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Paranormal
team goes on the hunt for hauntings - 20081103
By Theodora Aggeles, Times
Correspondent
Folks expect ghosts at their doors on Halloween,
but unexplained hauntings pop up year-round at some of the
most prestigious local addresses.
That's when Haunted Hunters PSI, a team of
Tampa Bay paranormal scientific investigators, materializes.
Haunted Hunters is not a business, but members
are professionals who work to uncover answers. The team uses
electromagnetic field detectors, also known as EMFs, and an
electromagnetic voice recorder, which often captures words
only audible when recordings are played back.
State-of-the-art technology and scientific
methods aid in the research of paranormal activity, a topic
Haunted Hunters will discuss Wednesday at the Tarpon Springs
Library.
Founders John and Jodi Sullivan moved from
New York to Tarpon Springs in 2003 and found no serious paranormal
investigator teams in the Tampa Bay area. With 17 years of
experience in the field, they formed Haunted Hunters PSI in
June 2006.
Now with 12 core members from Clearwater,
Tarpon Springs, St. Petersburg, New Port Richey, and Tampa,
the team gathers for bimonthly meetings and investigations.
Some recent investigations include the Belleview
Biltmore Golf and Spa Resort and the Royalty Theatre in Clearwater,
the Peninsula Inn and Spa in Gulfport, and several area cemeteries.
Upcoming investigations are planned at Ybor City's Cuban Club
and the Don CeSar Beach Resort and Spa.
"We get voices. That's a fact,"
John Sullivan said. "We don't know where they or the
strange light anomalies come from. We want to know why. We're
all skeptical."
Haunted Hunters are also skeptical of organizations
that charge large sums to teach about paranormal research,
and as the group's reputation as serious investigators spreads,
requests for seminars have increased. So have local calls
to investigate shadowy forms and ghostlike sounds in historic
hotel hallways, museum galleries and the dark recesses of
theaters. Yet searches for hard-core evidence take time and
dedication.
"We're looking for something intangible,"
said John Sullivan. "In our Royalty Theatre investigation,
we got high EMF readings that didn't seem to come from the
floor, ceiling or walls. They floated above the seats, but
EMFs are waves and don't usually float."
During that same investigation, a guest who
accompanied the Haunted Hunters walked into a dressing room
and up a flight of stairs. At the top, she expressed a "creepy
feeling" and descended.
When John Sullivan played back the audio recording,
he heard a voice say "stay here," and seconds later,
"we're here."
"Other area groups do this for fun,"
said Clearwater resident Christina Goodman. "We're building
community respect because we investigate the where, when and
whys. …
"It's believed energy fluctuates, so
we ask an entity to pass before our EMF detector, and often
that happens. We're looking for concrete evidence, not simply
going on feelings. When we find something we can't disprove,
we consider it evidence."
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