HAUNTINGS IN EL CAJON? PARANORMAL PROJECT TEAMS UP TO INVESTIGATE
By Rebecca Jefferis Williamson
Ghost hunting --just in time for Halloween! The El Cajon Paranormal Project, spearheaded by Kitty Davis and Jennifer Kacizak, is tracking down some spirited tales at a reportedly haunted neighborhood in El Cajon.
“We’re the real thing.” said Davis. The project was formed about a year ago and currently is focusing on a two square mile radius in El Cajon with borders set at Graves Avenue, Madison Avenue, and Ballantyne Street.
On October 26, a group of the paranormal investigators visited an apartment complex on Ballantyne preparing to do a follow-up research from a previous session and to do a “cleansing” of the apartment.
Eugene Ojeda lives in the apartment with his 15-year-old daughter Madeline.Ojeda and his daughter have had a variety of strange experiences such as the TV channel changing on its own, unexplained footsteps, cat’s eyes following something that isn’t there, plus much more.
Their friend, Lydia Cummings, has cell phone pictures with what looks like the classic image of ectoplasm floating in the living room.
According to Kacizak, cell phones are vessels that can store previously recorded E.V.P.s (or electronic voice phenomena). She played back recordings with unexplained voices she claims were made during the investigation at other El Cajon locations. Recordings ranged from simple responses like “yes” to phrases that included profanity.
Davis explained that the investigation on the 26th included team after team rotating into the apartment every 30 minutes. Each team included mediums, “ sensitives” or individuals who are sensitive to the spiritual world, and “skeptics” who try to debunk any findings. Approximately five teams went into the apartment, after which the cleansing was held. The group claims to have measured electronic magnetic frequencies (EMFs) not accounted for by power lines or other earthly equipment.
Electronic equipment familiar to anyone who has watched shows like Ghost Hunters was used---temperature gauges, laptops, recording devices, cameras set up for night filming in key rooms.
But a lower tech item—the herb sage-- was on hand for the cleansing.
“A growing collection of paranormal researchers aim to get to the bottom of hauntings in the city,” stated Davis. Others have reported a variety of ghostly sightings.
On the group’s Facebook page, Ari Kitti wrote about a home on Chase Avene. “M y husband caught some on video but the were just balls of light. I actually saw a man standing in front of my bed one night. One day at work I was just chatting with a lady there from another department and I was telling her I was thinking of buying a house. I told her where I was living and my address. She immediately said, "Did you know that house is haunted?"
If any of these claims are real, whose ghosts might be haunting El Cajon? Nobody knows, though theories range from ancient Kumeyaay Indians to victims of a smallpox epidemic to people who died in a church fire long ago.
The El Cajon Paranormal Project will investigate this area more and seeks anyone who can provide an in-depth history relating to this land area or other any information that might be helpful. To contact the El Cajon Paranormal Project, call 949-306-3048. You can also visit the group’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/events/209941699176835/.