Your welcome, Tonecop. I don't want you guys to get hurt or anything.

Nice pictures, Astrofan. To bad the church is gone. But I wonder if the hauntings is still going on.

Hi Moonprincess,

A couple weeks ago, I was sitting with my coworkers after work eating at TGIF restaurant near the 1960 overpass. I was asking some of my coworkers about any activities in this area. An older gentleman who resided in this area for the last 20 years, was sitting next to our table and overheard the conversation. This gentleman explained to us that he did hear of stories about the area and weird images that appeared around some parts of downtown humble. He also indicated that when the business were booming and more outlets were being built, stories began to die down. My coworkers thought it was funny but still disturbed that this area could be in a past graveyard. I personally feel that the stories began to fade as this area is booming which is why I moved.

Cool! Keep up the work!

Ok. Thanks for that info. Yeah, sometimes hauntings really do die down. Then eventually it'll disappear altogether. It's somewhat sad.

That is the thing. Does the image of a place or area make a place haunted? I feel that humble during its early years was very isolated and a haven for people to create hauntings and legends. I do believe that both cemetaries were tampered and disrespected by the builders of the railroad companies and downtown developers. I also believe that the locals during the early years created this hauntings and legends to either scare outsiders from moving in or an imagination thought up from the young crowd. An example would be the gentleman I met at TGIF. He indicated to me that this rumor was most widely used during his early years and eventually died down as he got older and the town was booming.

I will admit that I am a skeptic and did indicate it to all the members that I will participate with in the investigation. I also did indicate that I have an open mind and subject to change with hard evidence such as seeing paranormal activities with my own two eyes. I am not saying that they don't exist, but indicating that other explainations are in place. An example would be how people described seeing red eyes in the forest near the cemetaries. I easily explained this as animal eyes reflecting off both artificial and moon light. I am an avid hunter and hunted many game both day and night. Red glowing eyes were indicators that they are present near our vicinity. There will always be a pro and con and most of the time I fit in the con section of paranormal invesitgation. I will admit that people I know do have legit claims to paranormal activities and would like to look at their evidence.

I would say the red eyes are from Deer. We see a lot of them in the middle of the night, standing by the roads sometimes.

I mentioned it before, but my mom's church went to the cemetery several weeks back and cleaned it up; I didn't go, so I can't say all that they did. But she said there were no signs of bums or anything. Of course they seem to migrate, for whatever reason, and might come back.

Well, that's my two cents for the day.

There are alot of old fashioed people in humble still, that are against it developing further (even an amish shop accross the street from Cafe East), so it is a possiblity that some of the many Humble haunting stories were created by loacals. There are other stories there as well, such as in old town humble, which is basically downtown humble. There are many houses there, and the city was wanting to tear them down and such, and I have heard stories about the local people not letting them beacuse of some sort of haunting or something. I am not entirely sure if i conveyed that correcty, as I didnt hear it from any official source, just one of those things you hear from someone. But it does fit the descritption of the activites of a superstitious town.

I might do some more research into other hauntings in humble, to see what I come up with, just for my own curiosity, but I will post my findings on here.

One more thing, I dont know if any discussed this previously (i dont recall it in the thread) and I dont know if it was brought up outside the thread, but if anyone has a non mechanical (ie digital audio recorder), it would be great to have along on the investigation for EVP recording.

You might consider haveing some questions ready when you get there (i am hopeing I can come still). Ask a question, and wait for a response.

If it IS a mechanical recorder, make sure you use high quality tapes, and if at all possible, and external microphone. As the external mic will cut down on the mechanical noise that is transfered to the tape.

If you need any help digitally enhanceing the audio after you have it, to search for anyhting on there, I can help with that, as my band has all the equipmenet/software in place already for editing audio.

On another note, I am not sure how big the group will be, and how educated they are as to the standards of ghost hunting. I posted a long time ago about makeing sure you keep a level head and dont do anything crazy out there to keep your findings vaild.

I reconmend everyone read this article that will be participateing, as it will put everyone on the same page as to what to expect from eachother.

http://ghoststudy.com/new9/thecode.htm

Its not nessicary, and im not telling you to do so, but, I believe it to be a good guidline as to how to carry out a proper vaild investigation. Some of it might not be applicable, but its all encompasing.

EDIT: I would also consider doing the EVP recording during the initial walk through as well. Have the list of questions, and ask them in the same order. Some with a stop watch can time the responses, give about 1-3 minutes for a response (or your own judgement). I would do about two minutes personally.

Thank you Tussaud,

The people in our group so far are very level headed and eager to invesitgate in a civilized way. We are actually conducting an invesitgation to determine if any paranormal activities are present. Once that is accomplished than the next phase will be decided by the group. I am pretty much in charge of providing protection for the group and supplying certain equipments. The knowledge and expertise will be handled by another member who I feel confident that can accomplish this task.I will take a look at your sources for more information as any help is greatly appreciated.

I recently purchased a digital recorder and plan to take it on the investigation. Thank you for providing the link, I'll check it out.

Hi OriginalGuest,

You seem to have more knowledge in this area than probably most of us. Can you provide us a history of this area and what you and your family knows. Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Does anyone know what denomination operated the old Church before it closed down?

I decided to make a solo trip to the overpass today this morning. I did find the dollar theatre and went to the back side of the area towards the tracks. I did find the trail leading to the area which everyone in the post describes as a hobo encampment. Nobody was around and it doesn't look like anyone was around for a long time. I began looking for this gravesite but was not able to find one. I did take pictures but will post later on as I need to get it developed. I did not feel any negativity or any weird activity. I was talking to my relative on the cell phone while in this area, so reception is good in this area with no weird interferences. Let me know what you think.

ToneCop:

Hey, sorry I couldn't call you back this weekend. I'm returning to Houston from Boston, Mass. today.

I'll be ready!
JulesNTX sent me an e-mail regarding future time and dates.

By the way, I won't be taking any of my real guns, but I do have a deterent I plan to take with me. At 19 shots/second.... it will have anyone curling into a ball and cry, but most importantly still not lethal. I can blind someone, even if they had a shotgun in their hands. People can't harm people if they can't see. It has every safety mechanism that's on a fire arm. BTW- I have plenty of gun control training, but since you have the authority, you the man to carry the piece.


Hope we don't run into any crazy kats out there.

ToneCop and I went to the location last night. I brought a Canon EOS Rebel digital camera with me to take some pics....and uh, various forms of protection underneath my coat My camera malfunctioned just like NME had previously mentioned that his camera did when he went a long time ago. My camera would not work in a certain area outside of the woods. We did not venture into the woods since it had just rained, but wanted to look around on the outskirts. There were only a few times out of about 50 that the camera would take a pic as I faced the woods. If I turned and faced the back of the building in the alley, it would snap a pic just fine with and without a flash. I've tried to attach a few pics, but it won't work. I'll see if I can figure out the problem and post them in a bit.

We did see some glowing eyes in the woods across from the tracks. One for sure was a raccoon and the others possibly rats or something of that nature. The camera malfunction seems to be a recurring theme in that area and did get me spooked a little. It didn't malfunction until we walked further along the path of the woodline. We didn't stay too much longer after that. If there's a logical explanation, we will do our best to find out what it is. It was really weird that the malfunction only happened in a certain area and only while facing the woods.

We'll keep y'all posted on further developments.

That is strange about the camera, was there any evidence of draining on the battery, cell phones affected?

I never used my cell phone, but checked it and it seemed to have full signal strength. As far as the battery draining on the camera, I can't say I'm certain that's what happened. It was pretty dark, so I didn't have a clear view of the battery meter. The camera worked fine after we walked back to our vehicles.

what is the red led flashlight for?

You might try taking a known working camera along with that one. To see if it occurs on more than one at the same time and to compare the nature of the malfuntion. If it was a new camera, cant rule out manufacturing defect untill the camera is more proven in the line of duty. If it was good and used well, then test with another good one.

Also good ol' 35mm works wonders as well.

I would be interested to see if two camera malfuntion at the same points though, a known camera to work always, and the camera that malfunctioned for you. If I were able to go, i would take mein, ive had it for years, back when 4.1 megapixels was the max you could get. (i hate how fast technology makes my toys obsolete )

Once you located the cemetary, it will be important to measure the distance from it to where the camera malfunctioned, and see if it can be recreated at different points on the border from different directions.

Also note the time of day, and see if it works during the day time, and not at night, or ect. If you have a camera phone, try that as well, just as an added variable.

When you make trips there, keep a written log, of times events happen, and approx location. This will help review of it, and also help to plan future expeditions. Also note and unuseual happenings with digital vs. analog watches, and I would carry a windup watch as backup. Note anything, from sounds (other than birds, and useual stuff expected), unusual feelings, something seen out of the corner of your eye, anything like that. Carry a recorder with you as well. This will help in compareing the written record to the recorded record. (most of this of course if for the main investigations where there will be a large enough group to assign someone the task of record keeping. one or two people going out there its probley not practical to do more than just a writen or recording log, but not both. )

i love scientfic investigatoins

Tussaud,

I'll send you an e-mail with the confirmed meeting dates to see if you can join us. I will make notes on last night, but it was just a preliminary short visit since I haven't been there before. The camera I brought was my Dad's and he has had it several months. He has used it extensively and has never had any issues with it. We will definitely have more cameras on hand during the investigation. Tonecop took pics with a non-digital camera during the day yesterday and didn't have any issues. I'll have to confirm with him whether it was a disposable or regular 35mm with batteries.

A moderator resized these pics for me. Anvil also gave me some tips on how to do it myself with the software that I have....thank y'all .

I have several more pics, but will just post a few.

Pic 1 - This is one of only a few that worked while facing the woods and it was taken without flash, but Tonecop was pointing a flashlight at a tree when i took the pic.

Pic 2 - This is the back of the building on the edge of the woods and was taken with flash.

Pic 3 - This was taken with a flash at one of the entrances where the woods begin. The railroad tracks run just on the other side of the trees. Further down the woodline from here is where the camera started malfunctioning.
[attachmentid=28826][attachmentid=28827][attachmentid=28829]

Just out of curiosity, which side of 1960 were you on, the north or south side of the road?

I posted on the wrong topic.... sorry guys

Thanks for the pics Jules. They are cool. I'm sure you noticed the phone number on the dumpster...

nice catch there. irony ? lol. i didnt notice that at first.

red light travels the least amount of distance. Green, however is the oposite. The human eyes can see more shades of grey than any other color of light. That's why night vision modes are green.

I received some private input from Jonb...thank you so much...you're great!!! .

It has been suggested that my camera may have had difficulty if the auto focus was on, but the flash off. Since the wooded area was dark, it didn't have an illuminated object to focus on while taking a pic. I'll definitely put it on manual focus if I start having difficulties next time.

Hi NME,

You don't have to take anything with you but your equipment. I see no threat in this area or any other activity which would require it. Both of us went to the site and we did our mini investigation to know the area. We did come to some explaination and some more questions. We did find the glowing eye bandit which turned out to be several raccoons. Julestx was having problems with her camera while focusing on certain areas of the wooded area in the tracks. Some of her pictures she took revealed several images which I cannot explain. I wanted a camera expert to offer his advice on this issue. Let me know what you think.

We never had a red flashlight. I had a bright tactical surefire brand and Julestx had a maglite. none of our lights had red lenses.

Hi Anvil,

My cell phone and camera worked fine during my daytime visit. I did not bring my camera during the night visit as it was a cheap kmart brand. I will need to develop it later.

try taking a traditiional camera instead of relying on a digital ones batteries

[font=Tahoma]Oh pish posh (not really).

So, we (my friend and I) visited this area (Pancho's, Dollar Theater, woods)...

Saw a whole lotta nuthin' (you're gonna hate us).

We took pics, but nothing showed. We did think we saw some red eye looking things, but they were just flowers when we zoomed into the pic on the comps.

Did get some strange vibes (jittery on the inside, shaky legs, anxious feeling), but that's about it. Some major transformers are back there, so it could be from the electricity (watch "Ghost Hunters" much? An EMF reading would probably zing).

About the coolest thing was seeing a bird of some kind fly overhead (duck or owl, couldn't really tell, but it was a very silent flight whatever it was).

My friend swears she took more pictures than what actually showed up on her camera, but she admits she may have overestimated her picture taking (so could be something there, but maybe not...who knows).

Can someone tell us exactly where the cemetary is? We couldn't glean from the pictures earlier in the thread where it was located in relation to Pancho's (North or South of 1960?). I do remember as a younger kid (say about 4th/5th grade) walking back in that area with my dad's girlfriend's daughter and one of her friends (walking along the train tracks right there and running into a cemetary, but amn't sure if it's the same cemetary that the pictures show).

We looked at the pictures of orbs, but are rather skeptical of orbs in general (thank you "Ghost Hunters"). Has anyone any other pictures with quasi-evidence not relating to orbs?

We also took some video recording with sound, but didn't find any EVP or images of anything strange.

All in all, disappointed, but maybe it was an off night. After all, it was Friday the 13th, so maybe it was the ghosts' day off.

--McEl-Zak & Co.

The cemetary is located on the north side of 1960. Not on the pancho's side. This is why I asked the (unanswered) question before to the people that went and couldnt find anything which side of 1960 they were on.

Map Ref: http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?latlo...c=46&zoom=9

and a satalite image: http://maps.google.com/maps?q=30%C2%B0+00....mp;t=h&om=1

The cemetary is located in the woods just north of the arrow, which the arrow is the GPS location.

on the Surefire. They are the best, although exceedingly expensive. I've got three myself. They had some good substitutes at Sam's Club-the Cyclops. You could get two for around $20. Suddenly, the whole display disappeared and I next saw them at Bass Pro for $32 apiece. They take the 3v camera batteries and are just a bit larger than the Surefire Outdoorsman. I believe the Outdoorsman to be just slightly brighter-but not much. The Outdoorsman is made here and that is an advantage to me, but even at the discounted price of $75, the two-pack certainly is a much better buy. The Cyclops is significantly smaller than the Surefire GP. Replacing the Cyclops, up here in southern Kansas anyway, is the Element, an LED flashlight roughly the size of the GP. The Element will run mucho longer than any 3 volt although its light is not quite as bright. I love my old Maglights, they are works of art. They are so badly outclassed by the above lights though, that it isn't even laughable. One thing you need badly on these excursions is a good flashlight-the best you can afford. The Elements are as good as any other LED's I've tried and they go for $25 for a two-pack with batteries, at Sam's. Were I going, I'd carry your Surefire for extreme brightness and the Element for just getting around. If you know the batteries are new in the LED, it almost eliminates the need for carrying spares if you are carrying a 3 volt also. The Streamlight Scorpion is a decent alternative to the GP Surefire at about the same price as one of the plastic entry-level Surefires.

If you insist on the Maglight, think about upgrading it to LED with either the proprietary Maglight kit available at Wal Mart (near $20) or the Night Eyz kit (around $9) also from WM. These improve the Mini Mags or C or D cells considerably. I have upgraded several of mine.

Tonecop probably knows all of this, but I put it here for those who don't know much about flashlights. I tried to expand a little from my original post on this subject.

For an excellent price on the ultra-expensive 3 volt batteries, try Cabela's. They sell Surefire brand batteries much cheaper than you can get them for at Wal Mart's.

Nobody has ever said whether Pancho's is any good to eat at?

Its not too bad. I have been craveing mexican food as of late as a matter of fact...

There are better restaurants though for mexican food. Comapred to the good ones, Panchoes is mediocre at best.

It may not be ghosts in the woods behind Pancho's but people looking for a tree to squat behind AFTER eating at Pancho's. Just a thought.

I wont argue that assesment

An interesting note about panchoes though. Inside they have alot of spiritual stuffs. I dont knwo what they are called, but the items hanging from the ceiling are supposed to ward away spirits. Possibly a mexican superstitious relic of some sort. Not really sure of the orgins, or exact purpose. But it appers the owners are aware of teh activity in the area. Might be worth interviewing them at some point.

That IS interesting about the decor of Pancho's. Would this Pancho's be the chain? Ifso, we've ate there in Tulsa. I've ate in quite a few Mexican places and they tend towards that kind of stuff to an extent. Do you think this Pancho's is moreso in that respect than others, Tussaud? I'm assuming you do or it wouldn't have merited mention. I know the Casa Bonita we went to in Tulsa had a lot of religious type stuff, though its use I am not aware of. Day of the Dead type stuff.

Like I said. I am not sure of teh exact orgins or purpose. I only know what I have heard from local lore. I live just outside of humble, and spend alot of time there. Alot of people tell of different little tibits to add the complete story. I am not sure of the validity of everything, but I pose here what I have heard. Its possible others have heard the same, or know of soemthing that I do not which can substantiate aspects of the story.

I have only been to that panchos, so I do not know of the decor in others. I do know there is one out 290 near the walmart there, but I have not been to it. Its a franchise as far as I know, so that means that the interior would be decorated firstly to the franchise standards, then from there it would be up to the owners of that particular one to decorate as they see fit.

I myself am not an expert in reglious relics of anything beyond ancient egypt, so I do not know where the stories come from.

Thanks Tussaud,

I will check it out in my next visit.

You are correct Kiddglock,

I am a big fan of surefire for the reason of tactical carry and shooting mand grip. It is small enough to place it under my pistol while aiming. I also like the other brands you mentioned as I have carried it in the past. Where are you located?

It is not the best but allright. I prefer the Arandas restaurant along the feeder. Hispanics are known to place religious items as decoratives in their dwellings or place of business. I see it all the time in every restaurant and businesses in San Antonio, TX. I will ask when I visit Pancho's again.

LOL.....I hadn't noticed that until you pointed it out. Makes the alley even more weird to me.

So, you are the one I met in the store yesterday....lol. OMG, y'all didn't waste any time....lol. Let me know if any of your pics turned out like the ones I showed you.

After thinking about all this, I bought me a red filter for my Outdoorsman, at Cabela's last night. Also stocked up on batteries.

I've lived briefly in the Houston area and have a few relatives there. My Mama is from Texas. I'm just acquainted with Houston and it has been a long time since I lived there. I am FAR from expert on the Houston area and its landmarks. I actually live on US Hwy. 59 in Southern Kansas.

Then all you have to do is head South I sent u a PM.

Got it Jules-and thanks for the invitation to go on the "haunt jaunt" y'all are taking. I know you will be careful. Everybody here seems to be pretty mellow and careful. I just live too far north to consider it right now.

I know I went right over this area when I worked down there.

As to the stocking up, I'm an ex-boy scout and I've never forgotten their motto of "be prepared". lol

This is a post I made ages ago, just to bring everyone up to speed on the state of the area, and what to expect some what. The site with some of the lore of the area is http://www.theshadowlands.net/places/texas.htm which, some of it has to be takeing with a grain of salt, as this site has gotten things wrong before, but its extensive.

I will go ahead a quote the relevent info for this invesetigation:



As you can see, some of its exagerated, and can be explained away.

A few of us got together last night, and disscussed it at the panchoes near there. We went to the RR tracks and took a few pics, but had some camera trouble, which I believe to be caused by lack of lighting at the site. There were a few orbs, but those too are not conclusive of anything. There were a few strange lighting effects, which can be caused by a number of various camera issues. I have a tripod that I will take next time to assist with keeping the camera at a level and steady state.

On another note, what I was telling you about last night from back home in michigan


And also
The latter is just just down from where my dad lives, where I used to go swimming all the time. Its mabey three miles away from my dads. I will get a map of the area at some point if I think of it later. Kinda off topic here, so I might just dropit for now. lol

Anyhow, we will be meeting again soon to scout out the area during the day so we are prepared at night.

As I get a chance I will get together some stuff for the EVP questions in the next day or so.

Also a bit off topic for here, I have some ideas I would like to toss around with the people involved in this investigation, so remind me of this or I will definatly forget.

I like your new avatar....

Last night, my camera didn't malfunction like it did last week. This is due to the fact that it was on manual focus instead of auto. Thank you Jonb for that tip. I did get a few strange pics that I haven't tried to debunk yet. Some with strings of lights that I know aren't paranormal. Tussaud will bring his tripod for the investigation and we'll see if those happen again with that.

If anyone wishes to learn more about this site, and the investiagation into it, you read here
www.houstonhauntings.ongoingmission.com which is an excellent source for keeping up todate on whats going on with the 1960 overpass.

There is alot of info there on the area, and will contain pictures from the investigation.