The Ghost Hunters Diaries

By: Maggie Hauser

Though they may not be the unemployed ghost-busting Professors Venkman, Stantz and Spengler, the ghost hunters of today still mean business.

Paranormal investigators armed with high-tech devices like electro-magnetic field meters, infrared non-contact thermometers, dowsing rods and Geiger counters explore reportedly haunted sites in the hopes of proving that the supernatural and the ordinary coexist alongside each other.

The Orange County Paranormal Research group is one such organization. Made up of both technical and intuitive members, their mission is to educate humanity by providing evidence and verification for the reality and existence of the paranormal.

Kalinda, an intuitive with the group, uses a combination of clairvoyance, clairaudience and clairsentience during investigations.

Clairvoyance is the ability to see things beyond the range of normal human vision. Clairaudience is the ability to hear things that the average person cannot hear and clairsentience is the ability to feel things that is beyond the ability of the common person.

With the group, Kalinda said she has been able to offer closure and support to clients, often helping to clear up unresolved issues that clients have had with family members or friends who have died.

"It's really gratifying when the families confirm the impressions that we get," Kalinda said. "It really helps us."

Kalinda has gathered extensive evidence of the supernatural through Electric Voice Phenomena. These are said to be the voices of ghosts and spirits captured on tape that are not heard at the time of the investigation.

At a library in Orange County, the group captured what they believe to be the voice of a ghost responding to a question posed by one of the investigators.

Melinda Leslie, another intuitive with the group, said she believes that everyone is born with the ability to be sensitive to the paranormal.

"It's a natural part of who we are as humans," Leslie said. "It's like the ability to sing or dance. Everyone has it, but some have more natural talent than others. You learn more every time you use it."

Leslie also pointed out that the group doesn't only examine hauntings. They have also taken part in UFO investigations.

Leslie said the group began researching unidentified flying objects 15 years ago, and has gathered significant amounts of evidence to support their existence.

On an investigation in Northern California, Leslie said that the group was told things by witnesses that were "pretty out there," about craft sightings and abductions.

On one night during the study, the group captured video evidence of what Leslie described as "streaks of light." Upon closer examination when the video was slowed down, Leslie said that they could see a "structured craft" that had lights on it.

The Orange County Paranormal Group's Web site has links to some of their evidence, including photos and sound recordings.

Another Southern California paranormal research group is San Diego-based Pacific Paranormal Investigations.

According to their Web site, they began in late 2004 as a nonprofit organization made up of investigators and researchers seeking to help those concerned or curious about their experiences with paranormal activity.

This group does not use intuitives, psychics or séances, but they do utilize equipment like still and video cameras and digital voice recorders to gather evidence of the supernatural.

The nine-member team travels all over California.

David Walters, founder and lead investigator for Pacific Paranormal Investigations, has been involved with paranormal research since childhood after being raised in a haunted house in the San Diego town of Bonita.

"There were some things going on in my house, so my parents started their own investigation," Walters said. "They would hear scratching and knocking inside the walls, so they thought it was mice."

Walters said that his mother would clean a room in the house, only to find that it had been ruined an hour later - when she was the only one in the house.

His father did some research on the property after the family left the house and learned there had been a ranch on the property where a child had died from a fatal ax wound.

"That house was loaded," Walters said. "After that, I sort of surrounded myself with the paranormal side of life."

Walters said he now goes on investigations with the mindset that he is going to "debunk" the alleged haunting.

"About 75 percent to 80 percent of the cases we go on are debunked," Walters said.

Walters said his favorite and most rewarding investigation was a private residence in San Ysidro.

"We get something every time we go there," Walters said. "We're even doing tours of the site now."