Just sight of this immense structure during daylight will evoke a feeling of apprehension and viewing this structure after sundown will evoke a much stronger apprehension. The whole area looks dilapidated and in disarray. The paint is peeling and flaking off its walls, windows are boarded up, withered vegetation clings to rough edges around structure as if in a death grip.We were introduced to property's caretaker. He and his wife speak of mysterious happenings in and around this old structure after sundown. The caretaker points to bushes outside this old convalescent hospital, stating that they will react strangely as people pass by. The wife is in fear for her baby, and because of this she says she keeps a loaded gun near her at all times.No one has spent night inside this old structure since it closed down almost five years ago.We decided to investigate this old convalescent home and attempt to determine if there really was anything going on that would cause such fear in people.We arrived at old hospital a little after 6 p.m. and met with a handful of workers who were taking some of fixtures out. The building was destined to be demolished in about two weeks. The workers continued working until 8 p.m.

During time that they are still there, we wandered throughout dusty hallways and climbed up and down creaky stairs to get a feel for where everything was and became familiar with floor plan. When sun went down, there would be no lights and someone could trip over something or worse, get lost in maze of rooms there are in this building. Even in daylight, this building has an unusual way of making you feel on edge. It is almost too much for me as I walk slowly past open doorways to rooms in convalescent hospital.I tried to imagine what it must have been like when old people walked these halls or were taken to various areas of hospital. We walked into a bathroom and I noticed that tubs are now caked with dirt and dust from years of neglect. Dirty stains encircle tubs and toilets and mirrors are fogged.We all feel pretty safe with our flashlights and equipment and workers not too far away. Sounds of drills and saws fill air but soon they ceased. The workers left and we were alone in this building.Slowly we made our way back to front of building and took a look up stairs one last time before workers were all gone for good.

The workers leave and wish us luck. Someone tells us that no one has ever been able to stay in this building for a few hours let alone overnight. We tell them we were here to investigate and why. Why is it that no one can stay here? We wanted to find out why things were happening in this building. We might not get another chance.

We decided to start on first floor and work our way up to third floor. We decided to stay together. Even though we had walkie-talkies and everyone was buddied with another, we decided it would be safer to be together. We were unsure about stability of floors or building.The sun had gone down but faint light filtered through windows. The rooms were getting dimmer and dimmer until it got totally dark. Although there were streetlights and safety of street was not far away, I felt very apprehensive at that point.

Today, over ten years later, I have discovered that there is no answer...just more questions. This led me to again attempt to discover what secrets and mysteries lie beneath what I cannot see. Ghost hunting has become a passion for me to search for answers but a hot and trendy item for today's people interested in getting a thrill. I decided early on that I would make my attempts at educating public and it would be up to them to decide if paranormal activity exists or not. I picked up as much literature on various subjects regarding paranormal as I could. I read anything I could to get various theories with which to base my investigations on.

I discovered that paranormal delves into psychology and that it is use of mind, body and its' senses which may contribute to having a paranormal experience. I learned that there are no experts in this field. There are no possible ways that science can send a man from this dimension or earthly plane to "other world" and back again and be able to talk about what he has seen. Unfortunately, near death experience is not same thing.

Psychology and paranormal are very similar in that there are many times when an occurrence is merely psychological and not paranormal and vice versa. Investigations have shown that occurrences involving younger, pre-pubescent children are possibly made up from internal energy or "raging hormones" of these children. They are independent, coming-of-age and rebellious. They want to speak their mind and are told they must keep quiet. They are keeping all this energy within themselves and are struggling with ability of how to release it. As time passes and children find they can no longer maintain air of quiet, they release this energy in form of activity which demonstrates itself by slamming doors, shutting windows, bangings, thuds, creaks and groaning noises.

The term "poltergeist" is German for "poltern" to knock and "Geist" spirit, or a noisy, usually mischievous ghost held to be responsible for unexplained noises (as rappings). We have learned over many different studies that children are unaware of these occurrences being based on energy they emit. It's easier to blame these things on a ghost. However, working with them on investigations and under controlled circumstances, we discover that it is possibly energy they are emitting. Of course, it is impossible to know with 100% accuracy if this is indeed case and it is children, but once we have made our conclusions and shared them with host family, activity seems to go away or at least be diminished.