Captain Kundalini
05-10-2005, 06:36 PM
A year ago, Peter Franz and a friend stayed at what was billed as a
haunted bed-and-breakfast inn in Gettysburg, Pa., and hunted for
ghosts. And they found one, or at least something Franz can't quite
explain.
When Franz, 33, a postal worker from a New York suburb, and his friend
returned to their room one night, they discovered that the key wouldn't
turn in the lock. It being after-hours, no employees were around to
help. It was cold and late, and Franz assumed that the damp mountain
air was causing the key to stick. Then they heard a noise.
"We hear this laugh like 'Ha-ha, ha-ha,' almost like this little-boy
laugh," Franz recounted. "My friend's like, 'You hear that?' and I'm
like, 'Yeah.' So we're like, 'Forget this, we're out of here.' "
They checked into another hotel for the night but returned to the bed
and breakfast the next morning to talk to the owner and test the faulty
key. It turned easily in the lock, and the hotelkeeper chuckled when
she heard their tale.
"Oh, that was probably Jeremy," she said. "We have a little boy ghost
here who's like 7 years old who loves playing tricks on people."
Armed with this information, Franz returned to the scene of the
ethereal laugh to videotape the location and see what else he could
discover. While he didn't see or hear anything unusual at the time,
when he watched the videotape later, Franz said, he heard a disembodied
voice captured on the tape quietly say, "Come with me."
Across the nation, people are using modern technology to answer an
age-old question: Do ghosts exist? These paranormal enthusiasts are
harnessing websites to share their hair-raising stories, just like kids
swap spooky tales around a crackling campfire.
Grown with the Internet
"There's been a boom in ghost hunting ever since the Internet took
off," said John Zaffis, a ghost buster of 30 years who is deemed an
authority among the supernatural set.
Hundreds of Internet message boards and groups, with such names as Lone
Star Spirits and Ghost-Aholics, are dedicated to this eerie pastime.
Most ghostly groups have their own websites, which are often festooned
with cartoon ghosts, spooky Grim Reapers and creepy music.
The postings range from the paranormal to the very normal. With user
names such as "stixdeath,"Dr. Supernatural" and "funny farm," message
board users announce nuptials, complain about the weather and organize
group hunts. One site included a spirited debate over whether phantoms
appear in color or just black and white.
Most of the associations share a mission "to investigate the paranormal
using scientific methods," says Cody Polston, president of the
Southwest Ghost Hunters Association. Many sites declare themselves free
of Ouija boards, which are frowned upon as unscientific among
poltergeist circles.
Equipment recommendations
Along with tracking tips, the sites recommend everything from high-tech
equipment such as infrared thermometers and electromagnetic field
monitors to sturdy shoes and flashlights.
Ghost busters equipped with such gear scour reportedly haunted venues,
trying to uncover visual and audio evidence of hauntings and
documenting everything they can about their search, including the time
of day, weather and temperature.
To the nonbeliever, ghost photos may appear to represent blurry mist or
blobs of refracted light, called "orbs" by insiders. Similarly, the
audio recordings referred to by those in the know as "EVPs," or
electronic voice phenomena, sound to the untrained ear like garbles and
warbles amid long tracks of white noise.
Despite the rise in people who methodically document haunted houses,
many scientists maintain that hard evidence is lacking.
"I keep an open mind, but I have not found anything to substantiate the
paranormal," said Robert Baker, a psychology professor at the
University of Kentucky and a member of the national Committee for the
Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal. After 30 years of
investigation, the group, based in Amherst, N.Y., has found no
conclusive proof of ghosts.
Baker attributes continuing interest in the supernatural to a yearning
for life after death. "No one wants to lose a loved one," he said.
"Wish fulfillment is the whole basis behind the belief."
haunted bed-and-breakfast inn in Gettysburg, Pa., and hunted for
ghosts. And they found one, or at least something Franz can't quite
explain.
When Franz, 33, a postal worker from a New York suburb, and his friend
returned to their room one night, they discovered that the key wouldn't
turn in the lock. It being after-hours, no employees were around to
help. It was cold and late, and Franz assumed that the damp mountain
air was causing the key to stick. Then they heard a noise.
"We hear this laugh like 'Ha-ha, ha-ha,' almost like this little-boy
laugh," Franz recounted. "My friend's like, 'You hear that?' and I'm
like, 'Yeah.' So we're like, 'Forget this, we're out of here.' "
They checked into another hotel for the night but returned to the bed
and breakfast the next morning to talk to the owner and test the faulty
key. It turned easily in the lock, and the hotelkeeper chuckled when
she heard their tale.
"Oh, that was probably Jeremy," she said. "We have a little boy ghost
here who's like 7 years old who loves playing tricks on people."
Armed with this information, Franz returned to the scene of the
ethereal laugh to videotape the location and see what else he could
discover. While he didn't see or hear anything unusual at the time,
when he watched the videotape later, Franz said, he heard a disembodied
voice captured on the tape quietly say, "Come with me."
Across the nation, people are using modern technology to answer an
age-old question: Do ghosts exist? These paranormal enthusiasts are
harnessing websites to share their hair-raising stories, just like kids
swap spooky tales around a crackling campfire.
Grown with the Internet
"There's been a boom in ghost hunting ever since the Internet took
off," said John Zaffis, a ghost buster of 30 years who is deemed an
authority among the supernatural set.
Hundreds of Internet message boards and groups, with such names as Lone
Star Spirits and Ghost-Aholics, are dedicated to this eerie pastime.
Most ghostly groups have their own websites, which are often festooned
with cartoon ghosts, spooky Grim Reapers and creepy music.
The postings range from the paranormal to the very normal. With user
names such as "stixdeath,"Dr. Supernatural" and "funny farm," message
board users announce nuptials, complain about the weather and organize
group hunts. One site included a spirited debate over whether phantoms
appear in color or just black and white.
Most of the associations share a mission "to investigate the paranormal
using scientific methods," says Cody Polston, president of the
Southwest Ghost Hunters Association. Many sites declare themselves free
of Ouija boards, which are frowned upon as unscientific among
poltergeist circles.
Equipment recommendations
Along with tracking tips, the sites recommend everything from high-tech
equipment such as infrared thermometers and electromagnetic field
monitors to sturdy shoes and flashlights.
Ghost busters equipped with such gear scour reportedly haunted venues,
trying to uncover visual and audio evidence of hauntings and
documenting everything they can about their search, including the time
of day, weather and temperature.
To the nonbeliever, ghost photos may appear to represent blurry mist or
blobs of refracted light, called "orbs" by insiders. Similarly, the
audio recordings referred to by those in the know as "EVPs," or
electronic voice phenomena, sound to the untrained ear like garbles and
warbles amid long tracks of white noise.
Despite the rise in people who methodically document haunted houses,
many scientists maintain that hard evidence is lacking.
"I keep an open mind, but I have not found anything to substantiate the
paranormal," said Robert Baker, a psychology professor at the
University of Kentucky and a member of the national Committee for the
Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal. After 30 years of
investigation, the group, based in Amherst, N.Y., has found no
conclusive proof of ghosts.
Baker attributes continuing interest in the supernatural to a yearning
for life after death. "No one wants to lose a loved one," he said.
"Wish fulfillment is the whole basis behind the belief."