OLLI column | Lock Haven Paranormal Seekers to hold class

It’s not the way they show it on TV.

That’s the first thing the Lock Haven Paranormal Seekers will tell you: Paranormal investigations in real life are not the way they show it on television.

My rule is that if you’re dramatic enough to be on TV, you’re not scientific enough to be doing it correctly. In real life, you don’t see some floating ghostly figure. You don’t run screaming out of the building. In real life, you collect data carefully and analyze it.

The Lock Haven Paranormal Seekers is a group of investigators from Clinton County who specialize in haunted locations. The team first looks at the history of a building, and then comes in with cameras, recorders and other equipment to collect possible evidence of a haunting — or to prove that a place is not haunted, after all.

“There are things that ghost-hunting is not,” said Theresa Brundage, the group’s president. “It’s not a path to fame and money. It’s not a way to see a ghostly woman in white going up the stairs. It’s not a way to get a TV show. It’s a science.”

Lock Haven Paranormal Seekers approaches each investigation with a goal of finding scientific, measurable evidence. Employing a series of cameras, digital recorders, electromagnetic frequency detectors, and other equipment, the team attempts to find evidence that is objective and can be displayed to others. Some of this evidence involves sounds caught on the recorders, and some of these, known as electronic voice phenomena, can be heard clearly.

For instance, one of the better ones was taken in the basement of a Lock Haven property. In response to a question about playing with children, a ghostly voice can be heard whispering, “Play with me.”

This and other findings will be shown when Lock Haven Paranormal Seekers conducts a class for OLLI at Penn State at 7 p.m. on Oct. 24. The class, titled “Ghost Hunting Basics,” will be held at St. John Lutheran Church in Bellefonte. OLLI is open to all adults who love to learn. No grades; no tests; just learning for pure joy!

This story was originally published September 29, 2013 at 12:00 AM with the headline "OLLI column | Lock Haven Paranormal Seekers to hold class."