Paranormal Phenomena Investigated in Wine Country

From Temecula Patch: Paranormal Phenomena Investigated in Wine Country
Mysterious photos, ghostly apparitions and signs of an ancient dwelling were investigated at a house in Temecula.

Full Tech Paranormal Investigations, a Riverside-based group, trekked out to a rural Wine Country home near Lake Skinner on Monday in hopes of verifying -- or dismissing -- the residents' fears that their home is haunted.

Numerous unexplained events happened at the home during the last few years, they told the lead investigator, Jon Kirchoff.

The investigator and his colleague, Jayne Light, sat in the homeowners' living room with two of their friends talking about what they experienced.

The homeowners -- a well built middle aged man with silver hair and his upbeat wife with a propensity for smiling -- wished to remain nameless for fear people might trespass onto their property in hopes of finding ghosts.

While sitting in that same room recently, the female homeowner looked up and saw what looked like a Native American woman dressed in traditional animal skins holding what appeared to be a bundled baby, she told the investigator in quiet tones.

The woman walked to a 500-year-old oak tree and disappeared, she said.

“She walked right into the tree. She looked beleaguered and tired and never looked in my direction,” she said.

The couple's friends also experienced things they can't explain while at the house.

Recently, several friends were sitting around a bonfire on the property and saw orbs of light around that same tree, they said.

People saw unexplained clouds of mist in that area too, the homeowner said.

“One of our friends is extremely skeptical and could not believe what he was seeing,” she said.

The couple thinks their home is the site of an ancient Indian village, they said.

An expert on Native American culture came to the property recently and identified artifacts and signs that a village most certainly existed on their land.

A creek runs through the property, which is shaded by tall trees and dotted with large granite boulders. Numerous smooth indentations in several boulders may have been used for grinding, the couple said.

“The expert pointed out grinding bowls peppered throughout large granite boulders along with tools used to grind acorns. He also pointed out a wash basin and scorch marks on other boulders,” the husband explained.

The couple took the investigators out to the area near the oak tree. Kirchoff opened his toolkit and pulled out a handheld device he said "measures energy."

He held it in front of the tree and read off a series of numbers to his co-investigator as she jotted notes.

Kirchoff is no stranger to supernatural situations. His journey into the world of paranormal began when he was an investigator for the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.

“As an investigator, I would sometimes have to investigate unattended deaths and photograph the scene,” he said.

One of those pictures changed the course of his life.

“I took a photo and over the body was a mist. It was unexplainable and definitely there,” he said.

He showed the photograph to his colleagues who joked that it could be a ghost. It wasn't a joke to Kirchoff.

From there, he threw himself into studying and learning everything he could about paranormal science. He purchased a simple tape recorder and a digital camera and began investigating cases.

He founded his company, Full Tech Paranormal Investigations, in 1992, and his team of investigators and their arsenal of high-tech equipment has done investigations throughout California, Nevada, Oregon and Arizona.

“We aren’t there to prove there is a ghost or a haunting. We aim to give a reasonable explanation as to what is occurring and what the homeowners are experiencing,” he said. “After an investigation we painstakingly review all of the footage gathered and reveal our findings to the owners,” he explained.

Through all of his investigations, Kirchoff says about fifty to sixty percent are deemed paranormal.

The investigation at the property in Temecula was just a walkthrough, he said, and it revealed some interesting findings.

The team was scheduled to go back to the home within two weeks to perform a longer investigation.