Background:
RAF West Malling was one of the front line air bases of World War 2, which sadly now is mostly gone as a result of redevelopment for new housing and business premises. Very few original buildings remain and we are very fortunate to be permitted access to this venue. As is the case with many old wartime air stations there are stories of sightings and noises heard. And this building is no different as accounts from those who currently work there prove, here are a selections of these stories.

One night as a cleaner and caretaker left she said to him, “Are you going to leave that man in there?” The caretaker asked who she was talking about and she described the man she saw through the window. The man was in a uniform and he was holding a big bunch of keys on a large ring. The caretaker went back into the building and checked every room, all the doors and windows were locked and no one was there.

Another employee once had a scare whilst working at her desk when the door swung open to reveal an airman standing in the doorway in full uniform. She was so alarmed by how real the image was, she described the uniform down to the very last button, to her war veteran friend, who confirmed it was indeed the uniform of a World War II RAF airman.

One afternoon an employee was working alone repairing a server in the computer room. The glass door of the server had been removed and was leaning against the wall. While working away they happened to glance at the glass door and saw the reflection of the room. In the reflection he saw a figure behind him leave the room via the open door. When he checked the other room there was no one there and all the doors were locked from the inside.

Late one afternoon the cleaner was dusting the desk when suddenly a chill fell across her and she heard a sliding noise. She looked down at the desk and watched in disbelief as a large glass paperweight moved from one end of the desk to the other.

Two employees left a female colleagues office and whilst leaving the room heard a deep voice say "Hello". They both turned to see who had followed them up the corridor, but there was nobody there. Turning back to their colleagues office they asked if she had just said anything, thinking that she may have been suffering from a sore throat. But she hadn't uttered a word.

A visit from a contractor proved interesting. On showing the visitor out of the building the man turned to say that he was glad to be leaving as he could feel that the building is full of lost souls.

It's this final account that proves the most interesting, and given our previous results certainly seems to be the case. Needless to day we were looking forward to this investigation, but little did we know what held in store for us.
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Apparatus:
Video camera-
Sony DCR HC-24E with night vision and Sony HVL-IRM IR light.
Sony DCR-HC19 with night vision and Sony HVL-IRM IR light.
Sony DCR-HC30E with night vision and Sony HVL- IRM IR light.
Samsung VP-D351 with night vision and Sony HVL-IRM IR light.

Digital Camera-
Fuji 4900 Finepix
Fuji Fine Pix S5500
Fuji Fine Pix S5000
Nikon Coolpix 3100
Voice recorder -
Olympus VN-2100PC
Olympus DM20

Team:
Kim
Ian
Paddy
Dave

Method:
Using visual and scientific methods to investigate the alleged paranormal phenomena at this location along with spiritual experiments in the form of séances to attempt to provoke responses that could be recorded on our equipment.

Investigation:
The team arrived at the venue at 7.30pm and within the first hour toured the building to switch off all the lights and decide on a program for the night. No advanced plan had been drawn up as we had investigated the whole building twice before, so after a general look around we decided to focus on those areas that had provided the best results before. By 8.30pm we were ready and decided to start the investigation at the northern end of the east wing loft. This was to be a quiet vigil with all our camcorders running, still digital photos being taken and Kim and Dave had their digital voice recorders running. After a period of settling in and becoming adjusted to the natural noises in the environment the team agreed that this time the loft felt different, as though it posed a threat. Dave began calling for some spirit activity.

After a while Kim thought she became aware of a movement further down the loft near the access hatch so Dave asked for anything present to come closer, nothing happened. Dave continued calling with a bit of reassurance that the team posed no threat but still nothing occurred. However, on later reviewing Ian's video footage in response there are four clear bangs as though from the metal shelving that lines the loft. The team continued as though not having heard this noise at the time. Ian tried calling for spirit and the team heard a tap from further down the loft so he continued calling asking for an audio response on his camcorder as before, it was at this point that a quick odd "unnatural" noise is heard on the footage but not heard by the team at the time. There numerous taps heard by all as well as cold draughts felt by both Dave and Ian. After a short while longer the team decided at 9.30pm to have a break.

During our break we went outside to see the progress of the Lunar eclipse and was surprised to find it more progressed than we had expected. We were going to take time out from the investigation to observe this and take some pictures and video footage, so decided to stay and watch, experimenting with out cameras to get the best results. A few of out shots are shown below.

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We returned from the cold about 11.00pm and whilst distracted from the investigation decided to carry out an experiment we had in mind for the evening. Ghost Connections likes to try to copy those famous spiritual photographs of the past and try to show how such photographs can be faked with modern technology. So with Dave's help we set up in the main entrance lobby and attempted a few shots of him in uniform looking suspiciously like an airman. Some of the results are below.

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We finished this at 12.00am and collected our equipment and returned to the northern end of the east wing loft. Unlike before we tried the format of a séance by way of an experiment to see if this provoked more activity that we could record. Dave led the séance in and then called for anyone present to let us know. There were again draughts as well as taps and knocks heard but it was hard to ascertain if this was in response to our questions and could have been naturally occurring. We started feeling very cold and Ian felt shivers up and down his back to the point that he was shaking with cold, although the back of his neck felt really warm as thought the sun was on it. Kim felt a pressure pulling her forwards into the circle and finding it hard to sit up. This pull was so strong it took all Kim's efforts not to fall to the floor. Dave and Paddy separately noticed flickering lights from further down the loft near the southern end. Dave asked again if someone was with us or affecting the team in these ways, if so could they come closer and may be do something else, A big flash was seen by Dave down the other end of the loft and Kim was feeling more uncomfortable. The team agreed that the atmosphere had definitely changed and given the observations from the other end of the loft decided to break at 1.00am and switched to the southern end.

At the southern end we arranged ourselves and began another séance. Dave led in the séance again and was soon asking for activity. We felt the temperature around us drop drastically and we suddenly felt drained and weak, Paddy and Dave were worst affected by this. Flashing lights were seen around the central area of the loft witnessed by Kim, Paddy and Ian, by this time Dave was so drained he was unable to lead the séance as he has so little energy although was happy to continue. Ian took over the calling. What we saw changed to shadows moving around the same area, about 4 ft. The team definitely felt that what was there with us was not happy and wanted us to leave. Ian asked for a response to indicate that we were required to leave but there was none, till Kim suddenly shouted "Get Out!" and did not know why? Ian thought he saw the head and shoulders of a figure moved from left to right across the loft by the loft entrance. The whole area began to feel very nasty and oppressive but still no absolute confirmation of .... well.... anything, so we stayed. We kept on looking and listening, Ian kept calling for a response we could capture, still the team witnessed flashing lights, shadows and the visions of what looked to be figures in the dark. By 1.45am we had all had enough of this intense experience and we needed to get ourselves and Dave, who was severely affected by the experience, into a clean atmosphere. So we left the loft in favour of a quiet sit down with refreshments to discuss what had happened. All the team were very subdued and agreed that unlike previous visits the atmosphere was not good.

After a good rest we decided we were not there to shy away from these things as it was evidence we were after, and decided to return to the loft. So at 3.00am we returned, to what we thought was the centre of the activity we observed. We sat again and started another séance, as that seemed to have been the way forward given what had happened before. Little did we know that this session was to be a brief 20 mins long.

We started as before with Dave leading in a séance, it wasn't long before the same chill came over all of us, noises started and we started to observe shadows and movement in the darkness around us. Kim witnessed one of these shadows pass by Ian whose camcorder was running and pointing in that direction but unfortunately this was not caught on the footage. Unlike before this time there was the obvious sound of footsteps shuffling around us which increased the tension we were feeling, and the atmosphere again became an unwelcoming one. Kim said she was feeling an overwhelming urge to shout out the instruction "Leave" this was seconded as Paddy said he had the same word ringing in his head. By this point both Paddy and Dave were again feeling drained so we asked for a sign or indication that it was the wish of whatever was there with us to leave, no signs were given. We were all feeling anxious and very vulnerable by now, and so as we had offered to leave, and we sensed that what was there with us didn’t want us there we decided to stick our word and left the loft at 3.20pm. We shut the loft access and decided that we would not be returning for the rest of the investigation.

We walked back to our base for the night, whilst we walked the dark corridors back to base Kim had the unnerving feeling that she was being followed, as though by something watching to make sure we did leave. We relaxed over a coffee and had an intense discussion about our experiences that night and before long realised the night had taken it's toll and we were all exhausted, so we ended the investigation, packed up and left the building at 4.00am.