Sandra Smith performed as Monitors for each Sensitive; and Workshop leaders Amy Allan-Radovanovic and Patience Robinson recorded the walkthroughs with a video camera, with Amy acting as overall Investigation Coordinator.
The Monitor assigned to each Sensitive accompanied and supervised them before, during and after their individual walkthroughs of the hotel, preventing contamination of data by keeping the Sensitives segregated from contact with each other during the scope of the investigation; the Monitors also took still photographs of any unusual phenomena indicated by their respective Sensitives during the walkthroughs. After the initial investigation, we found that all three of our Sensitives had separately obtained informational details during their segregated walkthroughs which subsequently correlated with each other or with historical records of the site. Although environmental EMF readings were unremarkable, the Monitors' still photography captured numerous, floating orb- and mist-like anomalies during each of the walkthroughs.
After our investigation and subsequent research and analysis, we conclude that reported experiences of paranormal "haunting" phenomena at the Hotel San Carlos cannot be accounted for as mere artifacts of environmental conditions, and that witnesses in the present day may spontaneously receive valid information about and experience encounters with events and persons associated with the site's recorded history.
When presenting evidence for the presence of anomalously experienced entities or paranormal activity, any newly gathered information must be compared and correlated with historically documented events and with previously published paranormal investigations. The more correlations found, the more likely the validity of the correlated information. Furthermore, instrumented environmental measurements of the investigation site must be taken. Anomalous perceptions could conceivably be accounted for by the presence of unusual environmental factors which may affect human perception and cognition; conversely, the investigators may interpret the absence of any remarkable such environmental readings as raising the likelihood of truly paranormal activity associated with the investigated area.
Prior to our team's investigation of the Hotel San Carlos, parties uninvolved in this investigation had previously performed documented historical research of past public events and past paranormal investigations. This contributed to the validity of our own investigative analysis, because our investigative team and Sensitives had not been exposed to any previously researched information about the location or its history, nor could our own historical research have become biased in favor of data obtained during our own investigation. We simply collected data in our own, initial, "blind" investigation, and then we subsequently compared our data to existing (but theretofore unknown) historical research which had already been performed by others, independent of our own investigative team.
If more than one Sensitive perceives or receives information regarding anomalous activity which is not historically documented, further research may be required for historical confirmation of such correlated perceptions. This is particularly important if different Sensitives have independently received correlated information about the same area or on the same topic at any time, even during a different investigation date, but no existing historical research is immediately available to confirm such details.
To measure electromagnetic field (EMF) strength, we used an analog Tri-Field meter. For still photography, we used a number of disposable 35mm cameras with 400 speed film. We used an analog Sony 8mm portable camcorder and voice-activated audiotape minicassette recorders to capture video and audio. We equipped the Sensitives' overnight room with the same Sony 8mm camcorder in "night vision" mode, a motion-detection alarm, a digital temperature gauge, a compass, and a voice-activated analog audiotape cassette recorder.
(Adapted here by permission of the original copyright holders in concert with ASSC and Lost Souls P.I.: copyrights ©2001 Radovanovic-Allan, Robinson, O'Malley & ©1999 Radovanovic, O'Malley, Hartmann)
To investigate in the field, or rather at homes and at places of business, one has in the past been limited to the data that could be brought back and analyzed in a laboratory setting. This can create problems concerning outside interference and the contaminating factors one can face outside the laboratory setting. This methodology is the most controlled field investigation technique developed to date. With the data received from use of this particular method, one can have an abundant quantity of relevant and untainted data to analyze.
The Investigator employed three Sensitives: one Psychic and two Mediums. These Psychics and Mediums had been tested and had thereby proven that they possess some type of anomalous talents, which theretofore could not be accounted for otherwise. The Investigator did not disclose the location to those who were employed to perform the investigation; doing so would have jeopardized the investigation, as the Sensitives could have then discovered information about the site prior to the investigation. In addition, no others aside from the Investigation Coordinators knew of nor were exposed to any information regarding the site, as even they could have indirectly exposed the Sensitives to such information, either directly or possibly by telepathy.
The Sensitives were notified two weeks prior to the investigation date and told to limit and/or abstain from watching TV or movies, or reading books, magazines, or newspapers of any sort. If the Sensitives had exposed themselves to any such media, they kept a log of when and with what materials they violated this order. The reason for this was that the information a Sensitive receives during the investigation may be influenced by a plot or storyline from a movie or television program, or read in a book or other printed media. It is therefore important that the Investigator study the information and look for correlations between a Sensitive's "hits" and any outside influences that may have subconsciously affected a "hit". The Sensitives supplied this information to the Investigators upon arrival at the site.
The Sensitives were also told that they may not, under any circumstances, drink any alcoholic beverages forty-eight hours before the investigation, and they were not allowed to consume any other mind-altering substances for seventy-two hours before the investigation. Alcohol and other mind-altering drugs may influence a Sensitive's energy level and impede them from receiving valid information.
One week before the investigation date, the Sensitives were contacted and told the time of their departure for the site and the estimated time of their return. They were furthermore told who their Monitor would be. They were not given any other information about the investigation or site. The Investigator scheduled the Sensitives' departure and arrivals to eliminate any contact between them as much as possible.
The Sensitives were each assigned a Monitor. That person drove the Sensitive assigned to them both to and from the site, and they stayed with their assigned Sensitive for the entire length of the investigation. This was to eliminate any need for the Sensitive to have outside contact with anyone else during the time of the investigation and to create as much of a controlled atmosphere as possible. The Sensitive therefore had no contact with any person who could have influenced any information that the Sensitive received during the walkthrough. The Sensitive had all of their needs met by their Monitor, who only spoke to the Sensitive to whom they were assigned and to the Coordinator of the investigation. The Monitor, who was aware of the date of the investigation, was contacted thirty minutes before their departure time and given the information regarding the Sensitive assigned to them and simple directions to the site. The Monitors kept all information regarding the directions to themselves and they made sure that no Sensitives talked to each other or anyone else during the time of the investigation. The Monitors stayed with the Sensitive to whom they were assigned only, at all times except for the actual walkthrough.
Upon arrival, the individual Sensitives were sequestered in separate rooms with their assigned Monitors and isolated from the preliminary investigation process, as well as from any other Sensitives present at the site. The Sensitives performed anti-telepathy exercises, such as crossword puzzles, during the entire investigation procedure, except during their own, individual walkthroughs.
The Equipment person arrived at the site before the Sensitives began to arrive. Upon arrival, the Equipment person noted the date and weather and performed five-point readings with the EMF meter. That person drew a diagram of the entire location, separating the diagram by floors. The Equipment person then took EMF readings at each of the four corners of each particular floor as well as at the approximate center. The Equipment person kept a running log of this information. They also then took secondary readings during each individual walkthrough, as well as after the walkthroughs were completed. This was to determine if, in fact, any shifting energy phenomenon occurred during the walkthroughs. They then set up all instruments in the room where the Sensitives spent the night.
The instruments in this room were: standing EMF detector; temperature gauge; compass; Automatic Voice Recorder; motion detectors; an analog videocassette camera equipped with night vision; and several disposable cameras with 400 speed film.
The Coordinator, Interviewer, and Equipment personnel all accompanied each Sensitive and Monitor in turn on their respective, separate walkthroughs. The walking order of the Sensitives was chosen at random by placing names in a bag and drawing them out one by one. The crew then informed the first Sensitive's Monitor to ready their Sensitive. The Coordinator then retrieved the Sensitive and escorted them outside of their sequestering room where the investigation began. The entire crew then performed an internal walkthrough of the site. The Sensitive disclosed all interactions, visions and information received into a microphone connected to a voice-activated tape recorder. The Monitor also took still photographs of locations indicated as anomalous by the Sensitive. A video camera recorded every moment of each Sensitive's walkthrough. During the walkthroughs, the Equipment person was responsible for maintaining the five point readings.
After all the walkthroughs had been completed, all three Sensitives and one Monitor retired to the instrument-equipped room for the night. They were not allowed to discuss among each other any information regarding their individual walkthroughs. All room equipment, as listed above, was then activated in order to capture any unusual phenomena that may occur during the overnight stay. In order to maintain a controlled atmosphere, the Sensitives and Monitor could not leave the room for any reason. The Monitor was responsible for maintaining all equipment. In the event of anomalous paranormal phenomena, the Monitor was to record EMF and temperature readings, as well as take still photographs of the phenomena. If there were any emotional disturbance with a Sensitive during the night, the Monitor would have contacted the Coordinator, who would have removed the Sensitive for a discussion session. In the event of any such discussion session, it would have been recorded by both video and audio equipment.
An audio and video taped debriefing followed, the next morning after the sleepover. In this debriefing, all individuals were finally allowed to discuss their experiences. All materials pertaining to the investigation are collected and sealed in an envelope until the data could be processed. The investigative team then researched the site's historical records and transcribed the taped walkthroughs; the Sensitives were not allowed to transcribe their own walkthrough tapes. Finally, the investigative team drew up written conclusions detailing all data collected during investigation and highlighting any correlations.
Viable correlations were regarded as: correlations among Sensitives; correlations between Sensitives and historical research; correlations among unusual readings from the EMF detector; correlations between unusual readings from EMF detector and Sensitives; correlations between Sensitives and any external media influences (e.g., movies, books, etc.); correlations between unusual paranormal phenomena and the site's guests or staff (e.g., psychokinetic or telepathic activity); correlations between specific locations and "hits" or "hot spots" where the Sensitive(s) received information.
We discovered numerous correlations among the walkthroughs of Hotel San Carlos on Friday, July 13th, 2001. Carlos was the first Sensitive to survey the premises. In his walkthrough, Carlos perceived a female who jumped out of a seventh floor window. This reference is consistent with past investigations where several Sensitives referred to a female who jumped out of the same window. This reference also parallels a public, documented historical event which occurred six weeks after the hotel opened in 1928; a tragic scene happened then which left an indelible mark on the hotel's history. A young woman named Leone Jensen who had been staying at the hotel was devastated when her boyfriend, a bellhop at a nearby, competing hotel, broke up with her. She was so heartbroken that she jumped out of the exact seventh story window which Carlos and past investigatory Sensitives had remarked upon. Also, Carlos refers to a female who was raped on the seventh floor by a man in his 30's named Larry; constantly telling her to "shut up," stabs her repeatedly and he believes that this might have happened in the 1960's (cf. more correlations in Tyson's subsequent walkthrough, below). This perception is consistent with past investigations where the Sensitive received to perception of a rape in Room #704 from a man's voice saying, "Keep your mouth shut if you know what's good for you!" only audible to the Sensitive. The last of the correlations that Carlos perceived refers to copious quantities of drugs and narcotics being consumed at the hotel. Historical research shows that many movie stars and politicians contemporaneous with the hotel's early history stayed at the hotel, many of whom were infamous for their substance abuse.
Peter was the next Sensitive to perform a walkthrough. In one of Peter's correlations, he felt that a boy was trapped in a closet in the basement. This may correlate with a past paranormal investigation where the Sensitive refers to a "hiding boy" who may have been the son of the owner Charles Harris. Peter also received the perception of a horse and carriage present the distant past, as if in the 1920's or 1930's. At the particular location where Peter received the perception about the horse and carriage, the hotel's then-future site was used as a parking lot between 1916 and October 1927.
Tyson was the last Sensitive to walk. Upon reaching the room where the team's Sensitives were later to sleep for the night, Room #704, Tyson refers to woman who was raped and stabbed by a man in his 30's named Leroy or Leon, around the 1960's. This correlated with Peter's walkthrough and with past investigations, which had also recorded a perception of a woman who was raped in room #704. Historical research revealed a man named Leon Harris, the son of owner Charles Harris, who had managed and lived in the hotel. Leon Harris would have been in his 30's in the 1960's.
We furthermore found several correlations among our own Sensitives' independent and separate walkthroughs. Both Peter and Carlos reported seeing entities as a "haze" or "fuzz"; anomalous features fitting this description also appeared on still photographs taken during their walks. All three remarked upon a mature, older male in a dark, single-breasted suit-jacket or blazer and white shirt; Tyson and Peter further noted that he was balding, with a "comb-over" hairstyle. All three mentioned a knife stabbing, and Carlos and Tyson further agreed in this same context on a stabbing in the intestinal or gut area involving people with names starting with "L" (Lindsay, Linda, Lisa for the female; Larry, Leon, Leroy for the male), in their thirties and with dark brown hair, associated with a violent sexual assault and apparent narcotic use. In an area of the hotel basement which Tyson could only remark upon as "significant", Carlos and Peter perceived an unconscious and very young man, teenager or early twenties, dragged to that location in association with another, older male whose involvement with the younger male was unclear (Carlos suggested that an older, homeless male had rescued a younger male, but this could not be correlated with other accounts).
No anomalous readings or anomalously variable ranges of EMF readings were found at any point(s) around the hotel premises. Dan, our instrumentation and equipment handler, accompanied each walkthrough party through the four levels of the hotel being investigated. He took electromagnetic frequency readings before, during and after each walkthrough of the hotel. These readings were performed at four and five specific points on all four investigated levels of the hotel, namely the seventh, third, and second floors and the basement, using a standard EMF meter. He also had a compass in his possession to see if there were any odd magnetic fluctuations within a given area, of which none were apparent. He also collected readings at each point where the walkthrough parties were uninterrupted by external interference (i.e. people walking by, moving ceiling fans, etc.). After noticing that people walking within 5 feet in front of the meter while taking a reading caused the needle to twitch considerably, he observed the precaution of isolating himself away from the group while taking readings; once a "still" place could be found, he waited for the needle to settle, then recorded the reading.
Most of the readings were between 0.0 and 1.5 milligauss, with a couple of relatively "high" but still normatively ambient readings at 2.0-2.5 milligauss in the basement, where much of the hotel's electrical equipment was located. This was promising, indicating that no EMF interference could have occurred in the corridors of the hotel which could have affected the information received by the Sensitives. NOAA did report that a minor Solar flare had occurred at 9:30pm that evening (i.e. 2130 MST on July 13th, 2001, recorded as 0430 UTC on July 14th, 2001); unfortunately, we did not have instrumentation available to measure environmental GMF (Geo-Magnetic Field) or ionic interference at the investigation site.
After all the walkthroughs were completed, Dan performed final readings alone on all four investigation floors and then proceeded to the Sensitives' final sleepover area in Room 704. This room was equipped with instrumentation to perform further readings, in case any anomalous activity occurred overnight. These instruments included a motion detector, an analog videotape camera equipped with "night vision", a digital thermometer, a motion detecting alarm, and a noise-activated voice recorder. The Sensitives were instructed to wake up if they were disturbed in any way during the night, at which time the room's assigned Monitor, Xavier, would then check to see if the instruments showed any unusual readings. During the team debriefing session the following morning, no anomalous activity was reported by anyone staying in that room. In the absence of detectable anomalies in the site's environmental conditions, we can downplay the possible role of such factors in contribution to any paranormal events or perceptions reported during our investigations.
The hotel has been the site of numerous public, tragic historical occurrences, and it was built on land which had been formerly used for two successive children's schools. The hotel is built over a well which had been dug for the first school; this well tapped into an existing natural spring which was regarded by the Natives as sacred to their Deity of Learning. Other accounts of anomalous phenomena occurring on the site have been reported since the hotel's opening. If other paranormal investigations are performed at this site in the future, those investigative teams are likely to receive similar results as we received in photos, personal accounts, audio-visual recordings, and EMF readings. We regard this as highly likely because of the consistency of information among our own investigation, past investigations, and historical records. An opportunity to look into police reports and files from the hotel's early heyday may reveal even further correlations and historical context.
After our investigation and subsequent research and analysis, we conclude that reported experiences of paranormal "haunting" phenomena at the Hotel San Carlos cannot be accounted for as mere artifacts of environmental conditions or of ordinary human psychology. Witnesses in the present day may, indeed, spontaneously receive valid information about and experience encounters with events and persons associated with the site's recorded history, none of which can be adequately accounted for by environmental factors or other commonplace explanations. Such experiences may be described as consistent with "haunting" type phenomena in the common cultural vernacular, and based on our own investigation and analysis, we cannot conclusively classify such experiences, in this particular case, as merely epiphenomenal side-effects derived from any other, mundane factors.