Central Alabama Paranormal Investigations has been pretty busy so far this year but at a good pace in order to get to our case studies sooner. We are booked for the entire month! That does not mean, however, if anyone had an emergency where people or children were being hurt – they could not contact us. CAPI is here for those instances at any time.

We had a very productive manager’s meeting this month. We welcomed Tom Harris to the CAPI Team as an Investigator in Training. Tom has been to several investigations with the team as an observer. It wasn’t until he took the CAPI Paranormal 101 Class that he caught the investigator bug. His first hands on investigation with the team, sealed the deal and he was excited to accept the position when offered. We are very happy to have him on the team!

Johnny would like to add 2 more team members. We will have a class for anyone interested on Saturday, February 15, 2020 at 10 am via Skype. The cost of the class is $50. We offer substantial discounts to military veterans and clients. Please email John Bowen at jbowen.capi@gmail.com if you are interested in taking the class. After you have completed the class and hands on investigation, you will receive a certificate of completion and you are on your way to becoming an investigator in training. Once you have the certificate and are interested in a chance to become a member of the CAPI Team, we will be holding a couple meet and greets so we can get to know each other better. We will announce the meet and greets on CAPI Live. Even if you don’t want to join the team, you should plan to be there. We would love to meet you.

Thank you so much to the people who have joined CAPI’s Patreon. Your support means more to us than you will ever know. We are so honored that you have joined us. We are working out the logistics with filming our show, CAPI Pub, and hope to have a date for you very soon. We hope you are taking advantage of the discounts afforded to you. Remember, anyone who signs up for the $25 Patreon in the month of February will receive a free CAPI T-shirt along with the deep discounts you receive. We are going to let our hair down (well those of us with hair) and have a blast!

CAPI will be working on a 13 month project this fall that we are so excited about but I have said enough about that for now. (wink, wink) Oh, and another thing I can’t tell you much about – we have an exciting investigation coming up with special celebrity guests. Shhh!!!!!!

CAPI also wants to thank those of you who are showing us the love by using our Amazon Affiliate Link or purchasing books or equipment from our website. Every little bit helps us with our expenses with the website, newsletter, etc. You will notice that we have included an Amazon ad for a free Audible trial to our website and newsletter. For everyone that takes advantage of this free trial through our ad, CAPI will receive $5. Again, from the bottom of our hearts, we sincerely thank you. We have the greatest family and we have nothing but love for you guys!

Founders Notes

Johnny Rushing, Founder and Team Leader

It’s 3am! Quick! Get the sage, crystal ball and Ouija board! We have to perform a séance! So much is wrong with that sentence. I know, I know, you saw a movie, you heard it from a friend, no one was moving the planchette! You really did feel something when you touched the magic crystal! There was NO WAY she knew those things she told me! It HAD to be the power of the cards or the crystal ball!

Like most forms of research, the Paranormal is full of myths and falsehoods. We learn most of our knowledge of the Paranormal from the big screen or the television show about the brave men & women who investigate the haunted homes and historical sites. Hey, if we see it on tv or internet, it has to be true, right?

I start my Investigating Hauntings class out with, “Forget all you ever thought you knew about the Paranormal….” Reason? Because the Paranormal field has been raped for so long and by so many, it is more of a mystery of how to investigate, then the reason we investigate. We have been so brain-washed into thinking the Paranormal is something to be afraid of, the biggest epiphany moment I see in my new students, is when they realize the Paranormal isn’t at all what they thought it was. Most are expecting there will be a lot more excitement and chains rattling. The biggest comment I hear, “I really thought there would be more to it.”

To better understand why these gadgets are so popular and why so many rely on ignorance based methods, we need to look at the history of Paranormal Investigations. In 1848, Spiritualist sisters, Maggie & Kate Fox opened the doors of their home, in Hydesville, New York, and began, “speaking with the dead”, through raps and knocks on furniture and walls. This inspired other “mediums” to hit the road and seek their fortune in the psychic world. Throughout the Civil War, one could literally find a psychic medium on almost every street corner. Even Abe & Mary Todd Lincoln held séances in the White House, to communicate with their departed son, Willie. Although the Fox sisters revealed in 1888 that their act was fake, Spiritualism had birth a new and strong religion. In 1882, SPR, (Society for Psychical Research), was founded & dedicated to studying cases of supposed spirit communication and hauntings, using scientific methods.

This all happened right in the middle of Americas first technological revolution. The telephone, phonograph, photography & incandescent light made investigating & faking the Paranormal all to easy.

It also gave the field a bad name, due to so many fakes being exposed. One such photo was taken by, William H. Mumler, in 1860. When it was declared a fake, that started the downfall of Paranormal investigating, in the US. Fueled by P.T. Barnum (with the infamous, Lincoln photo) & Thomas Edison, (with the “spirit phone”). All these gadgets and all this talk about energy got mixed together and altered people’s perception of ghosts.

Que 1984! The movie, Ghost Busters started the Paranormal “Equipment Craze”. With proton packs and ghost traps, the movie revamped the desire to build a better rat trap, within the Paranormal field. Fast forward to Oct. 2004. The series, Ghost Hunters prompted countless fans to start hundreds of groups or teams, to create the modern day Paranormal craze. Unfortunately, it also prompted the creation and rebirth of a few old devices, to flood the industry. Thus giving the naysayers even more ammo to discredit the Paranormal and it’s truly dedicated followers.

At the end of the day, if you and your group want to maintain professionalism and integrity, simply don’t buy into the hype! Stay away from voice boxes, sage, crystals, seances and Ouija boards. Stick to the unedited photos, the raw recordings & the basics. That’s all you need to be a true Paranormal Investigator. 

Local Lore

John Bowen, Team Leader

The Fright Capital of Birmingham

Of all the historical and rumored haunted landmarks in Alabama there is one that has been a paranormal destination in the Iron City for many years.

Sloss Furnace was founded by Colonel James Withers Sloss just after the Civil War with construction of what we now know as Sloss Furnace beginning in 1881 and the blast furnaces being put into operation in 1882. Production from the over 19 blast furnaces grew from around 69,000 to around 760,000 tons of iron in the early 1800s. As time progressed Sloss became one of the top iron producers in the world until is was finally closed in 1971.

Now a protected and preserved historic site, Sloss furnaces is the only 20th century blast furnace in the U.S. on the National Historic Preservation Registry.

With the historical stuff out of the way…

According to legend, in the early 1900’s the graveyard shift of the furnace was overseen by a Foreman named James Wormwood. His ruthless and hard driving attitude earned him the nickname Slag. With summers in Alabama reaching triple digit averages, the blast furnaces easily exceeding 120 degrees at night, the lack of sleep, low visibility and the lack of safe work regulations the workers were subjected to hellish conditions.

In the following years workers complained of unnatural presence, being pushed and disembodied voices telling them to get back to work. In 1947, three workers went missing only to be found unconscious and locked in one of the boiler rooms by a burned man that told them to push some steel. In 1971, the night before the plant closed the night watchman came face to face with what he called a half man / half demon that tried to push him then beat him up.

Since it’s closing in 1971, Sloss Furnace has been investigated many times by many teams including several famous television crews and logged hundreds of reports of paranormal activity. However, in 1988 a study was completed by The Center for Paranormal Events who found nothing out of the ordinary.

The tragic loss of life, poor living and working conditions are well documented at this location alone makes Sloss Furnaces a prime location for possible spiritual entities.

So, is Sloss Furnace as haunted as people say? Is it a clever story based on bits of the tragic accident that occurred at this historical site? I will leave that up to you to decide.

Just remember should you decide to investigate this location, Slag doesn’t like slackers.

Do you have a creepy local legend you would like to see in our newsletter? Drop me a line at jbowen.capi@gmail.com.

If you would like to submit a recipe with a chance of it showing up in CAPI News or CAPI’s Cookbook, please feel free to email it to bharris.capi@gmail.com. We look forward to your delicious submissions!