Episode 74: You’ve Got Mail
So they say, technology is both a blessing and a curse…
Episode Transcript
So they say, technology is both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, it connects us to ideas and people we otherwise never would have been in contact with.
I, for example, have met some of my best friends through this podcast. Not to mention that we’ve created a community of people who back to listen to the show week after week. And all that happened without any of us meeting face to face. That’s pretty remarkable if you ask me.
But on the flip side of that coin, that connectivity does have its drawbacks. I mean, when was the last time you made through a meal with a friend, your spouse, or family, without someone pulling out their phone to check a text or scroll through their newsfeed?
We’re all guilty of it, myself included. And while I do think it’s important to maintain a line of communication with the outside world, it goes without saying that being connected might just be exactly what’s pulling us apart.
But what happens if that line of communication extends beyond our physical plane? If the boundaries between our world and the next converge at some sort of technological nexus point?
Well, if you ask me, that would bring a whole new meaning to this whole idea of cursed technology. But then again, maybe that sort of paranormal connectivity would be a blessing in disguise.
I’m Courtney Hayes and you’re listening to haunts, stay tuned.
It always surprises me just how far-reaching the effects of the paranormal can be. I mean sure, it’s all well and good to have a first-hand encounter—to see the other side with your own two eyes instead of experiencing it through the lens of a camera or trying to decipher an EVP.
But if you’ve been researching the paranormal as long as I have—and I’d be willing to bet that many of you have—then you’d know all too well that those first-hand encounters are hard to come by. This means that for the most part, we have to look for evidence of the paranormal through other mediums.
Now if you were here when we released episode 52, then you’d probably remember that the paranormal has an electric charge. Meaning that spirits can and often do interact with electronic devices.
Whether it’s a spike in EMF or an old-school mag light flashing to a series of yes or no questions, technology is often our first line of communication that connects us to the other side. And of course, we have that to thank for all of the equipment that has been invented specifically for paranormal investigations.
I mean, think about it as opting in spirit communications. Between rem pods and SLS Cameras, spirit boxes, or even necrophonic apps, ghosts sure do have a lot of options to make contact, should they so choose. And hey, even if they didn’t, they might just resort to more traditional methods.
It was June of 2011 when 32-year-old Jack Froese met an untimely end. Of course, his death had been a shock to his friends and family.
Cardiac arrhythmia, the doctors told his mother, Patty. Evidently, it was a condition that Jack had been battling for quite some time and unfortunately, there had been complications.
According to those who knew him, Jack Froese was kind and sensitive. He was the kind of person who never met a stranger which means that his sudden loss was felt by many.
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I can imagine that it was to move past. That Jack’s friends and family would have wanted answers, closure, and more than anything, a bit more time with their dearly departed loved one.
I suppose we all feel that way while we’re grieving. Then as the days slip by, things get a little easier. Of course, we still miss and remember those who have left us but as they say, life goes on.
Except in this case, it seems that our dear old friend Jack had some unfinished business to attend to. And so a few select members of Jack’s friends and family received an unexpected email in November of 2011.
"I’m watching" Tim Hart read the subject line of the message sitting in his inbox. Of course, he had recognized the sender's email address but this couldn’t have been possible.
I mean, Jack had been dead for 5 months. So this email must have been a prank or some sort of sick joke, right?
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I’m sure Tim was a bit hesitant, but eventually, he opened the message. And what he found enclosed within was, in fact, a joke. Just not in the way he had thought.
You see, a while back, Jack was hanging out at Tim's house. And for one reason or another, the pair had found themselves up in Tim’s attic.
Now I won’t lie, the top floor of Tim’s home was… let’s say disorganized. It was something that the two of them had joked about, with Jack telling his friend to get the place cleaned up.
It was a private, but relatively insignificant conversation. And as far as Tim knew, it wasn’t something Jack had brought up to the rest of their friend group before his passing. So you can imagine his surprise when he opened the message sent from Jack’s email address. It read in that tongue-in-cheek tone of his quote: "Did you hear me? I’m at your house. Clean your f***ing attic."
Tim Hart wasn’t the only one to receive a surprising email that November morning. In fact, Jack’s cousin, Jimmy was startled to discover that he too had a message from Jack’s email address.
Now as a quick aside here, I’m sure that many of you aren’t exactly convinced of this story thus far and honestly I’m right there with you. But it’s worth mentioning that, where the message sent to Tim had been light-hearted and jovial, the one sent to Jimmy’s inbox was oddly prophetic.
You see, about a week prior to that point, Jimmy had sustained an injury on his ankle. Not very many people knew about the injury—no more than a friend or two along with his immediate family. And yet he had this email, evidently from his late cousin, saying that he hoped his ankle was okay and more importantly that he needed to be careful.
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Now as the weeks passed, more and more of Jack’s friends and family began receiving emails from the dearly departed. Or at the very least, they were receiving messages from his email address.
According to Patty Froese, not everyone was thrilled about these supposedly spectral correspondences. I mean, it would be quite unsettling to receive an email out of the blue from someone you know to be dead.
Still, at least for Patty, Tim, and Jimmy, these emails were something to welcome with open arms. Sure, they couldn’t prove one way or another where these messages came from. But as far as they were concerned, they were given a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
After all, so many of us wish for one last conversation with our loved ones on the other side. So maybe Jack Froese’s parting words were a blessing after all.
Okay, if you’re like me then you’re probably feeling a bit skeptical when it comes to this haunt as a whole. I mean, admittedly, this is a heartfelt and touching story, but there are a few holes that I think are worth addressing. So as we end today’s episode, I’d like to discuss a few theories that may just explain these haunting claims.
Let’s start with what is likely the most obvious possibility. It could very well be that Jack’s email had been hacked. Meaning that these messages could have been penned by a friend or an acquaintance of the Froese family.
It would have been a sick joke, but to me, this does seem plausible. I mean, it wasn’t exactly a secret that Tim had an attic in his house and it is entirely possible that Jack mentioned its disorderly condition to a mutual friend.
The same could also be said about Jimmy and his broken ankle. Sure he hadn’t told a lot of people about the injury but I highly doubt that those who did know were sworn to secrecy.
So yeah, I’ll let you form your own opinions there. But at least from where I’m standing this theory does make a whole lot of sense.
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On the other hand, more than a few of my sources presented the idea that these emails did come from Jack. So they claimed, it was entirely possible that Jack wrote these messages in the weeks leading up to his passing and that he scheduled them to be sent at a later date.
It’s an idea, I’ll give you that. But for me, this explanation doesn’t hold quite as much water. After all, Jack's death had been a sudden and unexpected incident. So I find it hard to believe that he would’ve written out these emails ahead of time in the hopes that he could prank his friends from beyond the grave.
And at any rate, Jimmy didn’t break his ankle until 5 months after Jack’s death. So how could he have written that email while he was still living?
Which brings me to my third and final theory. One that’s far more chilling than the idea of a morbid prank or a sick joke. I mean, I think we are all well aware that ghosts aren’t hurting on options for spirit communication. So is it really all that hard to believe that Jack Froese may have just opted to send a few emails?
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