Former FBI investigator on the hunt for ghosts at Liverpool TAFE
FORMER FBI investigator Ben Hansen was among a group of paranormal researchers on a tour of the reportedly haunted Liverpool TAFE.
Whether you believe in ghosts or life after death, paranormal investigators are struggling to explain how a deadbolt locked a handful of ghost hunters in the dungeon at Liverpool TAFE recently.
A tour of the reportedly haunted facility was hosted by Paracon Australia, and the Australian Paranormal Phenomenon Investigators last Friday.
One of the ghost hunters was former FBI investigator Ben Hansen, who was invited on the tour as part of the Australian Paranormal Conference.
Known as one of Sydney’s preeminent ghost hotspots, Liverpool TAFE was once the site of a state hospital, a morgue and mental asylum.
Among the reports of ghastly events at the site include a man discovered in a bathtub full of water with his thumbs tied behind his back, back when it was an asylum.
The dungeon was used as punishment for those who were unstable and unwell.
The Liverpool Leader was invited to join the tour last Friday. Here is what this reporter discovered.
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On Friday night’s tour a medium at the investigation saw someone pass by a doorway during table tipping with the matron. Janine Louise was drawn into that room and spent time in there.
“I heard her ask for a pencil,” she said. “I didn’t have a pencil, so I gave her your pen.
“The temperature is really odd — there were extremely cold parts, and a really warm spot. My head was really aching, which suggests trauma or pain to the head area.”
Ms Louise said it was the first time she’d been to the site, but she cleared her schedule when she heard Mr Hansen was going to be there.
“There is a lot of energy there ... I could feel a lot of physical ailment to the head and chest and I know it wasn’t mine,” she said.
“I was getting feelings of anger and frustration ... I really felt a presence in the dungeon, where the morgue was — it was really heavy.
“And when I was up in the tower, I was overwhelmed, my heart was pumping.”
Ms Louise said there were times she wanted to run, like she was being chased and she had the smell of urine, like people had not been bathed.
As tour guide Peta Banks spoke about the site’s history, she talked about the old man raking under the tree at the front entry. The lights flickered as she told his story.
Ms Banks said there were times during tours at Liverpool TAFE where people had heard a piano playing in the music room.
“We entered and the playing stopped,” she said.
“Some people have been told to ‘shhh’ in certain places too — that happened again tonight.”
A young girl aged about 11 has been spotted often in K block by TAFE staff and visitors. Her name is Helen.
Beauty teacher Rattana Long, 35, came along on the tour.
“I haven’t been scared ... only the last couple of years,” she said.
“During class I was writing on the whiteboard when I saw a man’s reflection, who wasn’t in the room.
“And a lot of the class were outside one night having a cigarette break when they saw smoke come out of the classroom. I was the only one in here and I wasn’t smoking.”
Ms Long said the last experience was about 12 weeks ago when she was in the classroom with the projector on.
“The lights were off and I saw a shadow across the screen. I thought I was imagining it, but students confirmed what I saw.
“I don’t stay back at night anymore ... when the students leave, so do I.”
The theory behind paranormal activity relates to the age of a building.
Mr Hansen said ghosts attached themselves to places where a lot of people have lived, worked or passed through.
While at Liverpool TAFE, he captured a voice recording of someone in a room saying ‘no, no’ over again, which was replayed to everyone in the room to identify if it was one of them — but to no avail.
He said he’s seen just about everything when it comes to the paranormal.
“I’ve seen object manipulation ... expensive camera was smashed to pieces after being thrown across the room,” he said.
“Even when you can’t explain it, it doesn’t mean it wasn’t bigfoot, aliencraft or a ghost.
“I’ve become more open-minded yet more sceptical too.”
While in Adelaide recently, he heard voices and a woman sobbing.
“It can be creepy ... but my heart rate is only up because I’m curious and looking to find an explanation for it,” he said.
Mr Hansen began ghost hunting while in college in 2001. He graduated from the University of Utah with a Bachelors degree in Sociology and Criminology.
“I was out with friends and tape recording the session. Nothing happened all night but I listened back to the recording and someone said ‘get brother’.
“I was there with two of my sisters that night. I like to have the tape running in a session, during a normal conversation.
“Once you eliminate the living conversation, you get the odd bits where someone is talking over you ... you would have heard it.”
Mr Hansen leads a team of five specialists who travel the world looking for answers to mysteries.
Screening on Foxtel’s SyFy, Fact or Faked confronts the relationship of seeing and believing.
They work out one way or another whether the phenomenon is explainable or not.
Apart from filming for TV, he is often asked to provide analysis for photos and videos for the Huffington Post weird news column.
He said it was unfortunate that people went to extremities to convince the world, using fake images or footage.
“It hurts the credibility of some fields. It’s a lot easier to pull (a hoax) off now.
“But if it weren’t for the internet and TV, we wouldn’t be exposed to what’s happening in other parts of the world.”
Mr Hansen said the UFO phenomenon often saw people hypnotised when they pull over to watch the object, so don’t even consider taking photos.
“It often only lasts for a few seconds and people distrust witnesses if they don’t have pictures for proof.”
Mr Hansen said he’s had all sorts of claims made to him over the years.
“I’ve had one woman tell me she mothered 12 hybrid children, but had no proof of the births or children,” he said.
“One woman said her DNA was changed ... that she was white and had now become black.”
On the other hand, Mr Hansen said he’s seen airports shut down, where national security has been threatened, with no explanation.
“There are parts of the government and specialist agencies who do know more.
“Roswell was a conspiracy ... it was collusion of individuals to manipulate or cover up an event and there were at least four official explanations for Roswell.
“And now, president (Barack) Obama said he ‘can’t reveal anything’ when it comes to aliens ... it’s a very odd thing to say.”
Mr Hansen is certain that if enough mass siting events occur, it’s only a matter of time before more is known.
“Most people don’t look up in the sky ... and they’re missing out.”
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