October 25, 2006 News & Views » Cover

Pin It
Submit to Reddit
Favorite

The Ghost Hunt 

Searching for spirits in our own back yard

By

Page 3 of 4

The CL offices consistently recorded EMF measurements between 4 and 6. Although the readings were off the charts, Julie says the computers and metal piping in the space were probably responsible.

Back on the search for Henry, we pass by rooms that look like they've just been vacated. An old, dirty shovel leans against a column in one empty room. Opening another ancient office, we find folders and inspection reports dating back to the 1940s spread across the desk. The members of Julie's team are shutterbugs, snapping photos every few seconds in hopes of catching an orb or ecto mist (a smoky fog that accompanies ghosts like exhaust from a car). When Julie stops us to stand in silence, I stare at the little ray of light at the end of the room until my eyes get tired and I see splotches everywhere.

Paranormal activity had also been reported in the bathroom, so we return to the developed space to investigate the "loo." Shane says he's heard the manual toilets flush themselves, and his aunt claims to have heard a female voice moaning while cleaning the bathroom one night.

Julie sets up a camera as we sit in the dark and run an Electronic Voice Phenomenon test. A digital recorder can be set to filter out human voices and to pick up only nonhuman frequencies. Investigators ask questions like "What is your name?" and "Do you want us to be here?" then listen to the EVP later to see if anyone or anything answered. Julie says she is particularly picky with EVP evidence and doesn't use anything she must strain to hear. A ghost-investigating friend of hers sent Julie a recording of an EVP she conducted in a Knoxville, Tenn., house where a little girl had died. The recording, Julie says, made the hairs on her head stand straight up. A little girl can be heard humming and singing and then asking the investigators to "come play with me."

In the bathroom, I'm the first one to point out an odd noise that sounds like a laugh track on a TV sitcom or a cheesy game show. Others acknowledge they hear this bizarre noise. The office complex is behind a rail yard, far away from any residential area. And since it's approaching 3 a.m., it isn't likely anyone else is around outside with a radio or TV. I'm convinced that something fishy is going on, but Julie decides that the noise is probably the combination of a running toilet and the sounds of cars coming from Brookshire Freeway. (She has yet to review the EVP to make sure, but this served as ghost investigating lesson No. 1 for me: Your brain can turn nothing into something very quickly while sitting in silence and darkness.)

Before we leave the bathroom, Julie makes a final appeal to Henry, "If you are here, touch my hand." The tactic has worked in other investigations, she says, but not this time.

Despite the promising reports of haunting, we find no concrete evidence of paranormal activity. "It's really like fishing," says Jason, a member of the team. "You're sitting around waiting and waiting and waiting and nothing happens, but then you get something exciting and it makes it worthwhile."

If and when they find some activity, there's no ghost-busting device to capture a spirit. The most they can do is ask the ghost to leave, but the spirits rarely listen, says Julie. So, then, why even bother?

Jason says he joined the group because religion didn't have all the answers, and an experience he had at the school where he teaches in Monroe convinced him there was more out there to explore. Early one morning when the school's doors were still locked, he heard a "clip-clop, clip-clop" sound of multiple women walking in high heels. It was so loud, he turned around to say something to the ladies but no one was there. He searched all over the building and parking lot but couldn't find any real people. Custodians at the school also confirmed hearing phantom footsteps on stairs and voices calling their names. Even the principal reported hearing voices arguing while working late one night. Later, Jason discovered the school was built on top of a graveyard.

Full text

1 2 3 4

More Cover »

Tags: ,

Pin It
Submit to Reddit
Favorite

Latest in Cover

More by Jared Neumark

Calendar

More »

Search Events

all events
concerts
restaurants
movie times

Most Popular
Most Shared
Most Commented

© 2019 Womack Digital, LLC
Powered by Foundation