Note: This review pertains to a ghost box/instrumental trans-communication (ITC) session conducted…read moreon Friday, May 18, 2018. If you're unfamiliar with ITC, then please scroll to the end of the review for an explanation. Rose Hill Cemetery in Tyler, Texas has a reputation for being haunted, so I spent a sunny afternoon walking amongst the graves and chatting with anyone willing to communicate. Patience is a virtue in the ITC field; on most occasions, at least thirty minutes will pass before anything relevant comes through. My experience at Rose Hill was an exception, as I began receiving clear, relevant validations only moments after arriving. According to legend, the cemetery is haunted by at least two spirits: a beloved piano teacher named Madge Ward and a second unidentified "dark spirit" infamous for following visitors home and causing sleep paralysis. The latter story strikes as apocryphal, though I did note the numerological synchronicity between the phenomenon of sleep paralysis and my room number at the motel.* I encountered nothing "dark" or unwelcoming at Rose Hill, but I'm convinced I did interact with Mrs. Ward. As I approached her mausoleum (an impressive marble replica of a grand piano), I introduced myself and asked if she could play a tune for me. Local residents have reported hearing a melancholy piano tune playing late at night, so I hoped to document it myself. Alas, I heard no music but received a validation when I asked the name of her favorite musician. The response was loud and clear: "Satie." Erik Satie was a famous French composer and pianist, so the validation made sense. Moments later, I heard the name "Vaughn" come through several times in rapid succession. I then happened upon a grave belonging to a Mr. and Mrs. Vaughn. Names are great validations, but I want to push ITC further. The ultimate goal is to engage spirits in one-on-one conversations and learn more from beyond the grave. My interaction with the Vaughns was a step in that direction. I asked, "Mr. and Mrs. Vaughn, do spirits like you stay here or do you visit only on occasion?" The reply: "We come down...at times." Many ITC practitioners -- including several who do this professionally -- have received similar replies in response to that question. The consensus is that spirits ascend to a higher plane (what some might call "heaven") and return here at will. We still have much to learn, but validations like these are providing remarkable insight into life after death. The grounds at Rose Hill were adorned with hundreds of American flags, presumably in anticipation of Memorial Day. I've found that spirits of war veterans are eager to discuss their military service, so I began asking questions about World War II, the Korean War, and Vietnam. The last time I asked a spirit about his service in World War II, I captured one of my favorite replies ever: "Yeah, I got a message: killed damn Nazis!" The spirits at Rose Hill were not as dramatic, but I eventually connected with a veteran identifying himself as "Bert." I soon found a grave belonging to Cpl. Bert Halligan, who had passed away in 2013. I thanked Cpl. Halligan for his service and asked if he had fought in any wars. The words "Nam" and "war" came through my Spiritus app only seconds later. I wished to learn more about Mr. Halligan's life, but I seemed to lose the connection. My experience at Rose Hill was extraordinary and I plan to return the next time I visit Tyler. If anyone reading this review has recorded evidence of Madge Ward's haunting piano music, please let me know! Perhaps the "melancholy tune" in question is "Trois Gymnopédies" by none other than Erik Satie! *My room number was 315. In occult circles, 3:15 AM refers to the "witching hour," a time when many individuals reportedly suffer from spirit-induced sleep paralysis. In the field of astrology, however, the number "315" is an "angel number," a sign of protection from all things evil. I consider numerology nothing more than an amusing mental exercise, but I enjoy crawling down that rabbit hole from time to time! ________________________________________________ For those new to the field of "ghost hunting," a term I dislike due to its implications (I'm not "hunting" ghosts), instrumental trans-communication (ITC) refers to the use of physical "spirit boxes" and apps to communicate with spirits. These devices facilitate communication by providing phonetic gibberish (random audio samples, white noise) that spirits can manipulate to form words and sentences. They don't use their own voices; they use whatever audio source the operator provides. ITC is similar to electronic voice phenomena (EVP), but the latter refers to disembodied voices captured from thin air, which even the most seasoned paranormal researchers have difficulty obtaining. ITC typically yields more results, as spirits seem to be more adroit at manipulating raw audio than they are at producing EVP.