Summary of the PRI Investigation of the "Santa Claus House"

Location: London, ON
Date: December 19, 2007

The name of the location involved in this investigation has been changed in order to protect the privacy of the residents. As such, the location has been titled the "Santa Claus House", due to a combination of the phenomena reported by the homeowners and their enthusiasm for Christmas decorations. Likewise, the names of the eyewitnesses have been omitted to protect their privacy. This investigation was conducted at the request and permission of the homeowners.

On December 19, 2007, the Paranormal Research Initiative (PRI) conducted a paranormal investigation of a private residence in London, Ontario. A previous occupant of the home-an elderly woman in her 80's-is known to have passed away in the master bedroom. The current homeowners reported witnessing unexplainable phenomena throughout the house over the last four years, including audible and visual phenomena, and physical contact. The most significant of these phenomena included a sound-activated electronic Santa Claus ornament in the kitchen that allegedly turned on in the absence of any loud noises (including at times when the homeowners were in bed), the impression of a person lying on top of the bed sheets in the master bedroom, and the feeling of somebody (or something) climbing into bed with one of the homeowners in the master bedroom.

PRI's investigation of this property did not yield substantial evidence of paranormal activity. No visual or audible phenomena were captured on video or audio recordings. Photographs only revealed light anomalies that may easily be dismissed as being environmental (light reflected off of airborne dust particles or other reflective surfaces). However, significant EMF fluctuations (ranging from 0 to >5 mG) were observed in the master bedroom. Upon inspection, a water pipe running the width of the bedroom was located on the ceiling in the basement. This pipe caused the EMF meter to register >5 mG at a constant rate when the meter was held in close proximity (within about 20-30 cm) to the pipe. Water pipes are often the source of elevated levels of EMF in homes, as they can be used to ground electrical current. Given the lack of other phenomena encountered in the bedroom, the water pipe seems the most likely cause of the EMF fluctuation.

Based on this PRI investigation, we cannot conclude that the residents were subject to any paranormal activity. This is not to say that the house is not haunted, but rather that we were unable to collect any evidence to support the presence of paranormal activity. Moreover, in the full report we have present alternative, non-paranormal explanations to account for the experiences reported by the residents of the house. Until the reported phenomena are witnessed and recorded under controlled investigation conditions, we have to remain sceptical of any paranormal explanations of the reported phenomena.

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