OPRI investigated Moore Houses in Carleton Place Ontario on Friday, January 13th 2017. We had a shorter work night than usual, and we had several guests there with us while we investigated the historic building. That being said, we scored some interesting potential pieces of evidence including two clear EVPs and a unexplained infra red image.

The investigation, and the reveal were both covered by Tara Gesner from www.insideottawavalley.com. Check out the piece featuring our reveal to the clients. bit.ly/2uAglmo 

Construction started on the St. Andrew's jail in 1816 and took 16 years to complete, and opened its cells for the first time in 1832. It was a "hell-hole" in every sense of the concept. It was designed and built specifically to discourage anyone from ever wanting to return there after their release. The idea of rehabilitation wasn't considered, its main goal was to instill fear in any would be repeat customers. Every detail down to the windows was methodically laid out to be as inhumane as possible. 

It is widely considered to be extremely haunted, that the cold granite walls still hold onto the souls that were claimed within those walls, as well as the those who were hung for their crimes on the jail's grounds. 

The historic jail leaves a profound impact on the living that visit. Just the thought of the conditions that the inmates faced while incarcerated at St. Andrews is enough to make the most hardened individuals thankful that they never had to stay here. Though no one accused or convicted of a crime will ever be sent here again, the jail didn't shut its doors for the final time until 1979.

John Moore, OPRI's founder and lead investigator has been granted permission to investigate the St. Andrew's jail in early July. Look for the results of that investigation later this summer. 

In the world of paranormal investigations, very rarely can you "teach and old dog new tricks." For the most part - with the exception of locations - our investigations run a similar pattern, we arrive, meet with the clients, investigate, close up shop, and then head home to review the hours and hours of material we accumulated. 

This past weekend OPRI did in fact experience a first for our group. We were joined by the members of Critical Junction, a local Ottawa podcast the focuses on the science of the unexplained, everything from the anti-vaxxer movement (which no one seems to be able to explain), UFOs and whether we are alone in the universe, all the way to our end of the spectrum... the paranormal and all other things that go bump in the night. 

Having a third party people there to view how we do things not only made for an interesting dynamic but it ensured that we were on top of our game. It was also a lot of fun to interact with people who while not a part of our group, were still integral pieces to our investigation that night. Our fearless leader John Moore had this to say about the experience,

"We had a great night working with the crew from Critical Junction. They showed great professionalism and immersed themselves into what we do in order to get a better understanding of the entire process."

As with anything you experience for the first time, it can often lead towards wanting to try it again - especially when dealing with the paranormal. I know for myself, when I first became part of the team I didn't want to stop until I knew one way or the other whether the dark offered anything to truly be fearful of. Marc Viau seems to be of the same mind,

"While we didn't necessarily find any evidence of something supernatural, it was still a very interesting experience for us. It was great having OPRI on the show, and we hope to do it again some time."

Well Marc, thank you and the rest of your team for joining us for the Macdonell-Williamson House investigation. We look forward to working with you again in the future, and we look forward to sharing what, if anything we found during our night in Hawkesbury.

Happy Haunting
​- OPRI 

Chip Coffey is a world-renowned clairvoyant, clairaudient, clairsentient psychic, as well as a fully conscious medium. He is also the star of A&E's shows Psychic Kids: Children of the Paranormal, and Paranormal State. 

Over the course of 2017, and in accordance with Canada's 150th birthday celebrations, Chip will be touring select Canadian cities with his live show Coffey Talk. He will be talking about his personal life, telling real-life paranormal stories and offering guidance about individual psychic abilities. 

The Ottawa show will be taking place on Thursday October 12th, 2017 at the Canadian Museum of Nature. Chip will also be conducting psychic and mediumship readings for randomly selected members of the audience. You can also purchase VIP tickets for a chance to meet Chip face-to-face, as well as to take part in the investigation that will culminate the evenings festivities. 

For tickets click on this link.

As we previously posted, OPRI will be investigating the Macdonell-Williamson House in Hawkesbury, Ontario shortly. We're looking forward to investigating such a historically significant home, especially this year as we celebrate Canada's 150th birthday.  

This investigation is also going to offer OPRI another unique opportunity, we are going to be joined by the members from the Critical Junction podcast. Critical Junction had originally reached out to us about appearing on an episode of their podcast dealing with the paranormal. Unfortunately we were unable to get a time and date down to make that happen. Instead of declining we thought it would be a cool to invite them out to join us on this investigation, thus enabling them to have some first hand investigative experience that would add to the content of their podcast. We're looking to working with the guys as they get to test their metal during their first paranormal investigation. Check them out on Facebook or subscribe to their YouTube channel. 

Check out their original podcast on the paranormal attached below. 

Happy Haunting 
- OPRI 

The Macdonell-Williamson House in Hawkesbury, Ontario - also known as Poplar Villa - was built by fur-trader John Macdonell in 1817. 

​He built the house because he had six children, and those six children needed a lot of room to grow. He "planned well" as six more children were born in the home making them a family of 14. 

As with many families of the time, once sickness and disease enter the home they didn't discriminate against their victims. Only a few of his 12 children made it to adulthood. 

The Williamson family purchased the home and property in 1882 from John's son, John B.P. Macdonell. They made several changes to the home over the years, and the descendants maintained the property until it was expropriated for the Quebec Hydro project at Carillon in 1961. 

Friends of the Macdonell-Williamson House Inc. were appointed custodians of this National Historic Site in 1997, and they continue to open the house on summer weekends as a cultural, historical and tourist center. 

There has been no confirmed instances of apparitions or spirits, but several volunteers over the years have stated that there is a ghost in the house. Reports of unexplained air-currents, strange noises, and just a general feeling of unease when left alone in the house have attributed to the feelings of a possible haunting.   

OPRI has been granted permission to be the first paranormal group with access to the house for an investigation, which will happen in the coming months. We look forward to investigating this historical landmark. Check back for the results of our investigation. 

Well in the world that we operate in, it is not often that even we consider something to be unique/strange. But, once again we have been shown that anything can happen, our founder and lead-investigator, John Moore, was interviewed for an article in www.spoonuniversity.com - that's right, a food magazine. Check out the piece here ​bit.ly/2mJ7xaH. A big thanks to Carleigh Reynolds for reaching out to us about this.

If you are ever in the Ottawa area, the Courtyard Restaurant in the  downtown area is worth visiting for some great food, and potentially a ghostly experience.  

Well, we did it again. During our investigation of the Moore House in Carleton Place, Ontario - which also acts as the Carleton Place Chamber of Commerce, we invited Tara Gesner from Metroland Media East and www.insideottawavalley.com to join us for our Friday the 13th ghost hunt.

Tara bravely sat through the entire investigation with us, and even took some time to participate in an EVP session/Ghost box session.

Check out her article for Inside Ottawa Valley here: http://bit.ly/2j8rp3B

Tara will also be doing a follow up piece once we have had the chance to go through all of the evidence we collected. 

Happy Haunting - OPRI