Portage pair seek spiritual connection
PORTAGE | Carl Proctor likes to tell people that he's the one who bumps back when things go bump in the night.
With 25 years experience seeking out spirits, apparitions and other difficult-to-explain byproducts of the night, Proctor has logged lots of time in cemeteries and other reputedly haunted places.
Don't believe everything you hear, he said. Heard the one about the Wolf Mansion in Portage Township being haunted? Not true, Proctor said.
Now, he and partner Shelli Bunton could tell you about a few good cemeteries rife with spirits, but they would rather not name names. Although many folks may consider ghost hunting a Halloween party game, this Portage pair takes the business seriously. They're part of the team behind Darkwatch Inc., Paranormal Investigations. Formerly, they went by Bump in the Night.
They don't like the idea of large groups of people tromping out to create a ruckus in cemeteries, which they consider sacred places, Bunton said.
"Most people come out at Halloween because they think the most ghosts come out at Halloween," Proctor said.
The most spiritual time of the year is Nov. 1, the eve of the Feast of All Souls' Day, through December when people's strong emotions draw out family spirits, Proctor and Bunton said.
Both got into the paranormal game as young teens. His father always had an interest in UFOs and such things. Proctor said he wanted to know whether there is life after death and what constitutes a ghost. Bunton got interested after seeing the movie "Ghostbusters."
Neither went to school to study parapsychology. They gleaned their knowledge from books, magazines and others who share their interest.
They take a scientific approach to their investigations. They have gadgets that measure natural electromagnetic fields and other phenomenon. When they're at a site, they keep careful written documentation of everything that happens, even if someone coughs or whispers in another room, to ensure they don't confuse sounds they record as something of a ghostly nature when they're just somebody chatting, Bunton said.
Paranormal investigations aren't as exciting in real life as they're depicted on television, they said.
"Sometimes, it's like watching paint dry," Bunton said.
"I've sat in rooms for hours, and nothing happens," Proctor said.
He has had run-ins with people trying to trick him and with spirits wanting to trip him. The trickster tried to fool him with a buddy hidden in a closet, scurrying out to scatter toys on a bedroom floor when Proctor was out of the room.
The spirit knocked him over a fence after Proctor got tired of waiting for something to happen and challenged the spirit to do something.
"The spirit said, 'You wanted proof. I'll give you poof,' and he gave me a little love tap," Proctor said.
Find out more about Darkwatch at the Web site, darkwatchinc.com.
http://nwitimes.com/articles/2006/09/28 ... 79ed3b.txt
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