“What is the one paranormal experience or case that changed how you view the unexplained?”
For our first Paranormal Round Table, we’ve asked leading paranormal experts to tell us about the one paranormal experience or case that changed how they view the unexplained.
We’re please to have with use the following experts:
- John Moore, from Ottawa Paranormal Research and Investigations
- Rachel, Senior Researcher from the Paranormal Seekers
- Jeff DeELL, Owner and Creative Director of Paranova Productions
- Dr. Craig Gosse, MD., Paranormal Phenomena Research & Investigation
John Moore, Ottawa Paranormal Research and Investigations
Investigating on Canada’s east coast
In my early years of investigating on Canada’s east coast I spent most of my time investigating hauntings that I was able to access. In the 90’s for a 17 year old it wasn’t exactly something I was comfortable telling people I did for fear of ridicule and alienation. Something we all dealt with and lived through in our High School years. I was fortunate enough to be living in a reported haunted house in my home town. The spirit was of a previous owner of the house known as Mr. Farmer. He passed away in the 1950’s and his spirit was said to walk the stairs at night and had been seen in the front picture window looking out over the river with a hand on the glass.
This spirit had been seen by hundreds of people often driving by at night. Officers had been called to the house by witnesses of the spirit believing someone had broken in multiple times. I initially assumed from these reports this was most likely a residual haunting. While there I attempted to document Mr. Farmer’s spirit however he would never show himself for me while I was doing my investigations.
A friend of mine who had lived in the house told me of an encounter he had where Mr. Farmer had actually attacked him in the upstairs bedroom. Which was my room at the time. This gave me some hope that I may get something there but nothing I did would work. It was at this time I went against my better judgement and spoke to my friend again. He told me that part of the reason Mr. Farmer would show himself to him and had attacked him was that he was part native,
In Mr. Farmer’s time there was a lot of prejudice about inter racial families from the native reserve nearby and those from the village. After finding out this knowledge I was able to use that to try and connect with the spirit of Mr. Farmer. A few months later I was asleep on the couch watching a late night hockey game when I got a chilling feeling that I wasn’t alone. One that over the years I have felt many times when entering a haunted location. I turned to see the form of Mr. Farmer in the window staring out over the river. He looked over at me then disappeared. I hadn’t captured the encounter but I had learned 2 important lessons from this encounter that have stayed with me ever since. The first was always keep an open mind when investigating. Even though I had an idea what I thought was happening it wasn’t until I opened up to other ideas that I had success. The second was that these spirits were people too and that in order to interact with them it is best to know them and how their life may have been so that you can connect with them as you would a living person. My family stayed in that house for many more years before moving out in the early 2000’s when a flood hit and the building was forced to be torn down. Mr. Farmer and his house my have disappeared forever and I hope he is finally at peace but the lesson he taught me as a young investigator is one I’ll never forget.
Ottawa Paranormal Research & Investigations is an experienced team of paranormal investigators based out of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Our goal is to scientifically document, research, and investigate claims of paranormal activity. Together, our team has over 50 years of combined experience dealing with the paranormal, and we put it to good use in order to help those in need. OPRI specializes in dealing with paranormal activity that falls onto the more severe end of the spectrum. We provide our service free of charge– it’s not about the money, there are people out there who are going through some of the toughest times of their lives and we want to help them overcome them, and move on.
Rachel, Lead Researcher, The Paranormal Seekers
Investigating the Canadian Automotive Museum
Investigating the Canadian Automotive Museum honestly changed the way I view and research the paranormal.
During our very first investigation there years ago, we captured one of the clearest EVPs we’ve ever experienced. At around 2am, over a walkie talkie, we heard the voice of a little girl clearly calling out the name “Cameron.” Earlier that same evening, a psychic we were working with had mentioned there was a male spirit present who identified himself as Cameron. At the time, we thought it was incredible evidence, but if I’m being honest, we never really dug deeper into who Cameron actually was. We accepted the experience for what it was and moved on. You can listen to it here: http://www.theparanormalseekers.ca/canadian-automotive-museum—oshawa
Fast forward about 8 years, and we returned to the museum with that same psychic. During the investigation, we started talking about how we never really asked the important questions the first time around. So this time, we did.
What’s your last name, Cameron?
“Dart.”
Are you from Oshawa?
“Not really.”
How old are you?
“Technically 21.”
What happened to you?
“I was shot.”
What was the last thing you saw?
“Belgium.”
At that point, something clicked for me. Instead of just treating the experience as “cool paranormal evidence,” I started researching right there on the spot. It took a while and a LOT of digging, but eventually I found someone who matched the answers perfectly.
PVT. Cameron Dart.
He was born and raised in Burketon, Ontario, although his parents later moved to Oshawa. He served with the Canadian Army during the First World War and was killed in action roughly three weeks before his 22nd birthday. He is buried in Belgium.
Then came the detail we didn’t even realize during the investigation — his name is literally memorialized across the street at Memorial Park as “C. Dart.”
When we asked why he would be hanging around the museum, his response was simply:
“Why not?”
That investigation completely shifted how I approach paranormal research. Before that, I think I focused more on the experience itself — the EVP, the moment, the excitement. But afterward, I realized the real story often starts after the investigation ends. The paranormal isn’t just about collecting spooky evidence. It’s about history, context, and sometimes uncovering forgotten people and forgotten stories.
Could people argue the psychic somehow looked all of that up beforehand? Sure. But honestly, even I had difficulty finding the information, and research is kind of my thing. There’s no way somebody casually Googled all of that in advance and memorized it.
That case reminded me that sometimes the most important thing we can do as investigators is simply ask better questions.
The Paranormal Seekers are an Ontario-based paranormal investigation team dedicated to exploring historic locations, uncovering forgotten stories, and connecting the past to the present. Founded in 2004, the team combines historical research, investigative experience, and a balanced approach of skepticism and curiosity. The Paranormal Seekers focus on documenting experiences while preserving the history and integrity of each location they explore.
Jeff DeELL, Owner and Creative Director of Paranova Productions
My First Encounter with Sister Annie
Over the years I’ve worked with a number of paranormal investigators, exploring various locations in Atlantic Canada. Each place stands out for different reasons. Whether it was the overall vibe, the evidence we collected, or maybe something happened while we were there – like that one night in Wolfville, Nova Scotia at the Randall House Museum.
The Randall House is one of the oldest buildings in town, with a history of ghostly tales and strange activities associated with it. I’ve been there a number of times, however my very first visit stands out to me the most.
The museum hadn’t opened for the season yet, but I was meeting with the curator to film a segment for Maritime Haunting. After determining the kitchen would be the best location to shoot an interview, I headed outside to start collecting the gear I would need.
The front of the museum faces the main street, but I had parked on the side street next to it. As I stood at my vehicle deciding what needed to be taken inside, my investigator pulled up and parked behind me. We stood together for a moment, discussing the plan for the night – and that’s when we heard it.
In paranormal investigations, you hear all kinds of sounds. Some can be explained, some are theorized, while others remain unidentified. The sound that we heard, and both reacted to, was the unmistakable sound of three distinct knocks on a window. We both turned and looked up to the second story where the sound seemed to originate from. But with the setting sun right in our eyes, we couldn’t make anything out. I suggested it was probably the curator trying to get our attention, likely to get us to use the back door to bring the gear in because it was closer to the kitchen.
We went about our evening, forgetting completely about the event that had happened outside – until the story of “Sister Annie” came up.
Annie Randall was a recluse who once lived in the house with her brother Eardley. Never venturing outside, she would often spend her time peering out from the upstairs windows, occasionally banging on them to scare off young boys from town who had ventured onto her property to steal apples from the orchards below.
Could it have been Annie banging on the window, trying to scare us off, the same way she did to those boys?
When we asked the curator about it, she said she was downstairs catching up on emails during the time the knocking occurred. We decided to check the room upstairs where we believed the sound came from. To our surprise, there were rows of storage racks in front of the window, making it nearly impossible to get to. So who was knocking?
Was it the ghost of Sister Annie trying to scare us away from her house? Maybe. Or is her spirit caught in an endless loop that keeps replaying events that happened while she lived there? Perhaps. Either way, it seems that Annie’s presence still exists in one form or another at the Randall House Museum – and as we would later discover, maybe her sister Elizabeth too! But I’ll save that story for another time.
Jeff DeELL is the Owner and Creative Director of Paranova Productions. With a background in multimedia, radio, and television production, along with an interest in the paranormal, Jeff launched the production company Paranova Productions in 2022. Since then, it has become the home of paranormal shows such as “Maritime Haunting” and “Paranormal Contact” along with the online streaming service “Dark Wave Radio”.
Dr. Craig Gosse, MD., Paranormal Phenomena Research & Investigation
When Skepticism Met the Unexplained
I’ve always been interested in the paranormal, but I never fully believed in it. I was a skeptic who wanted to believe. That was until I had the following experience.
A friend of mine had purchased an old farmhouse, more than 150 years old, in a town just west of Toronto on the shores of Lake Ontario. It was one of the original farmhouses in the area and had originally belonged to a sea captain. The house was in need of refurbishment, but my friend was handy and looked forward to the opportunity.
He took me on a tour of the property shortly after purchasing it. While we were looking around the cellar, which had a more recent concrete floor, we discovered a curtained-off area in one corner of the basement. Behind the curtain were walls painted entirely black, covered with upside-down pentagrams and other occult symbols. It appeared to be some sort of devil-worship shrine.
My friend did not believe in the occult and simply said he would cover it over with white paint. Nothing more was thought about it at the time.
About six months later, I stayed overnight at the house while my friend was working the night shift. By this point, he had begun refurbishing the property, and it was still somewhat in a state of disrepair. I settled into a bedroom at the top of the stairs and prepared for the evening.
I was half asleep when I heard footsteps coming up the old creaky wooden staircase, a distinct trudge, trudge, trudge sound, exactly as a person would make while climbing the stairs.
I called out, “Is that you, Jack?”
There was no answer.
I immediately got up and stuck my head around the bedroom door. There was nothing there. No sign of anyone.
The experience puzzled me, but I assumed I might have been half asleep and dreaming. I went back to bed.
A short time later, I was awakened again by the unmistakable sound of footsteps ascending the stairs. This time, I felt a dreadful sense of unease and foreboding. I rushed to the doorway again and found nothing there.
Thinking there might be burglars in the house, I grabbed a hammer and carefully searched the entire home. I found nothing.
The cellar door was bolted shut from my side, and to be honest, I never had the nerve to go down there alone after seeing what had been discovered in that corner of the basement.
I returned to bed, but for the third time that night I was awakened by the sound of distinct footsteps coming up the stairs.
This time the feeling of foreboding was overwhelming. I no longer felt safe remaining in the house. I got dressed, left immediately, and checked into a hotel for the remainder of the night.
The next day, when I told my friends about my experience, they laughed and called me chicken. But I knew what I had heard, and more importantly, I knew I had felt some kind of presence.
About six months later, my friend rented the property during the day to a film production company that was shooting a coffee commercial.
The crew became increasingly frustrated because an elderly man kept appearing in an upstairs window and ruining their takes. They repeatedly knocked on the door and attempted to get his attention, but nobody answered.
That evening, when my friend returned from work, he was met by the director, who was quite annoyed.
“You told us the house was empty,” the director said. “There was an old man looking out the upstairs window every time we tried to shoot a scene. We knocked and knocked, but he wouldn’t come down.”
My friend informed them that no one had been in the house that day.
When he later told me about the incident, it seemed to validate my own experience and strengthened my suspicion that the house might indeed be haunted.
Fast forward more than ten years. I contacted the current owners of the property and asked whether they had experienced anything unusual.
They confirmed that they, too, believed the house was haunted.
The woman who owned the home described herself as psychic and believed the presence was that of the house’s original owner. According to her, he seemed to enjoy having company, particularly female company. She reported seeing him moving about the house and sensing his presence frequently. She also felt that he disliked her having male visitors.
There are many more details regarding the presumed haunting that I can share another time, but these experiences were enough to make me seriously question my skeptical view of the paranormal.
Dr. Craig Gosse, MD. Dr. Gosse brings an exceptional wealth of experience and expertise to PPRI. He is a licensed Psychiatrist and a distinguished specialist in Occupational Psychiatry, with an impressive academic and professional background that spans decades and includes some of the most renowned institutions in Canada and beyond.
Dr. Gosse earned his BSc, BMedSc, and MD from Memorial University of Newfoundland, completed his Internship at Ottawa General Hospital, and pursued his Residency in Psychiatry at the University of Toronto. He has also undertaken advanced studies at Harvard Medical School and participated in numerous Continuing Medical Education programs to enhance his expertise.