Hunting for ghosts with ghost-busting equipment is no longer reserved for professional spirit finders.
A new ghost tour company -- Chicago Ghost Investigations -- takes patrons to a purported haunted building and teaches them how to hunt ghosts.
Brian Maloy, president of Chicago Ghost Investigations, instructs tourgoers how to use thermal indicators, digital cameras, electromagnetic field indicators and electronic voice phenomena recording devices. Then he sets them loose in a haunted building to try their hands at it.
"We are ghost researchers and we take people ghost hunting instead of driving them around to haunted places," said Maloy, who is also a Chicago Police officer.
CHICAGO GHOST INVESTIGATION TOURS
?1:30 and 7:30 p.m. daily
?Pick-up and drop-off at the Old Water Tower, Michigan and Chicago
?$55, reservations required
?(773) 935-6332; www.ghostsofchicago.com
GHOSTLY PRIMER
How are ghosts detected?
Ghosts can give signs psychically, scientifically and physically, including lights flickering or TV channels changing, says Brian Maloy of Chicago Ghost Investigations.
What is an orb?
An orb is a glowing ball of light that isn't seen by the naked eye but can be captured on film or by video cameras, Maloy says. Some experts believe orbs are an evolved form of spirit.
What is ectoplasm?
"It is best described as fog, smoke or mist. Ectoplasms are not detectable by the human eye. Ectoplasms will most likely appear in photographs and in images recorded by video cameras. Many times these phenomena are seen to be hovering near people," Maloy said.
Celeste Busk
"We teach them how to use scientific equipment to locate a spirit and monitor energy levels and environmental changes at a location. Then they do their own thing and run their own investigation. But we're on hand for advice," Maloy said.
Maloy's ghost-busting van takes people to two to three sites per tour. One of his favorites is a large 134-year-old dilapidated apartment building in the Tri-Taylor neighborhood on the West Side. The building has some 20 purported ghosts, Maloy says.
The Sun-Times recently went to the building with about a dozen other tourgoers.
The investigation began in a vacant two-bedroom apartment where Maloy discussed the equipment and how to use it. Patrons also were instructed in the use of dowsing rods to communicate with a spirit. The L-shaped rods have been used for finding water, oil, buried treasure or whatever was needed. Today, some investigators, like Maloy, use the dowsing rods in a more psychic environment.
Tour instructor and ghost researcher Michaelynn Cece used the dowsing rods during the Sun-Times tour. "If there is anybody here, cross the rods," Cece said. The rods crossed.
This reporter then wandered off to one of the rooms with the rods to ask the question. Without making any movement, the rods, quickly and eerily, crossed. This reporter made a fast exit.
Meanwhile, the tour had divided into four smaller groups of three to four people, armed with their ghost busting equipment.
Elizabeth Rosales, 23, of Boston, was busy in the kitchen area with a thermal indicator that was flashing red, indicating a temperature change and the possibility of a ghostly presence. "I was a little skeptical, but I'm becoming a believer," Rosales said.
Suddenly, a cry came from the living room. One of the tourgoers, who declined to give her name, had wandered into one of the bedrooms and came running out screaming that a ghost had touched her back. Upon inspection, there indeed was a red mark in the middle of her back.
Some of Chicago Ghost Investigations other favorite haunts include the area outside of Holy Family Church. Many people believe that the church at 1080 W. Roosevelt is haunted by two altar boys who drowned in 1874. The Rev. Arnold Damen, founder of Holy Family, claimed he was awakened one night in 1890 by two boys dressed in their cassocks and carrying candles. The boys led Damen to their dying mother and then vanished.
http://www.suntimes.com/output/entertai ... ost22.html
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