Private Residence
Mercer County, Kentucky
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Location: Private residence in Mercer County, Ky
Date: September 12, 2009
Investigators: John, Bea, Kathy, Greg, Jake and Amy
Location Description: One-thousand, One-hundred and fifty (1150) square foot, double wide
ranch home, built around 2002, consisting of a living room, kitchen, computer room, two
bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. There is no basement, nor is there an attached garage. The
house sits on 5 acres of land, which is used as a horse farm for the owner’s two horses.
Paranormal Activity Reported: Lura Ketchledge, the owner, had the house constructed
about 7 years ago, which would be around 2002. Prior to that, the land was used as a
hayfield. She has been the sole owner. Lura stated she has heard rumors that there was a
schoolhouse somewhere in the surrounding area, possibly on her property. The
schoolhouse was used as a field hospital after the Civil War battle of Perryville, which is
located approximately 20 miles south. Civil War field hospitals had a high mortality rate.
Lura stated she has heard there are limbs buried where the school once stood. The limbs
are from soldiers who had arms and legs amputated after being wounded during the battle.
Lura stated she has had numerous visits from spirits (ghosts). She stated she started
having these visits after a near death experience when she was thrown from a horse when
she was 19 years old. Visitors include dead family members and spirits she does not know.
Lura stated she also has problems with batteries in some of her electronic items, especially
clocks and phones.
The most disturbing visitation she had occurred about 2 months ago, when a ghostly
visitor tried to enter her bedroom through the north window.
Investigation: The actual investigation began at 8:30 PM with a séance held in the living
room. Participants included John, Kathy, Amy and Lura. The following equipment was
used stationary to document the séance. One DVR 12 IR night vision camera, Sony DCR-
HC38 Mini-DV video camera, Zoom H2 audio recorder and KII EMF detector. Jake used a
digital camera (Sony Cybershot DSC-H1) and digital audio recorder (Olympus VN-1000).
Bea used a digital camera (Canon Powershot A720) and a digital audio recorder (Sony IC
Recorder ICD-UX71) and Greg used a digital camera (Canon Powershot SD870) and a mini-
DV video camera (Sony DCR-HC40 Mini-DV) to record the séance.
Kathy had very strong feeling during the séance, which she described as “unbelievable”. At
one point she stated her hair was standing up, like she was in an electrical field. The hair on
Kathy’s head was observed to be standing up. This was documented with video and
photographs. Amy stated she could feel the electricity in Kathy’s hand.
Kathy also observed shadows on her right side during the séance.
Several photographs taken by Jake and Bea during the séance revealed odd dark shadows.
Investigators tried to recreate the shadows with negative results.
Greg’s video camera (Sony DCR-HC40) as well as Jake’s digital camera (Sony DSC-H1) both
shut off by themselves during the séance.
John picked up the name of Mr. William Harrison during the séance.
EMF readings were 0.0 throughout the séance.
Séance completed at 9:02 PM.
After the séance, the investigators split up into two teams. John, Bea and Jake comprised
Team One and Greg, Kathy and Amy comprised Team Two.
At 9:50 PM Team One entered the house to conduct their portion of the investigation,
while Team Two monitored the equipment from the base of operations. The base of
operations was located outside. Lura remained in her bedroom, lying on the bed,
meditating.
During this portion of the investigation numerous photographs were taken using the digital
cameras. Audio recorders were used in attempts to capture EVPs (Electronic Voice
Phenomenon); video cameras were used in attempts to capture any visual and/or
paranormal activity. EMF devices were also used to see if there were any changes in the
electrical field from the base readings.
At 10:18 PM Team One concluded their investigation.
At 10:25 PM Team Two entered the house for their part of the investigation, while Team
One monitored the equipment.
At 10:55 PM Team Two concluded their investigation.
From 11:00 PM until 11:15 PM Team One conducted another investigation inside the house.
From 11:15 PM until 11:30 PM Team Two re-entered the house to conduct their second part
of the investigation. During this second investigation the Sony DCR-HC40 shut off on its
own for a second time.
From 11:43 PM until 12:05 AM another séance was conducted in the living room with the
same participants as before. During this séance Bea’s digital camera (Canon Powershot
A720) shut off on its own.
The investigation concluded after this last séance. All of the equipment was packed away
for later analysis, except the Olympus DS-30 Digital Audio Recorder and the Sony DCR-
HC40, which were left in the living room to run all night. John and Bea then left the house,
while Kathy, Greg, Jake and Amy spent the night. The main part of the investigation lasted
approximately seven hours, which included the pre-investigation.
Investigative Evidence: Investigators reviewed all the photographs, video, audio and
personal experiences. The following evidence was captured during the investigation:
Four photographs taken during the séance or immediately after had odd dark shadows in
them. Investigators tried to recreate the shadows with negative results. Out of 483
photographs taken during the entire investigation these were the only photographs that
showed anomalies. During the séance, Kathy did state she was seeing shadows on her right
side. It is unknown what caused the shadows.
During the séance, Kathy felt an “unbelievable” electrical energy around her and stated it
felt like the hair on her head was standing straight up. This was confirmed by video and
photographic evidence, which showed some hairs on Kathy’s head standing up, like there
was an electrical charge in the air. After the séance, Amy, who was holding Kathy’s left
hand, stated she could feel the electricity in Kathy’s hand. However, EMF checks during
Kathy’s encounter revealed no EMF detected at all.
During the first séance a video camera and a digital camera both shut off by themselves. A
video camera shut off on its own during one of the team investigations and another digital
camera shut off during the second séance.
During the séance John picked up the name of William Harrison. John and Cheryl, a
researcher for WPI, conducted research on William Harrison. The research on William
Harrison revealed the following possible connections:
A William B. Harrison, a lawyer, was located in Bradfordsville, Kentucky (Marion County),
about 40 miles southwest of Salvisa. According to the 1860 “Federal Census – Slave
Schedule” he did own slaves. He also served in the army.
Another William Harrison was located in 1785, living in Lincoln County, approximately 30
miles south, southeast of Salvisa. (See www.merceronline.com)
During the research however, it was learned that there were a lot of William Harrison’s
living in Kentucky, but the two mentioned above lived the closest to Salvisa.
During the investigation some strange sounds and possible EVPs were heard and recorded.
They are as follows:
“Died 852PM”: During the first séance, Kathy says, “oh yea”, then Lura asked, “When did
you die?” Right before Lura asks her question, a “voice” can be heard saying something
like, “????? died”. Can’t understand what the first word is, but the second word sounds like
“died.”
“Who 1050PM”: This was during Team Two’s first investigation. Greg was lying on the bed
in the guest bedroom and Kathy and Amy were in the living room. Kathy asks, “What are
you doing?” Greg replies, “Who are you talking too?” Greg then asks whom are you talking
too again, but right before that, a voice sounds like it is saying “who?”
“Something fell 1148PM”: This occurred during the second séance. John states, “Clarify
something with me.” Right after that, something sounds as if it falls over, which everyone
heard. It is unknown what or if anything fell over.
“Zipper 1152PM”: This also occurred during the second séance. It almost sounds like a
zipper being zipped up, which everyone heard. It is unknown what this sound was.
It is believed by the World Paranormal Investigations team that there are things going on
in this Mercer County Kentucky farm that may be paranormal in nature. Paranormal
activity appears to surround Lura Ketchledge. Further investigations would be needed to
gather more evidence.
Results of Investigation:
483 digital photographs taken.
20 hours 38 minutes of video.
14 hours 00 minutes of audio.
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