By Erin Lynch
Over the weekend members of the Smoking Gun Research Agency (SGRA), headquarted in Westport, met to discuss and plan its eighth annual Paranormal Convention (ParaCon), which is scheduled for next month in Milford.
Established in 1997 by Westport resident Jon Nowinski, the group is dedicated to presenting the facts on paranormal activities, such as ghosts or unidentified flying objects (UFO), through scientific research and field investigations. According to its Web site, www.sgra-media.org, although they are centralized in the New England area, there are more than 700 members worldwide.
Even though the SGRA began in 1997, Nowinski's interest in the unexplained began in 1985 when he witnessed a UFO while he was in Greenwich. Nowinski recalled seeing a "triangular shaped aircraft with three really bright lights."
Although he was unsure of what he had seen, Nowinski said, "I was young enough to know what I had seen wasn't an airplane." A few days later, after seeing a sketch of the UFO in a newspaper Nowinski's belief was confirmed and he realized he wasn't alone. That incident, he said, turned out to be known as the Hudson Valley Sightings, comprised of a series of eyewitness accounts of UFOs spanning from 1982 to 1995 in the New York and Connecticut area.
"I became interested [in UFOs] from that point on," he said. When Nowinski entered high school in 1997, having a greater access to technology, his interest in the unexplained became a passion and the SGRA was born.
What began as a small group in 1997 is now a full-fledged research agency of the unknown. Now the SGRA is broken up into several divisions: government investigations, ghost investigations, cryptozoology investigations and UFO investigations.
Diane Bajorinas, assistant director and head of the ghost investigations, much like Nowinski, has had a passion for the unexplained since she was young. "I've been interested in ghosts from an early age; my first experience was when I was 10."
Bajorinas said her first experience occurred when she was with her mother, who volunteered at a women's shelter in Monroe. The site of that shelter, Bajorinas said, had a paranormal history and she learned first hand while playing hide and seek in the buildings attic. While playing the childhood game she said she heard "footsteps in the attic" even though there was no one with her. "There was definitely something else there," she recalled.
Another member of the SGRA, Sacha Quick, also had experiences at a young age, actually for as long as she could remember. "I've had experiences since my first memory & it's been my entire life," she said.
Those experiences include apparitions and predicting her great grandmother's death, "I just knew she died before my parents even told me, I just knew." Quick said throughout her life she has seen ghostly images and has come in contact with those on the other side.
"Those experiences, they press you to go on and see more," Quick said, who joined the agency in 2004.
Besides having early experiences in common, the SGRA members also have a passion for finding out the truth by conducting investigations. Nowinski said the agency has gone out on more than 2,000 investigations since its inception. Some of the famous local cases that the SGRA has investigated are Union Cemetery in Easton, a Fairfield lake, Fairfield Hills and a historic inn, which they asked to remain nameless, in Redding.
When conducting any kind of investigation the agency usually sets up its equipment, which consists of several video cameras, digital cameras, sound recorders, a compass and night vision goggles.
In the summer of 2002 the agency conducted a field investigation at a "local lake" in Fairfield. It was reported, according to the SGRA site, that people had encountered anything from "strange feelings" to "encounters with fully formed apparitions" while at the lake.
The SGRA conducted several investigations at the Fairfield location, which included several photographs, video and audio recordings. "During this investigation we had a larger team working with us, and therefore we split the team up to cover more ground. Members of our investigation team examined areas around the lake itself, while the secondary team examined areas in the woods surrounding the lake where activity was reported. During this second investigation both teams documented and felt a great deal of activity at the site before deciding it was time to leave," the group's Web site states.
The SGRA then conducted a third investigation at the lake with a goal of trying to see if anything could be found that would suggest the activity that was reported was actually there. "While nothing directly was found at the site, investigation at the [Fairfield] Historical Society showed that prior to being settled, the land around the lake was considered sacred ground by the Native Americans in the area, and that they believed the area around the lake had powers."
The inn investigation began when Nowinski was at a wedding and decided to take some pictures. After they were developed they seemed to depict some type of paranormal activity. One of those pictures, Nowinski said, showed what looked like a face in a window. After seeing the images the agency contacted the inn requesting permission to conduct an investigation, to which its officials agreed.
While conducting the investigation Bajorinas said the team took several photographs and made audio recordings. These audio recordings later showed what could be electronic voice phenomenon (EVP), which is a voice or a noise found on tape that was not heard at the time of recording. During the inn investigation, Bajorinas said they left an audio recorder, unattended, in the attic of the inn. After listening to the recording after the investigation it sounded like someone was playing the piano for a few seconds, even though during the investigation at no time was a piano being played.
These EVPs, Nowinski said, are heard because they are usually at a lower frequency, one that humans cannot hear. On Saturday Nowinski played the EVP from the inn investigation for the Westport News, which did contain a humming sound for two to three seconds. "There was nothing that should have made that sound in the attic," Nowinski said. But sometimes, he said, sounds can be explained such as wind or tree branches bumping against windows.
Sometimes, Bajorinas said, an investigator could actually ask specific questions while on scene of an investigation, which could possibly be answered on the an EVP by some kind of paranormal entity. When asked if they ever get freaked out after hearing EVPs Bajorinas said "Oh yeah, I still do."
One rule the agency has, according to Nowinski, is that "if anyone feels it's time to go, we leave. That is a very strict rule that we have."
Another strict rule, Nowinski said, is that while conducting an interview, team members are not permitted to talk to each other, for fear that it could skew the results.
The site states that the agency's goal is to "provide the information, that's uncovered during investigations, to the public to promote a better understanding" of paranormal topics. Nowinski also said that when they conduct investigations, which are free of charge, the agency isn't dead set on finding paranormal activity, "we are just looking for ways to explain what is being reported."
"You need to be as much of a skeptic as you are a believer," Nowinski said. Which is also something Nowinski asks of those who want to participate in the ParaCon occurring next month. The event, which will be held June 16-18 in Milford, will discuss "various paranormal and unexplained phenomenon," Nowinski said. "The difference with this convention compared to others is that we encourage our guests to make their own decisions, this will be a very open forum," Nowinski said.
ParaCon is a free event where members of the public can attend and listen to what some consider the best paranormal researchers in the field today.
Besides Nowinski and Bajorinas, speaking during next month's convention are John Zaffis, paranormal investigator, author and demonologist; Jeff Belanger, founder of www.Ghost villager.com; Stacey Jones, founder of the Central New York Ghost Hunters and David Twitchell, a UFO investigator and author. "The convention is really a great opportunity to see what we do but also how everyone works together," Nowinski said.
The convention will also include a question and answer portion, a multimedia room and a museum of specific investigations.
Source: http://www.westport-news.com/ci_3883502
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
