A ‘pair-of-normal’ buildings

After experiencing so many unexplainable happenings at both Books on Becker and the Belen Art League Gallery, I was hoping someone could either validate or disprove my suspicions that we have paranormal activity taking place in both buildings.

Eventually, I connected with the Estancia Valley Paranormal Society, who agreed to come to Belen and conduct research at Books on Becker and the Belen Art League.

This team consists of Cindy von Hentschel, her adult son, Austin, and their colleague, Heather Sklar. They have one more member who did not accompany them the night they came to conduct their investigation.

Cindy said she’s always been sensitive to paranormal presences and she noticed her son, Austin, from babyhood, appeared to see or feel things that weren’t visible to others, and that he often validated her own perceptions.

Cindy and Heather met through their jobs and discovered they had the same interests in the paranormal and were both “sensitives,” a term used to refer to people who are thought to have an increased sensitivity to paranormal or spiritual energy.

The Estancia Valley Paranormal Society was formed two years ago so they could explore their interest in the paranormal and to help people who believed they were experiencing paranormal activity. Heather said when all four of them are working together, they are “a powerhouse, a beacon in the dark.”

They love learning about the history of the areas they are exploring and find it exciting to validate or debunk paranormal claims. The investigators told me they rely on their Christian faith to protect them from evil entities. They pray before, after and, sometimes, even during investigations. They use sage and Florida Water to cleanse spaces.

Some members wear specific jewelry for protection. Because Florida Water carries the essence of the plants, it’s often used like holy water to cleanse spaces, purify intentions and enhance spiritual practices.

The equipment they use consists of a voice recorder, full spectrum camera, EMF detector, MEL meter, spirit box, cat toys (light up balls), dowsing rods and regular video/photo camera.

The team arrived at our location at 6 p.m. on a Saturday night. There was no wind that night, the skies were clear and the inside temps were 69 degrees. I took them through each building so they could get familiar with the structural layout.

As I was walking them through BOB, Austin immediately homed in on the travel section, saying he felt a very strong presence in that area. (That’s where the shelves had often been in disarray).

They went back and forth between the two buildings, setting up their equipment, conducting their research and checking on things. I sat in my car to stay out of their way.

At the beginning of March, the team made a second trip down to Belen to share their findings with me. It was exciting to see their videos and hear the recordings that captured, what may be, paranormal activity.

The team’s report contains the following accounting for Books on Becker:

• A female voice was heard by both Heather and Cindy near the bathroom. This is the same area where a customer has reported seeing a dark figure out of the corner of his eye and feeling a strong presence.

• In one room, an orb can be seen moving both horizontally and vertically and then enlarging as it leaves the room. This orb did not have the fluttery movement of a flying insect nor did it have the floatiness of a dust mote. It appeared purposeful and the enlargement was not due to it moving closer to the camera.

• A female voice was heard by all three investigators near the children’s room, which is close to where the orb was caught on tape.

• Both Austin and Cindy felt cold spots in the hallway near the western section.

• The entire team felt the presence of an energy inside the building.

• They conducted an EVP (electronic voice phenomena) near the western books and could hear a female voice saying “OK.”

• They also heard the words Pennsylvania, Oklahoma and the name, Seth.

• They said they could hear other voices but not determine what was being said.

• Over at the BAL the team placed a cat toy in the hallway. This toy is a ball that lights up when touched. They placed it on the floor in front of a camera and then left the building. After a few seconds, you see the ball lighting up, stopping for a bit, and then lighting up again. Eerie to watch!

• Heather reported hearing a male’s voice coming from the classroom. In the hallway, their recordings caught a male voice saying, “Stay here.”

• A female voice was also caught on the tape but the words are indistinguishable.

• On the night of their investigation, Austin reported that he was putting a chair away in the classroom and heard a male voice clearly saying, “Hey there.”

The Estancia team reported they felt no evil or malicious energies in either building. The week after the team did their initial research, my daughter called me to ask if their investigation could stir things up. She said while she was sitting at the front desk, she felt a strong pressure on both of her shoulders. She reported that this energy was very different from the playful Zane Grey loving energy she was used to.

When she went to use the bathroom, she was hit with a blow of vertigo that she described as feeling like a tornado. I asked the team about this and they concurred that this could happen.

I too, have had several weird things happen since their visit. I was sitting on our office chair in front of the desk. I went to do something and when I returned, a smaller office chair was now in front of the chair I’d been sitting in. I had to move it to get back to the big chair.

I store boxes of paperbacks in one of the bathroom stalls. These boxes fill the entire space all the way out to the door. I went to open the stall door to pull out a box and found the door’s hook and eye lock was in place. No one could have crawled under there to lock it. No one could have reached over the top of the door to secure the lock. I had to use a mop handle to undo it to gain access.

Despite seeing the cat toy light up, the orb float around and hearing the voices on tape, regardless of the chair being moved and the bathroom stall door locked, I still tend to be in denial about the paranormal happening.

Why don’t you come visit the bookstore and the gallery and let me know what you think?