Aggieland Ghost Hunters will be taking a hiatus until further notice.  Stay tuned for future updates.

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This photo was taken at my local deer lease in east Texas. Is it a
dog, coyote, chupacabra...what do you think?

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via kotaku.com

This Thursday NASA is holding a press conference to discuss an astrobiology finding that will "impact the search for evidence of extraterrestrial life". Have we discovered alien life within our own solar system?

The opening sentence of the NASA media advisory that went out today regarding Thursday's press conference was enough to set the internet abuzz with speculation.

NASA will hold a news conference at 2 p.m. EST on Thursday, Dec. 2, to discuss an astrobiology finding that will impact the search for evidence of extraterrestrial life.
What could the big announcement be? Chances are it has something to do with the recent discovery by the NASA-led international Cassini-Huygens mission of a tentative atmosphere containing both oxygen and carbon dioxide on the surface of Saturn's moon Rhea.

The oxygen in Rhea's atmosphere is five trillion times less dense than that of Earth, and the surface of the moon is far too cold to support life as we know it. That doesn't rule out life as we don't know it.

Participating in the press conference will be NASA astrobiology program head Mary Voytek; NASA astrobiology research fellow Felisa Wolfe-Simon; NASA astrobiologist Pamela Conrad; Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution fellow Steven Benner; and Arizona State University professor James Elser, whose research involves biological stoichiometry, the study of balance of energy and multiple chemical elements in living systems. That's not a group you gather together just to look at pretty space rocks.

So what does NASA have up its sleeve? The conference will be streamed online on Thursday at http://www.nasa.gov/. Until then, let the speculation fly!

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The following image was sent in by a reader. This photo was taken by
a motion detector game camera position next to a deer feeder in
Hillsboro, TX. The camera is programmed to take a photo when motion
is detected in front of it. The photo appears to show the ghostly
image of a small girl walking by the deer feeder. Notice the deer
even seems to react to it. We have sent the photo over to an expert
to verify whether or not the photo has been altered by photoshop/etc.
We'll send out a new update as soon as we hear back.
What is your opinion of the photo? Feel free to leave a comment. (Update: it has been confirmed that this photo is a fake. Still looks cool though!)

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Answer:
Hi and thanks for contacting Aggieland Ghost Hunters. It's great that
you are being
creative with coming up with something "ghostly" for your daughters
birthday. It should definitely make it a memorable experience! As
far as local haunted hotels, the closest one that I know of is the Von
Minden hotel in Schulenburg, Tx. It's a little over an hours drive
from B/CS. It is definitely very haunted, but it's not the kind of
place you would actually want to spend a night at (it's like a 1/2
star hotel). We typically rent a room to do an investigation, but then
leave and come back home when it's time to go to bed.
Another place that you can go to is the Jefferson Hotel in Jefferson,
TX. It has a history of paranormal experiences, and their website can
be found here:
http://historicjeffersonhotel.com/
Also while in Jefferson, you could do the Ghost Tour that they have
there at night. They take you on a walk through town and point out
the haunted areas and tell you all the spooky stories. Their website
is:
http://www.jeffersonghostwalk.com/
Speaking of ghost tours, you can also visit San Antonio and take their
ghost tour. I have not personally gone on this tour, but I have heard
good things:
http://satxghosttour.com/
Hope these ideas help, and again I think it's so cool that you are
trying to be creative for her birthday!

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Aggieland Ghost Hunters and our sister group Bastrop Paranormal
Research teamed up to investigate the Liendo Plantation located in
Hempstead, TX. We were also followed by a local KBTX.com news crew.
The investigation will air on the Bryan/College Station CBS channel 3,
and also on KBTX.com on Halloween night at 10pm central time.

(via liendo.org) Liendo Plantation was built in 1853 by Leonard Waller
Groce, the son of Jared Groce, who was one of the largest most
respected land owners in Texas. Originally a Spanish land grant of
67,000 acres assigned to Justo Liendo, the plantation's namesake,
Liendo was one of Texas' earliest cotton plantations.
It was considered the social center of Texas receiving and lavishly
entertaining early Texas dignitaries and notorieties. Liendo was
considered a typical Southern plantation, having over 300 slaves and
being itself built by slave labor. Sufficient in all its needs; it was
a self contained community. Like most Southern plantations, however,
Liendo fell on hard times after the Civil War and changed owners
several times thereafter.
Liendo had always been recognized for its warm Southern hospitality,
but few people know that this same tradition of generosity probably
saved it from destruction. Among the more notable statesmen and
historical figures that have spent time at Liendo was George A.
Custer.  At the end of the Civil War, he was stationed at Liendo. It is said
that both Mr. Custer and his wife were so impressed with the
plantation and the gracious hospitality shown to them during their
stay, that they made sure Liendo was not harmed in way in
appreciation. (end via liendo.org)

On our investigation, we experienced the most paranormal activity that
I personally have ever experienced. During an EVP session, we had a
bedroom door inexplicably slam shut on us. When one of the KBTX
newsmen asked the question, "do you feel trapped?" the door slams shut
on us, in an essence trapping us.
See the video below (video courtesy from one of Bastrop Paranormal's
video cameras). The night vision was not working correctly during
this session, but you can hear the audio of what went on. (Warning:
explicit language)

We tried to debunk the door closing by itself, but after multiple
attempts of jumping up and down on the floor, using a level to make
sure the door was not off-set, etc., we could not debunk this
paranormal activity.

We also captured a few EVP's while investigating the plantation.

In this audio clip, another investigator and I were alone in the music room.  After I ask "we about to leave" you can hear a child's voice playfully answer "no."  

child_says_no.wav Listen on Posterous

In this next clip. After she says "can you make another light come
on?" you can hear some sort of response right before she says "yeah
you can."

In this clip, right as she says "so there was this man" you can hear
something say what sounds like "don't f*!#& push that."

In this clip, right after she says "show me", you can hear what sounds
like "Hi."

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This was our 2nd visit to the Horlock House, and this time we brought
along a few guest investigators, as well as teamed up with our sister
group Bastrop Paranormal Research.

Throughout the night we were having lots of EMF detector activity.
Our meters were randomly going off in different areas of the house the
entire night. We were trying to debunk the meter readings, but could
not find any rhyme or reason to the off the chart readings.

One of the most interesting EMF readings that we had occurred in the
children’s room. At one point I put the EMF detector in the small
rocking chair and got a reading of just 1 light. I then asked if
anyone wanted to come and sit in the rocking chair. Within seconds,
the EMF detector lit up full blast and stayed lit for a few seconds,
then disappeared. I then asked for it to do it again, and the same
exact thing happened again.

Another interesting thing that happened during our investigation
occurred with a lamp in the master bedroom. The lamp had numerous
crystals hanging down from the lampshade circling the lamp. At one
point, the entire team witnessed the crystals moving ever so slightly
by themselves. There was no wind, not A/C, and no movement from the
team. We watched the crystals move by themselves for a good 10
minutes. We could not explain how it was happening.

After reviewing the evidence, we caught numerous interesting EVP’s.
The first one is one of my most favorite ones that I have ever caught.
When we first arrived at the house, we all gathered on the first
floor in the living room and were conducting an EVP session. During
the sessions, a couple of members claimed that they heard whistling
coming from upstairs, even though there was nobody upstairs at all. I
did not hear the whistling myself until I heard the audio. After I
ask, “do you want us to follow the whistle?” you can hear a faint
whistle in the background.

On the second audio clip, we ask “what kind of games do you play?” 
There is a female voice answer, but it is undecipherable

The third  audio clip contains what we think says “no” after I ask
“are we bothering you?”

On the last one, we ask “did you build this house?” Then there is an
odd sound afterwards, and possibly a female/childs voice.

whistle.wav Listen on Posterous

what kind of games.wav Listen on Posterous

are we bothering you...no.wav Listen on Posterous

didyoubuildthishouse Download this file

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Right off the bat, we will tell you that this particular hotel is
indeed “haunted.” We spent an entire evening at this location, and we
had multiple experiences the entire time.
One quick story about the hotel that I found very interesting first..
Legend has it that a paratrooper returning from the war (World War 2)
was to meet his sweetheart at this hotel one night. After staying up
waiting for her all night, she never came. He became so depressed
that he jumped out of the window and committed suicide. Minutes
later, his sweetheart finally showed up...
It was because of this story at this hotel, that is where the song
“Heartbreak Hotel” by Elvis Presley came from. The legend goes on to
say that the paratroopers sweetheart still roams the hotel. She has
been nicknamed “The lady in the polka dot dress.”

Because we collected so much evidence from this location, we are still
trying to sift through it all and isolate the evidence. So check back
on this page often for updates with more evidence that we come across.

Throughout the night, a few of our members had personal experiences
with an entity. Investigator Angel Crawford had multiple experiences
of being touched all over her body by a spirit she believed was named
“John.” As “John” touched her, we could follow with our EMF equipment
in each spot where she had a feeling of being touched. Each time the
EMF detector would spike dramatically. We then asked “John” if he
could touch other members of our group. Investigator Kelci McAdams
was then touched on her arm, and her rib cage. Investigator Robert
Sheffield was also tapped on his shoulder three times by an unknown
force.

This first piece of evidence is probably the best that we have
captured to date. We had a video camera positioned in the corner of
one of the hotel rooms. Aggieland Ghost Hunter co-founder Jon Hitt
had just come into this room to check the camera to make sure it was
still recording. After he left the room he went into the hallway. In
this video you can hear some of our investigators chatting out in the
hallway, when out of no where you hear a voice. This voice seems to
be right next to the camera, yet there was no one in the room at the
time. The voice says “John.” Was the ghost of John just saying his
name, or was it calling the name of Jon Hitt?

Throughout the night, Angel and others could actually hear other
voices and whispers. Below is one piece of evidence we collected of
something saying “Hi.” You may have to wear headphones and listen
closely.

Throughout the rest of the evening, we experienced many unexplained
EMF detector spikes, noises, and weird sensations. We would
definitely love to go back to this location in the future to conduct
more investigations.

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The Horlock House, built in the late 19th century, is a magnificent
historic home located in Navasota, TX. The home is now under
ownership of the City of Navasota, and is used as a tourist
information center. The home has reportedly experienced numerous
paranormal activities over the years. Aggieland Ghost Hunters decided
to pay the home a visit to see what we could uncover.

Throughout the night, we had a few experiences. The first strange
occurrence happened on the first floor in the piano room. We had
placed a digital audio recorder on top of the piano to see if we could
capture any EVP’s. After the recorder had been sitting there for
approx. 30 minutes, the recorder suddenly fell off. There were 3
investigators in the room at the time, that had witnessed this first
hand. The house however is old, and vibrations from footsteps can be
felt throughout the house. We can not be for sure something
paranormal knocked the recorder off, since there were people walking
nearby.

Another instance happened in the children’s room. We had placed a
piece of chalk on a chalkboard, and had asked if any of the spirits
would move the chalk. Later that evening while investigators were in
the room, the chalk mysteriously rolled off of the chalkboard onto the
floor. Again we cannot prove this was paranormal due to the
vibrations in the room.

Another weird event happened in the children’s room as well. At one
point, the light by our camera start flickering by itself. The light
had burned brightly for at least a couple of hours before this, and it
still burned brightly after this event for another couple of hours.
The only way we could recreate this flickering was by pushing the
on/off button about half way down.

Mike, one of our investigators immediately sensed the presence of the
spirit of the wife of Mr. Horlock upon entering the house. Though we
never had physical communication with her, Mike went on to have an
experience with Mr. Horlock himself. Mike kept receiving an image of
a boat, or a ship. He then received the name of the ship, the denby,
the denbie, he was not sure. He just knew that Mr. Horlock wanted him
to know about the ship, and that it was located in Galveston. After
the investigation, upon further research, we found out the Mr. Horlock
did indeed serve as a cabin boy on the ship, the Denbigh, located in
Galveston.

After first review of the evidence, we did capture one piece of
unexplained phenomena from our investigation. This evidence was
captured by one of our stationary cameras located in the children’s
room. At the time, all of the investigators were in the attic walking
around. The camera however captures a EVP of disembodied breathing.
Mike and Angel both sensed the presence of a curious little girl in
that room. Was this breathing from her?

We did have a couple of EMF detector spikes that were unexplained.
But nothing was registered while we were directly trying to
communicate. We also experienced a unexplained “cold spot” in the
children’s room in a spot where past investigators had their own
experiences. The cold spot would come and go every few minutes. We
felt no drafts in the house, and this was the only spot in the house
where we could feel this.

We did not capture any further physical evidence, although we do
re-review the evidence from time to time to see if we missed anything.
If we do find more, we will be sure and post it here.

The Horlock House was a great place to investigate. We look forward
to going back one day to the residence for another investigation.

See the full gallery on Posterous

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baby laugh.mov Listen on Posterous

Do you hear a baby laugh on this one? We have no explanation, nor did
we hear it at the time it occurred.

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what does that mean.mov Listen on Posterous

This one is a great one. Jon was by himself taking photos when he
caught this disembodied voice. It sounds to us like it says “What
does that mean?”

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Hi.mov Listen on Posterous

Here is another audio clip we captured. Right before Casey says “I
grew up in this town” you can hear something say what sounds like
“Hi.”

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deep sigh.mov Listen on Posterous

Jon and I were discussing photography. During our conversation I
heard breathing in my right ear just for a split second. I didn’t
think of anything, and thought I was just imaging it. After reviewing
my audio evidence however, I was able to pick it up. Right after I
say “..up until just that one” you can hear a disembodied deep “sigh.”

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See the full gallery on Posterous

Orviss Vault is an amazing mausoleum located in a thickly wooded area
in rural Calvert, TX. The mausoleum dates back to the late 1800’s,
and is thought to have cost $20,000 back then to erect. This structure
houses the remains of Mr. D.A. Orviss and Mrs. Louisa Orviss. Also
contained in the mausoleum are two smaller children coffins. It is
unknown what children are buried here as Mr. & Mrs. Orviss are not
known to have had any children.

Unfortunately over the years this burial site has been ravaged by
vandals. The window on the vault has been busted out, and the coffins
have been busted open. It is thought that grave robbers had taken the
jewelry off of the corpses inside, and some of the bones are missing.
This site has been a hotspot for other ghost hunting groups over the
years. Has this vandalism angered the spirits of Mr. & Mrs. Orviss,
enough so that their spirits can no longer rest?

Our investigation started about 9pm, and we teamed up with another 

local paranormal group, TFC Paranormal. Once we arrived, TFC was 

already in place and had notified us that they had been experiencing 

some paranormal activity. For example their EMF detector was
registering high readings off and on. When Aggieland GH arrived, we
started off by taking our own EMF readings and taking photos.
Throughout the night our EMF detector never did register any high
readings, nor did the detectors of TFC have any further activity.

TFC also alerted us that this burial site has provided them a lot of
evidence over the years. Their most striking evidence is an audio
clip that contains a disembodied voice that says “The children left.”

During the night, we had a total of 3 personal experiences. The first
happened while I was peering through the window of the mausoleum. I
thought I heard a whisper in my right ear, something mumbled, and I
could not make out what it said. I asked my partner that was closest
to me if he had said something, and he replied no. Below is the audio
clip of this occurrence. You can hear Casey from TFC talking. While
she is talking you can hear a “jumbled whisper.” You can then hear me
ask Jon if he just whispered something. The whisper is very hard to
hear, so listen closely.

whisper-12.mov Listen on Posterous

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