Ghosts are on this syllabus

[Carol]

IPFW instructor investigates and writes about the paranormal
Mike Weides, a paranormal investigator and part-time professor from South Bend, has some chilling stories to tell.

?One night I was out late ghost hunting, and when you come home, you can?t just go to sleep,? he begins, recounting what he claims to be his most terrifying experience in the field. ?So I was awake watching TV, and decided to come up to the kitchen.?

He lowers his voice, conveying just how frightening this memory is.

?And there, laid out on the kitchen table, was my wife?s Marshall Field?s credit card bill.?

He pauses, waiting for a reaction. The journalist interviewing him slowly catches on, and realizes that Weides may not be what many would think of as a typical ghost hunter (if there is such a thing).

?I?ve got to keep the humor up in this class,? he says, smirking.

Weides teaches a class at IPFW, ?Ghost Hauntings and Ghost Huntings,? through the university?s Division of Continuing Studies.

Weides can discuss many real tales of ghost encounters from his eight years in the field. He relates all of them with complete certainty and with the same seriousness that he describes his Marshall Field?s experience, making him believable.

It isn?t only that he acts as if he knows what he?s talking about; he has the credentials to prove it. He has a bachelor?s degree in both psychology and sociology from Manchester College, and has been remodeling homes for 25 years. Sometimes old homes? ductwork can cause mysterious noises that some might attribute to spirits.

?I can recognize the red flags of substance abuse, mental illness, sleep deprivation, you name it,? he said.

?I also recognize signs of faulty wiring or what a heating and air-conditioning system does in a home. I?m able to rule out more than most.?

Standing at the front of his classroom in a tan suit, glasses and running shoes, he presents the aura of a professor who could be teaching any subject at the university.

?Obviously, I?m not all gothic with facial piercings, and this appearance works for me,? he said. The class met six times over the past two months, and students had a chance to learn techniques in documenting encounters with ghosts and ways to determine whether what they encountered was really a ghost. For the last class meeting Thursday, students went on a ghost hunt at the Mizpah Shrine Center, 407 W. Berry St.

During the hunt, Weides said that whenever he had searched there in the past he encountered some sort of ghostly activity. Pat Rice, a student in the class, managed to get several photographs of ?orbs,? circles of light in the picture that are believed to be ghosts or spirits.

?I can?t say for sure that these are ghosts, as I don?t think anyone really knows, but they are something,? she said of the photographs.

Despite Weide?s experience in the field, his activities with ghost hunting aren?t quite enough to make a career.

?Ghost hunting is not paying the bills,? he said. ?But it is my No. 1 hobby.?

He?s working on a book that discusses the views of ghosts from the perspective of different cultures within our society. He also spends many weekends traveling to people?s homes to investigate possible hauntings.

After so many years and encounters involving the paranormal, his attitude toward strange events that some would find utterly terrifying is nonchalant.

Just listening to many of his stories with brushes from spirits on the ?other side? is enough to send chills up a person?s spine, but for Weides, it?s all in a day?s work.

?You have to practice this calmness, this receptive nature,? he said. Not all ghost hunts are successful, but the variety of things he and fellow hunters experience when they are lucky make it worthwhile. ?Spirit activity is everywhere, and there?s no denying it,? he said. ?And it?s always interesting hearing people?s stories.?


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