A little background: Save the ?Ghostbuster? jokes. Natalie Boswell has heard them all. She?s an investigator for the Des Moines Iowa Extreme Paranormal Advanced Research Team. The 12-member unit uses parabolic microphones, EMFs (more on those later) and other specialized equipment to root out the reason things go bump in the night. The Villisca hatchet-murder house, the Kasier Bevington manse in Winterset, the Jordan House in West Des Moines; if there?s something creepy going on, Boswell and company will happily come out to assess the situation. For details, go to www.diepart.com
In the news: The paranormal sleuths later this month will head to Louisville, Ky., to what some consider the mecca of haunts: Waverly Hills Sanitarium, which has a lengthy history of apparitions, ghostly encounters and general weirdness. The infamous hospital was once home to one of the country's largest tuberculosis treatment centers. More than 60,000 people died there between 1926 and the time it closed in the early 1980s. Trip volunteers should be prepared for a marathon spook-hunt session. Call (515) 250-2108; ask for Joe. Before the trip, Boswell answered 10 (or so) Questions about banshees, doppelgangers and crazy coffee-makers.
Q: So, how's the ghost-hunting business?
A: Busy. We've been doing them almost every weekend for the past three months or so. When someone contacts us, we try to get there soon as possible. I know I'd want someone there as soon as possible if it were my house.
Q: How many folks out there are attracted to paranormal research?
A: There are about 12 of us. Members come and go, but right now we're pretty stable. We welcome new members, but they have to be willing to do two or three overnight investigations per month.
Q: What's the appeal for you?
A: I've been interested in the paranormal all my life. As I child, I always wondered what happened to people after they passed on. When my father died, I asked him, "If here's some way. ..." He finished my sentence for me: "I will give you a sign."
Q: And?
A: He hasn't yet.
Q: When a customer calls, what's your first move?
A: First, we get all the information we can from them about what happened, and the history of the house. The first thing we do is try to find an explanation for whatever it is. We take temperature readings, then audio and video. We'll take an EMF in. ...
Q: What's an EMF?
A: An electro-magnetic field detector. They basically tell you where electrical lines are.
Q: How long does all this take?
A: It takes six or seven hours just to go through the evidence we gather.
Q: Sounds expensive.
A: We don't charge. It's all free.
Q: So ghost-busting is a nonprofit pursuit?
A: Most of us work during the day. We come from all walks of life. I'm a stay-at-home mom with four children. We have one retired guy; the youngest is 26. All kinds of people, really. We aren't witches or anything like that.
Q: Do you consider yourself scientists, or do you just assume that spirits and ghosts are everywhere, just waiting to be discovered? I have a coffee-maker that comes on for no reason. Does that automatically mean there's a ghost in the house who likes caffeine?
A: We are on the scientific level. The first thing we do is debunk. We try to prove that a place isn't haunted. A coffee-maker is electrical. There are plenty of reasons why electronic devices malfunction. There can be plenty of reasons why a door slams, or why something moves inexplicably.
Q: Do you check for drafts?
A: We look for open windows, too.
Q: Anybody ever call you out to their house and then play a practical joke on you?
A: Not yet, but we have shown up to find that the person who called had been drinking.
Q: Ever had your own ghostly encounter?
A: We were in Wilton, Ia. I was sitting in front of a table with a parabolic microphone that amplifies sound. I heard this whisper: "I am the one who said that." When we played back the audio, everyone heard it.
Q: What does your husband think of all this?
A: He's a foreman at Des Moines Steel Fence in Johnston. He knows I've been interested in this my whole life, so he's used to it. We both sacrifice time so the other can do their thing. He likes to go hunting.
Source: http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs. ... 1/SPORTS04
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