Glenwood n It?s possible the voices you?re hearing are not in your head.
They might be evidence of paranormal forces ? you know ? ghosts.
If you?re looking for someone to help explain those voices or the weird creaking on your stairs, the meowing that seems to come from inside your house even though you don?t have a cat, or, maybe the acrid smoke that appears out of nowhere in the one bedroom you don?t use n look no further.
A group of local ghost hunters is available to help, and at no charge.
Mark Johnson is founder and lead researcher for North Jersey Paranormal Research. He?s been doing this sort of work for seven years now, but they?ve just hit the big time. Tune in to WPIX-TV on Oct. 26, and catch them on the Maury Povich show.
?The episode focused on local families who have experienced paranormal activity in their homes, and the scientific research groups who help them come to terms with the phenomenon that they have experienced,? Johnson said.
His group goes out on calls all over the region to investigate the sorts of things that set people?s nerves on end. Noises, odors, voices, feelings. People are looking for answers, and NJPR tries to provide them. The 10 members, all of whom have ?day jobs,? Johnson explains, understand what their clients are going through. ?Most of us in our organization have had these experiences ourselves. A lot of us have lived in houses with ?activity.? I?ve lived in a house that was quote unquote haunted,? Johnson said.
But wait a minute. Not so fast. First, they look for rational explanations of the things that give people the heebie-jeebies in their own homes. And often, they find them. Maybe an air vent in a multi-level apartment building is channeling voices. Or a ventilation problem creates a pocket of cold air in an odd location.
?A lot of times we are able to explain it rationally.?
But if no logical explanation presents itself, the ghost hunters are ready with their tools. Digital and 35 mm cameras, video camcorders, digital audio recorders, electromagnetic energy detectors, thermal imaging cameras.
Thus armed, they ?look for more evidence of paranormal activity,? he says.
But how do you reveal something that isn?t there?
?We?re able to capture most energies on video or still photographs. Anything that is unusual, that shouldn?t be there. We?ve caught what looks like smoke or mist when there?s nothing there at the time the photo was taken.?
?I can?t tell you what it is; I can just tell you what it isn?t.?
It isn?t corporeal.
?There is a phenomenon called orbs, which is ball of light that appears on still photos or on video. They?re obviously some form of energy; some people feel that they could be spiritual energy. We?re not quite sure. Sometimes we have to be careful because dust or pollen could simulate orbs.?
Then what?
Along with their own data collection, which is not at all like the movie ?Ghost Busters,? because for one thing, NJPR does not try to rid a home of paranormal energy, they do research to back up their findings. They go to the historical records, looking for evidence of events that may have caused a ghost or energy force to remain on the property.
Like a tragic death or otherwordly events that occurred long in the past. ?The most significant one we did was in Warren County, the Haynesburg Mansion, where a little boy passed away. We recorded a little boy,? while researching on the property, Johnson says.
And then what?
In the popular vernacular, they are ghost hunters. But they call themselves paranormal researchers. They don?t aim to suck ghostly energies up through a vacuum. ?We don?t bust; we don?t get rid of ghosts. We try to just verify that there is something going on and put the client?s mind at ease. Most times our clients just want to know that they?re not going crazy. Sometimes they feel better knowing that they?re not crazy. We try to help them come to terms with it.?
And, if knowing there?s a ghost does not make you feel better than just thinking there might be a ghost, Johnson says, ?We refer them to a pastor or priest who can do a blessing on the house.?
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