Premier Paranormal Researchers Phantom Detectives LLC
Phantom Detectives LLC is a paranormal research society that was founded by Joshua Chaires on August 20, 2020. Mr. Chaires founded the society after leaving a previous team which wasn’t progressing the way that Chaires had wanted. During this time, one of his first orders of business was to name the first lead investigator in Phantom Detectives history. Sasha Zahorcak came over from their previous team to assist Chaires in running Phantom Detectives. Zahorcak was a musician, civil war reenactor, sound engineer, and had skill in building paranormal equipment. On their previous team, she built a modified ghost box speaker called a portal box, a motion censored music box, and her own custom SLS camera. After Chaires invited Zahorcak to join the society, he created a team email, team business cards made, social media pages, and started doing investigations under the new banner.
The team's first pre-investigation was at the Selma Mansion in Norristown, PA. On October 6, 2020, Joshua Chaires and Sasha Zahorcak attended Brian J. Cano’s event at the mansion. Cano was the tech manager on The Haunted Collector with John Zaffis. That evening Cano taught Chaires and Zahorcka how to properly hold an EMF meter, how to conduct EVPs, how to run a ghost box, and how to properly capture images using a digital camera. All this instruction was very important to Chaires and Zahorak’s development. After this investigation, Chaires employed a team from Kooky Info Media to build a beautiful website. From November 1, 2020, to January 30, 2021, Kooky Info Media designed, built, and maintained the first ever Phantom Detectives website in team history. When the website was halfway completed, Chaires and Zahorcak took their newfound knowledge they learned from Brian J. Cano to book the team’s first official investigation at Sanderson Museum in Chadds Ford, PA.
Sanderson Museum belonged to Christian Sanderson, a well-respected radio host, poet, musician, teacher, and more in the Chadds Ford area of Pennsylvania. His museum includes letters from famous actors/actresses including Helen Keller, Sitting Bull, Shirley Temple, and more. During their first investigation in the Violin Room, the team’s DVR camera, Mel Meter, and Rook EMF Meter were all going off at once. In addition, Zahorcak also captured a big orb right in the area in which this was occurring. . At the end of the night the team caught an EVP in the Ethan Allen room that answered “no” to his question about being married. It appeared that the spirit of Christian Sanderson and his mother Hannah made their presence known.
After their first investigation, Mark Anthony the Psychic Lawyer joined the team as a medium/researcher. Anthony is a Fourth-Generation Psychic Medium, an Oxford Educated trial attorney, and a regular guest on Coast to Coast AM. He has also helped solve a famously unsolved murder and has helped get the team established. Once Dr. Anthony joined the team, they booked their 2nd investigation at the Mill of Anselma in Chester Springs, PA, on January 9, 2021. During that investigation the team captured numerous thermal photos, a rope swinging by itself, the door of the mill flew open by itself, and Chaires ascended to the third floor to capture an EVP on the third floor that said "Go" . The Mill of Anselma was created by Samuel Lightfoot in 1747 and is the oldest continuing operating mill in the United States. From November 1, 2020, to January 30, 2021, Kooky Info Media designed, built, and maintained the first ever Phantom Detectives LLC website in team history. The website went live on February 1, 2021 and the team started filling out their information from the control panel of the website.
Following this investigation, Phantom Detectives LLC took a two-month break before inviting Mr. Rick Warner to the team. Mr. Warner, who is the US Ambassador to the Italian UFO Federation FUI brought his skills to the team. Those skills include being a Certified Mufon Field Investigator, Interviewer, and more. Joshua Chaires decided to name him as the first official Tech Manager in team history to which he continues to this day.
The team’s third investigation was at the Betsy Ross House in Philadelphia. There, in 1776, the nation’s first flag was sewn by a widow named Betsy Ross. It is even rumored that George Washington visited there after Betsy finished the flag. Her 2nd husband John Ross is buried next to her on the property. While there, they caught several EVPs of growls coming from the basement area, and Chaires caught an EVP in the third-floor guest room. The team also caught a thermal image of Betsy's spirit next to her bed. The Betsy Ross House appeared to live up to its billing as one of the most haunted locations in Philadelphia.
Former Dark Matter Digital Network News Anchor Leo Ashcraft reached out to the team regarding a possible purchase of Dark Matter News in May 2021. Dark Matter News was a newscast that was played at the bottom of every hour on Art Bell's Midnight in the Desert in 2015. Ashcraft served as Art Bell's affiliate director from April-October 2015. After speaking to Chaires, Ashcraft sold the rights to the name, logos. website, and more to Phantom Detectives LLC on May 21, 2021.
After acquiring the rights, Chaires announced Dark Matter News’ rebranding under Phantom Detectives LLC, and Chaires and Zahorcak went on to attend Phenomenology 2020 in Gettysburg, PA. There they met Dave Schrader, Jason Hawes, Shane Pitman, Jeff Belanger, and other top paranormal experts from around the world. Attending the event was Bill Freeman who was the manager of the Norristown Preservation Society. Chaires contacted Freeman by email and booked their 4th investigation there on June 25, 2021.
After booking the Norristown Preservation Society investigation, Chaires added a fifth member to the society: Melissa Ferrazzano. Ferrazzano, who was studying advanced mediumship with Cindy Kaza from the Holzer Files, had a background in accounting, crystal healing, reiki, and had skills in remote viewing. During the investigation, Ferrazzano told Chaires that the mansion had a connection to Lincoln. She was also feeling the spirit of a servant woman named Martha who was very welcoming, and soon the rest of team started feeling the presence of Martha. In the Piano Room, Ferrazzano felt the presence of an older woman with gray hair who was also making herself known to Joshua Chaires as he watched the team investigate the Doll Room on the DVR. Each time Chaires would return to his seat to watch the DVR, the REM pod would go off then stop. The team also captured a black shadow in the basement area, and the third-floor Doll Room had a life of its own. In this room, the team’s Mel Meter, Rem Pod bear, and Paranologies electroscope were all going off at once. Ferrazzano felt the presence of General Andrew Porter. Their guest investigator’s husband also reported seeing a full body apparition in a third-floor window. Once the investigation was complete, Chaires notified Ferrazzano that General Andrew Porter was the great grandson of Mary Todd Lincoln. After the investigation, the team booked their first residential investigation in Philadelphia, PA.
At the residential location, the client felt the presence of possible extraterrestrial activity and reported markings on his legs. His sheets were pulled off many times, and possible spirit heads were also captured on the client’s security camera. Phantom Detectives LLC became the first team to investigate this location, and it was documented on Dark Hour Paranormal in August of 2021. That night, the team captured activity with their dowsing rods, an EVP was captured with the words “right there”, and curse words were caught on the teams Ghost Box which was hooked up to a portal box. There was evidently a potty-mouth spirit present. The spirit of an older woman, her daughter, and a 19-year-old who committed suicide also made their presences known.
After the investigation, the team reached out to Maria Schmidt, creator of National Ghost Hunting Day. National Ghost Hunting Day is a worldwide event in which teams from around the world investigate haunted locations at once via live stream in different time zones. The team returned to Sanderson Museum for their 6th investigation with Warner, Chaires, Zahorcak, and Ferrazzano. During that investigation, the team’s equipment bags were mysteriously piled in front of the stairs by an unseen force, as if to block them from leaving, several EVPs were captured, and much more occurred. The museum was continually active that night.
The team booked their final investigation of 2021 at White Chimneys in Gap, PA. White Chimneys is a well-known wedding venue with an over-200-year history of reported paranormal events including footsteps at the mansion, the smell of cigar smoke, and much more. Many top Revolutionary War figures could have visited there including Washington, Franklin, and Marquis de Lafayette as this location would have been one of the only known Inns on the way to Lancaster, PA. During that investigation, the team’s K2 meters went off, voices were caught on the team’s S-Box, and the weathervane in the attic moved by itself. Additionally, Team Founder Chaires, along with the client’s children, heard a phantom coin hitting the floor in the basement.
White Chimneys was the final investigation for former lead investigator Zahorcak who was moving away to Tennessee to begin training in her field. Chaires subsequently promoted Warner to serve as lead investigator in her stead, and in February 2022, the team booked its 8th investigation at a client’s home just outside Philadelphia, PA in Norwood. There, the client’s girlfriend reported seeing the apparition of an older woman on her bed, and her brother reported hearing footsteps in the basement. On this night, Phantom Detectives, LLC had motion censored balls going off in the child’s room of the house, and something was setting off the team’s Scare Bear REM pod as well as the REM pod that Chaires had placed in the basement area. The house was highly active, in general. The team spent the final portion of the night using their Digital Dowsing SLS camera in various parts of the house. A full body apparition of the older woman was mapped near a solid wall, and when they went down to the basement, they mapped another apparition near the team’s second REM pod. The house had an intelligent and residential haunting within it.
On April 8, 2022, the team booked their 9th investigation at Van Sant Covered Bridge in New Hope, PA, nicknamed Cry Baby Bridge in reference to the legend of a 17-year-old girl named Mary who hung herself after she had a baby born out of wedlock. Phantom Detectives LLC is still reviewing evidence from this investigation. Their 10th investigation will be at Bubs Brewery in Mount Joy, PA on May 27th.
Phantom Detectives LLC has been featured on local news stations, radio shows,
magazines, and on streaming television on various platforms.
Founder - Joshua Chaires
Lead Investigator/Tech Manager - Rick Warner
Psychic Medium/Case Manager - Melissa Ferrazzano
Graphics Designer/ Social Media Manager - Rajdeep Saha
Researcher - Mark Anthony "The Psychic Lawyer" and "Psychic Explorer"
Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube
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