BY: ROBIN S. (written Sepetember 2008, for Delaware State News)

I recently took up a new hobby. As a middle aged woman with a career and a child at home you might expect me to take up golf, as my husband did. After all, it’s easy on the joints and it would allow me to enjoy well-manicured nature while sporting cute outfits and coordinating clubs. But I went a different route, I became a paranormal investigator

Say you’re a ghost hunter to the uninitiated and images of proton packs and near fatal slimings come to mind. You probably envision Dan Akroyd and Bill Murray playing high-tech ghostbusting conquistadors. That unfortunately is not the reality of paranormal investigating. I’ve not been issued a proton pack to date, and no ghost, according to my research, has ever slimed anyone.

So what is ghost hunting like, you ask? I have to admit, I’ve found ghost hunting to be more like…fishing. Just like fishing, when you’ve got a ghost “on the line” it is an adrenaline rush like little I’ve ever experienced before. But most of the time, and I mean most of the time, you’re merely casting into the dark. Back home we used to fish for muskies, an elusive fish that fights like the dickens when hooked. The fisherman’s motto was that one had to cast 100,000 times before catching one of these beasties. It’s no wonder that those lucky enough to catch one usually had it stuffed and mounted on their walls versus eating it for dinner. So how often do ghost hunters experience something honestly paranormal? Opinions vary, but somewhere between 1 in 5 investigations to 1 in 20 investigations. In other words you’ll spend somewhere between five or twenty sleepless nights wandering around in old basements and sneezing in attics before you actually capture any real evidence. What is considered verifiable evidence depends on the investigation group and how rigorous they are with what they collect.

When I say rigorous I’m talking about the degree to which a group or individual is willing to examine the evidence for verification. A lot of ghost hunting groups wish to advance the field of research and prove that ghosts exist. The field of course, is mostly snubbed by the scientific field, and hence, much in the paranormal world has fallen to normal people to prove or disprove. Some groups are extremely vigorous in their data collection, throwing out the vast majority of the evidence they collect in the name of scientific rigor. Others, mostly amateurs and the unschooled, will call every photo of a flying bug or dust mote an orb. I wanted to join a group that was in the first category and not the second.

I joined Delaware Ghost hunters, or DGH, founded in 2005 by brothers Justin and Jason Sipple; DGH has done over 100 investigations. This month the group will become only the second group to investigate Fort Delaware. Simply joining a paranormal group with a good reputation takes tenacity on the part of the applicant. DGH was deluged with applications when I applied, and it took months of repeated requests before being admitted. The hardest part of getting into an investigative group is probably convincing them that you’re, well, normal.

To prepare to become an investigator was also far more work than I first suspected. My first assignment was to read, listen and watch anything I could find in the field. The novels on my nightstand have been replaced with “How To” books on paranormal investigations, the history of the science of paranormal investigations and most recently a rather deep book on how the study of the paranormal can be linked to emerging theories in quantum psychics. I’m still confused as to what an “event horizon” is, but I now know the event horizon doubles at the entrance to a black hole. Huh? Little did I know that a study of the paranormal would lead me to the theories of some of the greatest scientific minds of all time. How many golfers can say that?

So if you’re wondering what it’s like to do a paranormal investigation, I would have to say it’s, well - paranormal. (Keep in mind that the definition of paranormal is anything that is not normal.) The group divides itself into smaller groups, and each group is assigned an area to investigate. We may spend a half an hour to a couple of hours in that area according to how much activity we’re experiencing. Armed with electromagnetic field detectors (EMF’s) and thermometers we will get base readings of an area. High outputs of electricity can cause people to experience various reactions, from feelings of paranoia to nausea. Of course faulty wiring is often a staple of older buildings, so we first determine where the hotspots may be. Once we’ve taken the base readings of the area we will set up voice recorders, video cameras and ready the digital cameras. And then we begin fishing.

Essentially what you have is a group of otherwise rational adults sitting in the dark asking questions to the walls. We will ask the entity to make a noise, move an object or speak with us. We’ll also ask a series of questions in the hopes of recording a voice response. We take temperature readings and electromagnetic readings to check if anything in the room is changing. Though none of us considers ourselves to be sensitive, we will also wander around the area and try to feel something odd with our eyes, ears, skin or nose. Yes, sometimes entities are believed to manifest a scent. Most of the time we come away empty handed. Or worse, the investigators will think they felt something or saw something, but when the evidence is reviewed nothing is found. When this happens we consider it a personal experience, and we don’t report personal experiences. By the way, there is no hard and fast rule that says investigations must be done in the dark and late at night. However, late at night a building and the surrounding area becomes quiet, the activity of the day stills, and therefore we’re more likely to experience something. (And it’s fun to hang out in a creepy old building all night!)

Back home the investigator now has hours of audio and video to review, which is an arduous and unexciting task. You never know when that elusive bit of evidence might show up, but again most of the time you’re casting in the dark. Every investigation means hours of painstaking research, investigating and review. This is why so many beginning paranormal investigators give it up within the first year. To date I’ve completed three investigations. If you’re wondering if I’ve caught the big one, the answer is no. A couple of nibbles maybe, but then we don’t report personal experiences. Still it’s the personal experiences that keep one coming back. I still think it’s more exciting than gulf, cute outfits or not.

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