SOUTHERN ONTARIO PARANORMAL SOCIETY (SOPS)

SOPS Documentary Now Online!

2010-03-09T07:34:00.000-05:00

CHASING SHADOWS, an exploration into some of the Southern Ontario Paranormal Society's more notable investigations, the "evidence" that had been collected during their time in these locations and more! You can either watch the full version here, or just click on the Veoh logo on the player to watch it in a larger format. The documentary runs about an hour and 17 minutes in length. So, Please enjoy and we would love to hear you thoughts about CHASING SHADOWS. Either post comments here, on the SOPS site or on Veoh!

Chasing Shadows (Raw Version) from Steve Genier on Vimeo.

SOPS' 1st Meeting of 2010

2010-01-08T05:00:00.001-05:00

Folks, all of us here at Southern Ontario Paranormal would like to wish you all the best in this the new year of 2010!

Once again we look forward to a very active year of investigating and researching the paranormal on many levels. Especially joint adventures with old and new friends as we travel those dark haunted roads!

To begin 2010 we will be holding an open meeting Saturday, Jan. 16th. This is the give people who are interested in being apart of the movement in better understanding all things unknown. To learn how to investigate properly, safely and with complete professionalism. If you are interested in joining us for the meeting please contact us at sopsinvestigations@gmail.com for full details on the meeting. You can also visit our website www.sopsinvestigations.com and in our forums find further details as well!

Until then, we look forward to furthering the search for answers into the unknown!

Steve

SOPS-TV Has a New Home!

2009-11-19T01:16:00.002-05:00

We have found a new home to display SOPS-TV, a visual representation of our work in the field of paranormal investigation and research. Our first episode is now online for all to enjoy! Please let us know your thoughts, suggestions and more! Also, look for future material such as interviews with not only members of the team, but those of which we have had the pleasure of working alongside with. Until then please enjoy our first episode, a look into our investigation of the very historic Spruce Lane Farmhouse!

SOPS TV - Episode 1 Spruce Lane Farmhouse from Steve Genier on Vimeo.

SOPSTV Episode 1 Almost Complete!

2009-11-11T01:19:00.002-05:00

Finally, we are almost finished the editing for our first SOPSTV episode dealing with our first investigation of the very historic Spruce Lane Farmhouse. It also marks the beginning of yet another research project to determine rather the location does have any paranormal energies and what links they have with the location itself.

For the meantime, the first episode will present a brief look into the history of the location as told by those who volunteer at the location. Also, an inside look at our investigation and the possible evidence that we collected during our first visit. So, keep your eyes peeled here or on the main site SOPS Investigations

The Spooks of Halloween bring in the business.

2009-11-01T03:06:00.004-05:00

It's amazing how busy things really do get in and around the Halloween season. Yes, it is that time when it is thought that vale between this world and the afterlife are at their thinnest, and people always associate heightened paranormal activity around the season. Still, do you think it's a massive matrixing of the mind? Does activity really heighten around this time? Well, from my experience with investigating with SOPS and even before the group was formed, the experience was that the activity at least in our path has always been shortly after the new year has begun. It seems that once we get the stresses and joy of the holiday season behind us, SOPS tends to experience a spike in people contacting us about having activity in their homes or businesses.

Though this might be so, I'm still finding that there is really no set time of the season where activity really increases or decreases. Even during this time of the year, we do get emails etc. about people wanting their situation looked into, it is the medias that we find come a calling more. Yes, the paranormal makes for a great story for the Halloween season and more so this year with such movies hits as Paranormal Activity dominating the screen.

Anyhow, enough with this rant, I want to hear your thoughts, especially if you are fellow investigator or researcher.

On another note..tonight on Nocturnal Frequency Radio, the sometimes brutal open lines of Dark Discussions are back! Tonight the Witch Hunt and tales of personal encounters with the paranormal as well as much more!!

Tune in at 11pmEST or even call in with your tales or opinions at 914-803-4095.

Listen to Nocturnal Frequency on Blog Talk Radio

SOPS Interview on 88.3 FM, plus more!

2009-10-31T02:33:00.000-04:00

Wow! It's been awhile since last updating the good old SOPS blog! Anyhow, things have been extremely busy for the last few months. Here are a few new tidbits on what's going on with the group etc.

Steve and Chris of SOPS were invited to discuss the paranormal and play some of their more notorious EVPS! Enjoy!

SOPS Interview 88.3.mp3

The group was showcased in the October 30th edition of the London Free Press in London, Ontario. The newspaper was very interested in following or reporting on our recent investigation at the Grand Theatre. Here is the article

ARTICLE

Also, things are moving along quite well with Steve's upcoming documentary called CHASING SHADOWS. In post production and almost completed, it details 5 years of investigations, experiences and evidence SOPS has to share. Here's the latest teaser trailer for the film.

Nocturnal Frequency Radio

2009-02-27T02:53:00.001-05:00

2008 In With a Bang!

2008-02-23T06:59:00.004-05:00

Ok, sorry for the lack of updates here, but things have been extremely busy here at SOPS' Headquarters. Anyhow, to start off we contacted our first official full investigation which took place at the historic Winking Judge Pub in Hamilton which was covered by the Hamilton Spectator. The article made front page news which spawned me appearing in studio at radio station CHLN 900AM in Hamilton, on the Bill Kelly morning show. The funny thing about that was, it was suppose to be only 30 minutes but because of the call lines being jammed, they asked me to stay for an extra 15 more minutes. They have also made it known that they are very interested in having me back on.

Back with the Winking Judge investigation, we have come to the conclusion that our evidence collected there has sparked us to set up a follow up where we will be doing more EVP work as well as acquiring a thermal imaging camera to try and weed out more evidence and come closer to a final conclusion. More on that as the time draws nearer.

Also, it was just announce that SOPS will be returning to Waverly Hills Sanatorium this coming June for full, more thorough investigation there with Bluegrss Ghost Chasers. So, we certainly look forward to that return!

As seen on the frontpage of the SOPS official website.............

Yes, you may have noticed already, if you live in the Hamilton or surrounding areas, that there is something spooky on the front page of The Hamilton Spectator, and that spookiness is SOPS. The Spec was present during our investigation of the historic Winking Judge Pub in downtown Hamilton which took place this past Saturday. To read the full article online go HERE. Or you can see the video they took during moments of the investigation on their main page HERE.

SOPS founder Steve Genier was also a guest on the Bill Kelly morning show on CHML 900 AM this morning at 10:05 till 10:45am to talk about paranormal issues and take some calls.

You can now listen to the full interview. It's located in Investigations, under Media. It's in three parts, enjoy!

Waverly Hills Footage Released!

2007-12-06T18:16:00.000-05:00

Here is the first of the Waverly evidence that we captured during our private investigation down there this past August 2007. The final reports are on their way along with some rather interesting EVPS that we were able to capture there as well. Stay tuned for more on this!

This footage is taken from the IR surveillance cameras on August 6th 2007. In the footage there is a point when the ball moves in an almost playful manner. The ball was sitting on top of a quarter and returned to the quarter when it finished moving. Now, the floor was level and there was very little or no breeze as it was 106F stagnant heat. Even if there was a slight breeze, the ball would have been moving more and in a different manner. There were no others around this ball at the time of this movement.

SOPS Investigates a Museum in Buffalo NY!

2007-10-16T05:26:00.000-04:00

SOPS Lead Investigator's Steve and Rob were in Buffalo, NY last night to participate in a joint investigation lead by Jeff Ostrander founder and Lead Investigator of Jeff's Paranormal. The investigation also included Leah and Gary from Paranormal Investigations Society of Toronto (P.I.S.T).

Others involved were Debbie from Golden Horseshoe Paranormal and more. Our investigation was of a former Methodist Church built in 1895. The church later became a series of independent funeral homes, and then in 2000 was donated to the historical society for the Lovejoy community there in Buffalo. We would like to thank the folks there at the society for all their hard work, and their warm hospitality.

We would also like to thank Greg Hoffman for alot of background info in the reported paranormal activity there at the location. Greg is a local paranormal investigator who himself has investigated the museum.

Our full report will be online very soon. This is certainly a location we would like to visit once again for a full SOPS investigation.

Back from Waverly!

2007-08-09T20:02:00.000-04:00

I just wanted to let you all know we are now back from our trip to Louisville, Kentucky from our investigation of Waverly Hills Sanatorium. In the next few days we will be adding pictures and any evidence we may uncover from all the footage we collected. A full report will follow that as well. For now we would like to thank BJ Hodges and Tim Wise from Bluegrass Ghost Chasers for all the hard work and organizing they did for this investigation. Also, I would like say hi to our new friends in both The Spirit Research Society and EVP Help.com, it was a great chance to show that many of us here in the paranormal community can work together and share! We would also like to thank Patrick, Jason, Maria and Sean for all their help and patience with our equipment with not only the set-up, break down and carrying up and down 5 flights of stairs in 106F temps. Please stay in touch as we look forward to future joint investigations where ever they maybe. Also, SOPS isn’t done with Waverly, more on that soon!

Next Meeting, Darnely Mill Ruins and more!

2007-06-24T22:05:00.001-04:00

As it stands we will hold our next meeting on Friday July 13th for 8pmest in Hamilton. If you are interested in attending please email us and we'll get you the full details on location. We will also conduct a public haunt as well depending on weather conditions. This will be the last meeting be for SOPS heads out to Louisville, Kentucky to conduct a private investigation of the Waverly Hills Sanatarium with Bluegrass Ghost Chasers on August 5th.

A few members of the SOPS team visited two locations this past Friday evening, those being the site of the Old Dundas Train Station in Dundas, Ontario which was the scene of a horrific train accident in 1934, which killed around 18 people and injuring several more. Once there, only the bridge remained. Though the only real evidence we collected are some EVPs, there were strange noises which in the most part were due to animals.

The team then headed out to the ruins of Darnley Mills, and old paper mill devastated by two fires which eventually just left it abandoned in the early 1940's. While there, there was certainly some interesting things happening, from mysterious footsteps being heard, to faint moaning or dull screaming to the classic low hum often reported, though that being pretty much the vibration from the running river nearby. Still, no real evidence was yet to be collected from the audio and video taken that night. More details will be added to our investigations and evidence pages as they are collected.

DeForest Clean up and new home investigation.

2007-06-13T05:25:00.000-04:00

Members of SOPS conducted a volunteer clean up on this past Saturday June 9th of the abandoned pioneer cemetery called DeForest. We shot a short video blog which can be viewed HERE! It's truly sad to see a heritage site like this just wit away unattended. We have been researching and conducting EVP sessions there for over 2 years now and it continues to be a very hot spot indeed.

Later in the day, we also held our first annual SOPS BBQ which turned out quite nicely. Pictures can be viewed on our official site in the evidence and a gallery areas!

Also, coming up in the near future, the group will be conducting yet another private home investigation coming up July 6th as well as taking a trip down to Louisville, Kentucky for an overnight investigation of Waverly Hills coming up on Sunday August 5th. We will be apart of a joint venture with a local group called Bluegrass Ghost Chasers..SO, stay tuned for more on those events!

The group is still looking to find a home in the Burlington, Ontario area for our monthly meetings. if anyone has any suggestions please let us know, contact us at sopsinvestigations@gmail.com .

Update Ramblings

2007-05-03T19:02:00.000-04:00

Ok, back again with some updates. The group has since moves it's website to a new server/host and domain name which I believe posted in the last entry. SOPS has also conducted two private residence investigations, one location there was also a follow-up. So, if you want to be technical, then 3. We have a couple on the horizon in the very near future as well.

The group also returned to the German Mill, which for the most case provided us with no evidence at all. So, other then the EVP Rob was able to get in an earlier scouting trip there, the location is pretty quiet.

Myself, Rob and Mike also conducted two scouting trips to the Century Manor in Hamilton. Which I might add is very interesting and very creepy. The building itself is now not in use, built in the mid to late 1800's. For more info on it's history visit HERE.

During our scouting trip, I did take still shots, audio and video. I was able to capture some very interesting audio from the back stairwell area. As I was alone, in the recording you'll here what sounds like a sigh with a strange rumbling or deep tapping noise. None of this was present during the recording itself. I found though on the second trip, I did experience another strange audio phenom and is documented in the video I took of the trip. For now here are some pictures of the night and the audio sample.

Century Manor Audio 1

SOPS New Home!

2007-04-14T03:22:00.000-04:00

Folks we have now moved to another server and a new domain name. There were just too many restrictions with the old one, so it was time to move on. Our new home url is HERE! Book mark it, just remember it is still very much under construction.

Also, our monthly meeting will be on Friday April 20th at 7:30pmEST, for those wishing to attend, just send me an email to steve@sopsinvestigations.com

More Deforrest Activity!

2007-03-25T18:26:00.000-04:00

Ok, by now many of you would have guessed that Deforrest is certainly on of our favorite spots! Well, it is..also great for training purposes. Anyhow, after the group's monthly meeting a few of us went up there for a EVP session which turned out to be very fruitful indeed. First, the discovery of new grave markers that were perviously hidden under many layers of dead leaves in the interior of a wrought iron fenced family plot.

Also, one of SOPS' newest members, Chris was able to capture a very clear class A EVP of what sounds like a little girl. What she says, we'll leave that up to you, don't what to matrix here! Examples are below, the first being the unedited version, the second being the slightly edited version.

DEFORREST EVP (UNEDITED VERSION)

DEFORREST EVP (SLIGHTLY EDITED VERSION)

Again, let us know your thoughts on the EVPS!

March Madness!

2007-03-18T10:27:00.000-04:00

Ok, sorry for the lack of any real updates here. SOPS has been growing like crazy with and addition of several new member including some psychic investigators to help vary our look into cases. Which I might add has been picking up, we are in fact in between two cases. The first one was at the start of March and we are still going over video and audio material taken from that night. The other case is coming up on the 30th of March. This week coming up with see us join up for our monthly meeting, which I might add is going to be the largest gathering so far. There is hints of us spliting the group up into regions. Better coverage that way. Anyhow, on this last investigation. Myself and Rob have submitted our reports which can now been read over the SOPS website. In the meantime here are a couple of pictures to look over. They are of what maybe shawdow people/person or energy caught on camera. I tried to recreate the situations several times without any luck what so ever. Have alook and let us know what your thoughts are...

A cold night in Deforrest!

2007-02-14T05:49:00.000-05:00

I was the only one in attentance from the SOPS groups for a small and very intriguing investigation of a favorite hotspot, Deforrest Pioneer Cemetery. I was joined by the core members of IPA-Groups of Southern Ontario Kate, Anna and Marce. Kate and I have spoke in great length the last few days about our views on the Paranormal community here in the Southern Ontario are and agreed that there needs to be more networking amongst it's several stray outlets. This led us down to talking about several different locations and joint investigations. Well, our first one came sooner then later. The area being the small nested abandoned cemetery in the foothills of the Kelso mountain range along the Bruce Trail just off of the Milton township line. One would drive by without even noticing that there lays a portal in time, one that yields some rather intriguing secrets. There, you don’t see much, a small scattered array for much weathered grave marked that date pretty much between the 1840's to the 1870's, though there are some later additions up until the early 1900's.

What interesting with this you ask, well it is the way they are aligned, scattered outline of the cemeteries aged boundaries. Broken, toppled and all but forgotten are many of the visible stones. A family formation in the far North-west corner of the grounds, where a good portion of the Campbell family lay. As you walk up the hillside to the top where the cemeteries boundaries begin, there is a strange wrought iron plot situated just at the very entrance on the left. Where in the fenced off area, there is only but one unmarked stone laying there as if waiting for it’s first burial. Or is it, this is one area of interest that I’m sure there is more too it’s visual. The fence is accompanied by a tower of a marker or at least in this cemetery where the writing like most of the stones in the area are weathered to the point of being unreadable. There is one more point of interest I wanted to shed light onto before getting into the details of that night of Feb 11 2007, that being the sole stone sitting in the interior of the cemetery boundaries. This alone gives a strangeness to it all in itself. The plot of a 2 year old baby, living in a harsh land in a harsh time. Still, with past visitations to this plot there have been several people who have noticed a certain energy or vibe to this direct plot. More on this later.

With much of the core SOPS members absent in presences, except for myself. Though with short notice and timing that was to be expected. I met up with Kate, Anna and Marce from IPA at the Tim Horton’s just south of the location we were to embark upon. There, I met all three to warm up and gear off for our adventure into the cold night.

Driving north on Walker’s line is always a treat, giving it’s winding roads, it’s roadside attractions such as Salem Pioneer cemetery, Mount Nemo and of course the countryside that engulfs the small road in the distance. Surely in use for many years, a dirt route to farms and smaller villages like Lowville and many more. This road alone has it’s history. Once crossing Derry road, turning around and parking at the base of the hillside and the small intersection which pretty much provides the only light in the area. Guiding the girls from IPA up to the top of the hillside and the opening of the portal or at least what I like to think it is. There, like always you get a sense of an unnerving calmness, different from most cemeteries. From there an area sweep to make sure that we are the only ones there, including what animals maybe in the area.

For the most part snapping pictures and taking about what little is known about Deforrest and it’s inhabitancy if you will. Then, I let the girls explore the boundaries and listen to their thoughts. You see, that is a major part of my way of investigating, to absorb not just the surroundings, but people’s thoughts and energy as they too reveal interesting aspects of what surrounds us all. The after talking to Marce for awhile about the Campbell family plot, Kate and Anna struck and area that many in the past have question, the lone stone marker in the interior of the cemetery. They have sensed it’s foreboded energy, knowing that something isn’t right. As it laid there alone, not even the snow had gathered near it making way for a barrier of sorts. Animal tracks walked around it, none even coming close in approaching it. Even when we walked around the stone observing it, we walked clockwise. Now, myself I was able to approach the stone without any dizziness or reverse pull, still that means nothing as mentioned before this is not the only time that someone has picked up on this stone’s energy.

After myself asking questions, trying to piece things together, yet another door had opened. The feel of magic in the area, what connection that may reveal is unknown at this time ,but does warrant further investigation. After chatting for awhile of all the possibilities of what secrets Deforrest holds, the cold weather was also telling us that it was time to go. In some cases, it was the frost bitting at some toes. In all though, this being a short visit, it did however opened and posed some really important questions about Deforrest and the immediate area. As always after visiting there, my interest only peaks yet another notch.

No readings were taken as it was just too cold. There were some pictures taken during the visit and well be uploaded soon!

First Meeting of 2007!

2007-01-12T20:35:00.000-05:00

The team and any interested people will be meeting and are welcome to attend our first meeting this Friday, Janurary 19th for 7:30pmEST. Place is yet to be determind until we have a number in terms of people attending. Details will be update asap here as well as through email. If you's like to be apart of this, please contact me at steve@southernontarioparanormal.com . We are also looking to get things rolling for possible trips to Mansfield Reformatory in Ohio for sometime in late spring early summer. Again if interested contact me at the above email address.

Merry X-Mas and Happy New Year!

2006-12-23T12:31:00.000-05:00

Wishing you all a safe and sound Christmas and New Years! We'll see you all in 2007 with more exciting investigations, pics and evidence!

SOPS Year-end Meeting!

2006-12-10T06:17:00.000-05:00

I'm setting up our first year-end team meeting for a review of our 2006 investigations as well as a look forward to 2007. Anyone in the paranormal community is welcome to come out or if you are interested in joining our team, you are also more then welcome to attend. As it stands, the meeting will take place Sunday December 17th for 7pmEST at the Queen's Head Bar and Resturant. The details are subject to change and I will post them as they do. If you are interesting in coming and would like direction on how to get there, email me at steve@southernontarioparanormal.com

SOPS Hits Private Sector!

2006-12-07T12:28:00.000-05:00

SOPS is a day away from officially kick starting it's first private residence investigation as a group. I have spent the past 2 weeks doing some research and background history into the client's household. As of right now, I'll have to be mum on all the particulars due to infringement of our protocols. Though, once we have conducted the investigation this Friday evening and given the ok to share certain information on our gatherings, look for more!

Once the home investigation passes, SOPS will be on a short hiatus due to weather and the holiday season. We however will be gearing up for an exciting 2007. If you know of anyone who would like us to investigate their homes, or if you have any suggestions as to where a great spot to investigated would be, then visit us on our homepage and send us an email!

We will be setting up a team meeting between after the house investigation and X-Mas to gear up for the new season! If you are interesting in coming out, let us know and we'll keep you in the loop as to the location, time etc!

Deforrest Round 3

2006-11-26T17:12:00.000-05:00

Though for some of the group this was the second trip to this eerie little hillside cemetery in Milton. This trip around myself, Rob and Maria yielded some pretty interesting vibes, of course that was heightened with the pea soup thickness of the fog which rendered many of the camera shots full of mist orbs. We spent just over two hours taking video, audio and of course EMF reading and found Deforrest to be in a very active mode that evening. Maria has already captured an EVP from the area where many of seen the "Ghost Digger" on top of the hillside right beside the roadside. An EVP I'll post later once it's posted on SOPS mainsite . I myself have yet to go through any of my audio or video footage from that night, but will so later on tonight in hopes of finding something. The there of us had a very lenghty conversation which Maria recorded which would be nice if someone from beyond would have joined in, as of right now, not sure if that was in fact a reality or not. Anyhow, in the meantime here are some rather interesting still shots I took from the hillside that night! Enjoy!

"Church Bell" Or?

2006-11-21T12:00:00.000-05:00

As mentioned in the last posting, I was able to discover what sounds like a faint "church like bell" ringing/chimming every few seconds throughout the video footage taken from our investigation of the Hermitage ruins. Now, when you listen to this particular clip, you'll hear myself and team member Rob talking and in the background you'll hear the chimming. Turn up your volume for best results. Now, there was no church in the area, and there is surely no reason for a church bell to be going off that late at night either. This audio evidence was not present in any of the team's audio recordings taken that night as well, nor was there an sign of this while present at the ruins which makes this very strange. Have a listen and let me know your thoughts!

HERMITAGE "CHURCH BELL" VIDEO AUDIO

ISOLATED CHURCH BELL

The Hermitage plot thickens!

2006-11-19T07:22:00.000-05:00

After going through just 2/3's of the video footage taking from the Hermitage ruins from last Sunday night's investigation, I have found a few rather very interesting details. As some of you know that the audio and digital stills taken from the area turned up some activity, that coupled with the over all senses the team harboured while there. We, I can now add that I have found two more items of interest. One, that throughout the video's audio, there is a faint chiming almost like that of a church bell in the distance. Now, while we were there, I for one did not hear this and nor did this turn up on the digital audio records that we took. Secondly, I believe I have also captured what looks like and anomaly or an apparition flying by the view of the camera somewhat in the background just after I turned the camera back on after it had mysteriously turned off itself. More on this once I'm able to isolate the frames...

Going through it a few times, it's not fog or breath at all as those two elements would be on going or appearing more then one time especially when were talking near the camera. This anomoly is just a few seconds, shooting across the view of the camera. Just before going by, you'll notice the camera's focus blurring and quickly re-adjusting itself as if it detects the faint mass rolling by.