A Waynesboro, Va., family claimed a demon possessed their daughter. They also said people were literally stepping out of paintings into their living room.
Since Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd were unavailable, they called the Center for Paranormal Research to investigate these otherworldly happenings.
Brian Bradley of Fairfax, Va., was part of that investigation, which took place in October 2004.
"We kept our skepticism to ourselves, but that family was a little off," said Bradley, 32.
He said the daughter, 17, was alleged to have participated in a double-homicide a couple weeks prior. Allegedly, she aided and abetted a convicted murderer by stealing a car, before both were apprehended in a high-speed chase in Florida. Bradley added that they also found a marijuana cigarette in the open in the house.
"The problems were not paranormal," said Bradley. "Their issues were family-related and psychological in nature. They were blaming their issues on ghosts."
This was just one of two dozen paranormal investigations Bradley has participated in with the Center for Paranormal Research, a non-profit organization based just outside of Richmond, dedicated to researching paranormal phenomena.
The Center for Paranormal Research scientifically investigates unexplained happenings, such as apparitions or noises. They do not use psychics, Ouija boards or other new-age methods. Instead, they measure electromagnetic frequencies, psychological profiles and recordings to study the unexplainable -- apparitions, noises and flying objects. They operate across Virginia, and have 20 investigators.
Bradley has been interested in paranormal activity since he was young -- in fact, a potentially paranormal experience sparked his curiosity in the topic. When he was 3 or 4 years old, he vividly remembers having a conversation with his uncle, who died two days prior.
"Looking back, that could have just been my imagination," said Bradley, who then devoted his free time to reading everything he could about ghosts and paranormal activity. In 2002 he got involved with the Center for Paranormal Research.
"I believe there's something not fully explained by science," said Bradley, who also said that he has not personally witnessed any paranormal activity other than that conversation with his uncle, which may not have even occurred. Bradley also works as the director of facilities for Nortel Government Solutions in Fairfax.
Bobbie Atristain is the director of the Center for Paranormal Research. She founded the organization in 2000 because she wanted to pursue paranormal research from a scientific perspective. This research is a hobby for Atristain -- she holds a day job as an applications engineer for Longwood University in Farmville, Va.
Atristain said that every year the Center for Paranormal Research gets hundreds of cases from across the state, which include people seeing apparitions, hearing strange noises or seeing objects inexplicably hurl across a room.
First the Center for Paranormal Research does a preliminary investigation, which includes an electromagnetic reading with an instrument called a TriField meter. The preliminary investigation also includes a psychological investigation, to determine if the person who is experiencing the paranormal activity is stable and to get an idea of their perception.
"Only 5 or 6 percent are credible cases," said Atristain, 30. "The rest can be explained."
If the case is determined to be credible, they conduct a full-scale investigation to document the unexplained happenings, which includes video and audio recordings and surveillance. All of this is free of charge, a hobby of the investigators.
Atristain said the immediate satisfaction from an investigation is helping the family. However, they don't stop the phenomena --they can only help explain or document it, collecting data of paranormal activity.
"We're not ghostbusters or exorcists," said Atristain.
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