GHOST HUNTERS

I grew up in a house that was not only haunted by its horrific history ( a Civil War field hospital ), with repetitive residual haunting, occasional signs of intelligence, but it also had poltergeist activity. In fact, to me the poltergeist activity was the most intelligent activity. The residual was mundane, kind of like hearing the furnace kick on, you don't really pay it any mind. But, something being thrown across a room, crashing down, and disrupting the laws of physics...that's pretty attention-getting . Whether a poltergeist ( or "playful ghost ") is an actual spirit having a tantrum or something manifested by a human in emotional turmoil ( psychokinetic ) or something in the realm of physics in which conditions are right for electromagnetic fields to be disrupted and cause things to defy gravity... has yet to be determined. From my experiences in my childhood home, I've come to a temporary explanation that suits my logical mind, but makes my logical mind r

I’ve had a theory since I was a kid that lighthouses tend to be more haunted. How can I say that? Do you know any lighthouse that isn’t reported to be haunted? It was no wonder to me at all that TAPS on its first St. Augustine Lighthouse episode ran into some very amazing finds. Here’s how I see the concept of these round buildings being haunted as legitimate: When I was growing up at Aspen Grove, we had nightly walks up the stairs and down the hall by the same unseen booted gentleman. The house was used as a Civil War field hospital. What do you suppose this and a lighthouse have in common? Repetition. A lighthouse keeper is in a position of great importance and his routine is critical. The same stairs, the same light, the same surveying of the water from the tower. Over and over again and again, days on end, months on end, years on end, decades on end. Keeping this in mind, in the right environment and geology, a guard tower walkway, a parapet, or the helm of a ship should al

The phenomenon of shadow figures or shadow people seems to be increasing. I’m uncertain if this is because people are talking about it so others are admitting to it, or if it’s something new to our world. I’m probably most aligned with the theory that our vision is changing as we live in a world with HD TV, computer screens, and other kinds of electronics that constantly update their screens at a high rate of speed. Things we didn’t see in our peripheral vision are now available to us. A spectrum of things that were there all along may now be seen. Amazingly, this does line up, as peripheral vision (up to 90 images per second) is able to handle faster light waves than the central vision (3-4 high quality telescopic images per second), which is slower. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visual_perception). If something is moving in a higher speed spectrum, your peripheral vision would be more likely the place to pick it up. I’m most intrigued by the consistent reports that shadow people star

I've heard a lot of theories about what "ghosts" are. Even I haven't set it down in stone yet. I have theories, just like the next guy. It's time to revisit some of the popular ones: Ghosts are souls of once alive people whose bodies have passed on and who do not know they are dead because of a tragic or untimely death . ( I'm going out on a limb here, but I'm thinking if your soul has been torn from your body, you might notice that your hand can now go through a wall or become part of the wall, clue number one that you might not have a body .) Ghosts are souls of once alive people whose bodies have passed on and who haunt the site of their death awaiting; revenge, a loved one's appearance, for someone to unravel the mystery of their death, or because they simply loved their house so much they refuse to leave it. ( I'd think after the first week or so of trying to get the new homeowners to hear you or your message, you might go a bit daft. By th

It occurred me to while sitting inside of an abandoned site in the middle of the night waiting for something to happen, what the mind and body go through on a ghost hunt. First of all, the body is prepared with adrenalin for the potential “hunt.” All you know about the site is that anything could happen, at any time. So, you’re poised. Hearing is extremely acute, breathing is brisk, body temperature is trying to remain constant, and muscles are tight and prepared to either jump and startle or race after something. When you get past what the body is doing ( hyped up with nothing for the brain to do yet ), your brain becomes engaged. It’s amazing the thoughts that run through your mind as the evening unfolds. About the first hour or so you’re quite contented to be doing your “task.” You drift from room to room, take measurements, check your equipment, photograph, and begin to ask questions hoping something shows up on the recordings. Eventually, you’re begging and pleading some unknown

It occurred to me that if residual hauntings occur in sites where something traumatic has occurred, isn't it possible that the site could receive a new emotional imprint that negates the prior one? Could a happy functioning family make a dark house bright? Could the birth of a baby in a bathtub in a home create a new harmony? Can our general intentions (good or bad) taint our surroundings and leave a residue? This came to my attention when I had an energy spot in my hallway that I can't describe...it's just a lot weird things happened there that were too coincidental. Curious, I took out some dowsing rods and went around the house to find they crossed every time I entered the hallway. I've long thought of hallways as strange passageways for energy, as are roads and stairwells. More on that in a future entry... When I discovered that this weird acting hallway caused a crossing of the dowsing rods, I had a few other people try it. Same result (without them knowing where t

When I was growing up, we had a summer home. It was a neat crisp-looking clapboard Victorian on a very sleepy inlet of the Chesapeake Bay in Newpoint-Comfort, Virginia. Visiting there was the thrill of a lifetime. My parents would take us five kids down there in the springtime to plant the veggie garden in the big field beside the house. We’d go back up to the DC area and “bide our time” until school let out and we could go back. When we would arrive, we’d open the house to fresh air and us kids would scurry to our dock on the inlet called “Doctor’s Creek” and drop crab traps filled with chicken necks, excitedly waiting for a fat share of blue crabs. Father would wake us at 4 in the morning when it was still dark but it was low tide to row our rowboat out to an oyster bed in the middle of the water and dive for oysters and clams. We’d row out to the abandoned lighthouse and climb up it and pretend to warn off pirate ships. In the quiet moments, us kids would gather at our neighbor’

To study those who might be in the spirit realm, it really helps to understand how people interpret the passing of their loved ones. This is often in the framework of religious doctrines, explanatory style regarding death/grief as it occurs within the family, and our own cognitive distortions born from years of unchecked thinking patterns. Ghost hunters have lots of motives, the majority being folks who had something happened they couldn’t explain, but almost all of them agree that they hope to find proof that rings true for them that there is “another side.” If you want to hunt ghosts to prove an afterlife to yourself, you’re not alone. Even the best-meaning religious leaders don’t do a very good job of helping folks to answer all the “how’s” and “why’s” of passing. It’s that search for an explanation that fits that can send folks poking around abandoned buildings and historic sites in hopes of an answer that rings true. Because I’ve had a very large family and an enormous amount of

I’ve been living in Arizona the majority of my life. Funny, how I do not think of myself as an Arizonan. I suppose you have to be born into it. I do, however, find that the history here is vastly different than what I found growing up in the Mid-Atlantic state of Virginia: The land here seems to hold memories. I wonder if part of this is due to the geological conditions, the lack of rain, the old HoHoKam water canals that carve into the desert that sent life-giving moisture, or the high level of Pagan spirituality that was expressed in the desert. If soil can be alkali from lack of rain, does this help the Earth remember events to replay them? to store them? to attract hauntings? So many questions run through my mind about the baffling conditions that create a haunted site. When you think of England you often think of a lot of haunting of old castles and buildings, but you also think of the land as haunted. The same is true of places like the continent of Africa and the region of S

Everyone that ghost hunts has to admit, sounds are spooky, smells are baffling, chills are exciting, but what they're really waiting for is the most important sense to most folks--seeing. I grew up in a famously haunted manor home in all that time, I caught shadow glimpses of things, but never a full body apparition. It took me giving up on ghosts for my young adult life and moving to Arizona and then in middle age deciding to go back to finding answers, that I ran into a full frontal ghost where I never expected to see one. A group of ghost hunters and I got an abandoned jailhouse to ourselves one night. I wasn't expecting big things. The jailhouse was three stories but filled with about 40 folks making a lot of racket. My ghost hunting buddy and I took the top floor where the guards rested. It was a giant vacant room, 40 degrees outside, and filled with dust. We didn't expect miracles, as the place was a giant dust bowl. But, we set up a little "nest" in t

Approach the polling place as you would a haunted site. Look around, familiarize yourself with the in’s and out’s, it’s quirks and weaknesses. Do not let yourself be distracted by the sounds. These places have a tendency to creak and moan, rattle and rumble. Persevere through your anxiety and remain. Good ghost hunters do not run away! Remember, your fellow hunters are counting on you to make decisions and act upon them. Show good leadership and a good example. You might sense others are nearby. Do not think of them as ghosts. Think of them as people who had lives, families, and jobs. They do not want to scare you, they are simply going about their own business. Clearly, the most frightening moment for any ghost hunting voter is when he is in his voting cubicle. Do not let the isolation crack you. You are made of stronger stuff. Learn to sit and be still for a moment. Note your body sweating, heart pounding, hairs standing on end, but let yourself ride it out. This will pass on

When I was a kid and we heard the booted footsteps up our stairs and down our hall every night. The stories told to us by past owners was that it was a soldier from the Civil War who was staying in the field hospital (our home) and heard fighting. He got up, ran outside, and was shot and killed. He went back every night for the boots his parents had given him ( understandably a precious commodity in the Civil War times ). Of course, as a kid I accepted that explanation, although at one point I did ask myself how he walked the floors with the boots he was supposed to be looking for, as clearly the sounds I heard were the clicking heel and ball of a booted foot. This made me begin to question other things too. Once questions leak into an inquisitive and bright kid's mind, they won't go away until the kid finds acceptable explanations. I listened to these sounds every night all my childhood and finally got sick of wondering. The next day I walked the stairs and hallway to find th

My favorite ghost hunting friend and I decided to take a weekend and drive up from Phoenix to Prescott to stop at every cemetery on the way there and the way back (8 total). We adore cemeteries and always take the chance to pick up the mood and take photos and fix up abandoned graves that are neglected. This time, we decided we'd stay at a well-known haunted room at an adorable little hotel in Prescott called "Hotel Vendome." It was absolutely charming when we arrived with a deep comforting porch to watch the activity in downtown Prescott (small town personified in this old district). You can even order an iced tea and sit out there and rock and watch folks go by. When do we ever allow ourselves such luxuries? As a good Southern girl, I was all over that. But, once we finished our chat time and relaxing, we decided to head up to our haunted room. Apparently, the building was once used as a hotel as it is now, but a woman with TB was abandoned there by her husband to ri

Okay, maybe I'm over simplifying here, but as someone who's had a life-long ability to read objects and locations, I'm going to call it what I want. What many refer to as "residual" hauntings, I like to refer to as a "Green Haunting" ( I'm all about reframing things so they're not so dark and threatening--the paranormal has too long been dictated by evil-vs-good, church-vs-devil ). In a green haunting, a location could be stuck in an ideal situation ( whether it's geological, running water, construction of the building, or history of the land ), in which it can recycle events over and over again, picked up by the six senses. Sometimes it's just sounds like footsteps, doors closing, a cough. Other times, it can be a scent of roses, cigars, or sulfur. Other senses can also be involved like the sense of touch giving you a feeling of someone brushing against you, pulling your hair, or the hairs standing on end on your arms. If it's v