Issue No. 17 — Annual Recap, 2024 Edition
The Star Awards
Seventeen years of casework, jury deliberation, and one night in Springfield, Illinois — when 2,100 investigators gathered to honor the year's most rigorously documented field work.
- Ceremonies Hosted
- 17
- Years Continuous
- 2008 – 2024
- 2024 Attendees
- 2,100
Dossier No. 04 · 2024 Winners
The 2024 Star Award Winners
Four case files, four investigators, one annual index. Each entry below was advanced by member nomination, short-listed by regional section leads, and confirmed by the 2024 jury against the 9-Point Evidence Integrity Standard.
-
01
Best Residential Case · 2024
"The Carbondale Cold Spot"
A seven-month longitudinal documentation of a stratified thermal anomaly across three floors of a 1908 duplex. Investigators logged 412 hours of ambient temperature readings and four corroborated witness statements.
-
02
EVP Investigator of the Year · 2024
Eli Vasquez, EPT
Recognized for sustained methodological clarity in EVP capture across hospital and correctional sites. Jury chair noted his spectral-overlay annotations as the field's most consistent documentation practice this cycle.
-
03
Best Field Documentation · 2024
"Springfield State Hospital, Ward C"
A two-night vigil documented through 1,840 still frames, eleven continuous audio captures, and a public-facing evidence index. Jury cited the case as a model of contemporaneous, owner-consented access.
-
04
Lifetime Field Record · 2024
Patricia H. Nguyen, Director Emeritus
Awarded for nineteen consecutive years of field investigation, including the 2011 Alton Mill documentation, the 2017 Grafton asylum survey, and ongoing mentorship of 41 verified junior investigators.
Field Report · Springfield, IL
The Night the Cases Came Inside
On the second Saturday of November, the Springfield Civic Hall cleared its folding tables and seated 2,100 investigators, jury members, regional section leads, and a small contingent of working journalists. By 8:14 p.m. the program had begun. By 9:02 p.m., four names had been called.
The 17th annual Star Awards convened under warm tungsten, not stage LED — a deliberate choice by the production committee, who framed the evening as a working session rather than a spectacle. Attendees received a printed 84-page program listing every short-listed case, the seven-person jury roster, and a redacted copy of the 9-Point Evidence Integrity Standard used in deliberations.
"We don't vote on what we believe. We vote on what was documented, and what we can stand behind when a skeptic reads the file next year. That's the only standard this room has ever held itself to."
The full 2024 winners index, short-list, and jury notes are published below. Members in good standing may access the unredacted deliberation minutes through the Member Archive.
The Record · 2008 – 2024
Seventeen Ceremonies, One Continuous Program
The Star Awards have been hosted every year since 2008, moving between Midwestern host cities as the membership grew. The program has never skipped a year, never accepted paid sponsorship for category titles, and has published a winners index each January since the inaugural ceremony.
-
2008
Inaugural Ceremony · Peoria, IL
Attendance: 184 · Categories: 4
Notable winner: Maria Vance, founding investigator, for the inaugural Methodology citation.
-
2011
Alton, IL
Attendance: 410 · Categories: 6
Notable winner: "Alton Mill Worker Residue" — first industrial-site category recognized.
-
2014
Bloomington, IL
Attendance: 720 · Categories: 8
Notable winner: EVP Investigator of the Year category introduced.
-
2017
Grafton, IL
Attendance: 1,140 · Categories: 9
Notable winner: "Grafton Asylum Longitudinal Survey" — first multi-year case recognized.
-
2019
Champaign, IL
Attendance: 1,360 · Categories: 11
Notable winner: Patricia H. Nguyen, Lifetime Field Record. Featured in Skeptical Inquirer, March 2022 issue.
-
2021
Virtual · Remote jury, broadcast from Peoria
Attendance: 1,820 · Categories: 12
Notable winner: "Carthage Chapel Audio Survey" — first broadcast-only ceremony, program intact.
-
2022
Peoria, IL · 20th-anniversary forum year
Attendance: 1,640 · Categories: 12
Notable winner: "Cahokia Mounds EMF Variance Log" — first federally-permitted site case.
-
2024
Springfield, IL
Attendance: 2,100 · Categories: 14
Notable winner: "The Carbondale Cold Spot" (Best Residential), Eli Vasquez (EVP of the Year).
Full ceremony minutes, category lists, and host-city records are archived in the Member Archive, accessible to verified members in good standing.
Methodology · Pre-Award Vetting
How a Case Earns a Star
No case file is added to a Star Award short-list until it has cleared the same review used to publish it on the forum. The 9-Point Evidence Integrity Standard is the working instrument, and it predates the awards program by nine years.
Every nominated case is read by at least three of the fourteen board-certified moderators on the Evidence Review Board. The standard asks nine questions, beginning with contemporaneous recording and ending with disclosure of any equipment failure during the session. The board returns one of three rulings: cleared, cleared with notes, or returned for revision.
The same standard has been cited as a reference by fourteen U.S.-based paranormal investigation teams, and forms the opening chapter of Maria Vance's 2017 field-methodology text. It is not the only way to investigate, but it is the only way a case reaches the Star Awards stage.
Read the full 9-Point Evidence Integrity StandardThe 2025 Cycle · Nominations Open
Take Part in the Next Star Awards
Verified forum members may nominate a case for the 2025 cycle, vote on the regional short-lists, and register for the 18th annual ceremony in Champaign, IL. Membership is free, vetted against the same Evidence Standard, and takes about four minutes.
- 01 Nominate one case file per category per cycle.
- 02 Vote in the regional short-list in October each year.
- 03 Register for the in-person ceremony at member rates.
- 04 Access the unredacted deliberation minutes after the ceremony.