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Local paranormal
experts have a scary-good time - 20081103
By FRANK KONKEL
IONIA - They're not the Ghostbusters,
but with all their high-tech gadgets and interest in paranormal
activity, the Michigan Haunted and Paranormal Investigations
team (HPI) might just be the closest equivalent this side
of reality.
Led by Tonya Douglas and her husband, Randy,
the Michigan HPI formed and settled in Ionia last May. They're
already fifty members strong and growing, thanks in part to
the strange situations they investigate on a regular basis.
Michigan HPI has already examined a few Ionia
County historic sites, including the Blanchard House on Sept.
26 as part of an Ionia County Historical Society fundraiser.
For four and a half hours, Michigan MPI toured the Blanchard
House and didn't detect any paranormal activity, but then
again, they didn't expect to. Ionia County Historical Society
treasurer Hank Knoop said nobody's ever reported any odd phenomena
at the Blanchard House, though he did note some “strange
blobs in pictures” were brought in.
Often times, however, Michigan MPI investigate
actual reported paranormal activity.
“Our basic premise is we ghost hunt,”
said Tonya Douglas, who says she's always felt a connection
to ‘the other side.' “We help people who think they've
lost their minds by examining what they're seeing or feeling.”
The key to Michigan MPI's quest for answers
starts and ends with research. They keep constant vigilance
for myths and horror stories - haunted houses, spooked cemeteries
and the like - and when they zero in on one, they immediately
attempt to “debunk” the situation.
According to Randy Douglas, debunking is basically
trying to find a logical reason for what someone might mistake
as paranormal.
It could be faulty plumbing under grandma's
bathroom floor that's causing that strange noise, or an unruly
mouse that makes those high-pitch squeaks in the night, and
if it is, the Michigan MPI will find out.
But explanations aren't always that easy.
Though they're only a few months old, the Michigan MPI have
investigated some situations you'd think belonged on an episode
of The Twilight Zone.
On Oct. 11, Michigan MPI investigated Legendz
in Port Huron, an old, operational bar that residents report
has been haunted for years. Armed with infrared cameras, digital
voice recorders, ambient temperature gauges, tri-field meters,
night-vision cameras/cameras and other ghost-busting equipment,
the Douglas family and other lead investigators checked out
Legendz around 2 a.m.
“To be honest, it scared the (crap) out
of me,” said Randy Douglas, who felt something hit his
foot from beneath the floor boards during the investigation.
His wife, Tonya, recorded unexplainable voice whispers during
the event and also felt ‘something' pull her hair. “Doing
this, you see all kinds of paranormal stuff. It can be very
scary.”
Clearly. Michigan MPI documents all their
findings on a computer database, including any paranormal
contact and the action taken.
Whether or not you believe in ghosts or paranormal
activity, Tonya Douglas said their adventures are always interesting
spectacles. They've had similar experiences at Cadillac House
in Lexington - where “George the Ghost” is the town's
most popular resident, dead or alive - and even on Mill St.
in Ionia. The Mill St. myth allegedly involved a grizzly car
wreck. Douglas said Michigan MPI has investigated a local
Ionia cemetery, too, to determine the legitimacy of a local
myth that says a dead woman still haunts her grave. They plan
to continue examining strange phenomena in the area, too,
and always act on tips. And right now happens to be the perfect
season.
“We're always open to suggestions, we'd
love to find more places to check out,” said Douglas.
They're also always up for new members. Anyone
with an interest can check out their Web site at www.michiganhpi.com.
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