Published: Saturday, February 16, 2008
By Matt Ryan
Free Press Staff Writer
ESSEX JUNCTION -- Deep inside the Hoosac Tunnel, a sense of dread came over Jeffrey Stewart. A few miles from daylight, Stewart and fellow paranormal investigator Jason Lorefice walked along the railroad tracks in darkness. The prospect of an oncoming train posed an immediate threat, as the tunnel was still active.
Then there were the ghosts.
More than 130 years ago, miners blasted 5 miles through the Berkshires to connect Boston with western Massachusetts via rail. The tunnel became known as the "Bloody Pit," where nearly 200 men died in nitroglycerine explosions and cave-ins. The miners believed American Indians cursed the mountain above.
The hauntings were said to have begun during construction. Men saw phantoms and heard voices, and a supervisor was allegedly killed by the ghost of a dead worker.
Which is why Stewart and Lorefice paid the tunnel a visit.
"That tunnel -- that was a very unique place," Lorefice said. "It's a different kind of fear."
Stewart, Lorefice and three other members of Paranormal Investigators of New England shared tales of the Hoosac Tunnel and other haunted sites at the Brownell Library in Essex Junction on Wednesday.
The South Burlington group has investigated cases that range from a hoax involving a rubber mask to a possible occult-driven succubus who drains the energy of the living. The group returns empty from about 8 out of 10 investigations, Stewart said. They average two investigations a month, he said.
The group investigates public places and private residences free. Consequently, they have to keep their day jobs.
Lead investigator Stewart, 28, of Burlington is a maintenance technician who "plows the snow and fixes the lights." Investigator Sherry Lemay, 36, of Moretown works in the sleep medication field. Photo analyst Sarah Vogelsang, 28, of Burlington is a photographer and artist. Case manager Jennifer Perellie, 34, of Warren is opening an art supply store. Lead investigator Lorefice, 35, of Williston is a machinist. His coworkers sang the theme to "Ghostbusters" when they learned of his extracurricular activities.
"We try and separate ourselves from 'Ghostbusters,'" Lorefice said. "It's not an insult, it's just a misunderstanding."
The group does not bust ghosts, but instead provides consolation to people who believe they are being haunted. The group will listen and help determine if a home is haunted, Stewart said.
"Our full intention is to help people," Stewart said.
To do so, the group uses several tools.
Lorefice uses a handheld E.M.F. (electromagnetic field) meter -- sort of like Egon Spangler's P.K.E. meter in "Ghostbusters," for lack of a better comparison -- to locate the electromagnetic fields of ghosts. Lorefice bought the device for $120 on eBay.
Their equipment also includes headlamps, audio recorders to pick up "electronic voice phenomenon," believed to be the voices of the dead, and a motion sensor camera, used by Bigfoot hunters. The group pays for its equipment but accepts donations.
"We're all geeks," Vogelsang said, "but we love it."
During a break between ghost stories, Vogelsang and Lorefice lament the inconsistent mythology between the "Terminator" films and the "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" TV series.
Such an interest in science fiction, and a knowledge of folklore, are prerequisites to becoming a paranormal investigator, Stewart said.
"This is probably one of the hardest professions to get into," Stewart said. "I've probably read every Joe Citro book I could get my hands on. I watched a lot of 'The X-Files.'"
Citro, the author of "Cursed in New England: Stories of Damned Yankees" and "Green Mountains, Dark Tales," attended the library event.
For more information on the group, visit the Web site at www.pinewengland.com.
http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/apps ... 60305/1007
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
