Little Egypt Ghost Society investigates the paranormal

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[A family of ghost hunters investigates the paranormal for curiosity and to help people.

Some only want evidence to support their suspicions of a haunting. Others want peace in their lives. Others still believe their lives are actually in peril.

"Some are really scared of what's going on. Some want proof of what's going on because some think it's cool to have a ghost around. Others want to have it gone," Bruce Cline said.

Cline and his wife, Lisa, are originally from Harrisburg and now live in Carbondale. About two years ago they formed the Little Egypt Ghost Society and have grown to about 20 members.

Lisa's brother, James Clarida of Harco formed a sister organization called Research Investigators of Paranormal.

Using high and low tech equipment the ghost hunters attempt to confirm or refute hauntings. An unexplained sound may turn out to be pipes. If there are temperature drops, orbs in photographs or weird voices captured on a digital voice recorder, the incident may fit into the paranormal category.

A couple of months ago the crew rented the entire Rose Hotel in Elizabethtown -- the oldest operating hotel in the state -- for a ghost hunting party. The Clines had an electronic motion detector set up in their room.

"At 4 a.m. it went off repeatedly," Cline said.

An Electromagnetic Field Meter measured the area where the motion detector was pointed was 3.4 to 3.5 milligauss. Measurements of 2.0 to 7.0 milligauss can be an indication of paranormal activity, Cline said. The researchers believe ghosts manifest themselves by soaking up the energy around them, a phenomenon that can result in batteries being drained of power.

The group uses a digital recorder and asks questions. Usually they do not hear a response. Sometimes when playing the recorder back at a slow speed the researchers can discern an answer.

In the Rose Hotel they asked, "How are you?" On playback they interpreted the answer of "Fine."

Cline then asked "Are you alone?" They heard the answer, "Yes."

Then things became a little creepy when he asked, "Where are you?" Playing the recorder back they heard "Right behind you" along with some garbled noise.

In two photos the researchers believe they captured ghost images reflected in glass. One they believe to have been a fair-skinned black servant named Tote after looking at an old photograph in the hotel. Another they believe is the faint visage of a woman in old-fashioned dress. They theorize this may be the former operator Maimee Rose or her daughter Charlotte.

He believes sometimes ghosts of family stick around because they feel a need to get a message to the family, like the location of a hidden stash of money or just to continue to taking care of the family.

-- DeNeal receives e-mail at bdeneal@yourclearwave.com.