ARNOLD: Local ghost hunters shoot paranormal 'proof'
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| Winner of the Best Ghost Evidence of 2006 Award shot by Tom Halstead of Missouri Paranormal Task Force. |
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After spending years ignoring unexplained activities in his youth, Myers' skepticism changed a few years ago when he saw what he believed to be an intruder in his Arnold home. Myers yelled for his wife, Judy, who describers herself as "sensitive" to paranormal activity, to call 911. She only laughed and asked if he "finally saw one."
"It was a moment that reopened everything," Myers, 42, said.He joined Missouri Paranormal Task Force, now a division of Paranormal Task Force Inc., in 2005.
Myers and photographer Tom Halstead, of St. Ann, accompanied members from several paranormal investigative groups to the Waverly Hills Sanatorium in September 2006 for an overnight investigation.
Waverly Hills served as a tuberculosis hospital in Louisville, Ky., during the early 1900s. Legends rumor the total death toll to have reached 63,000 in the sanatorium's 50 years of service, labeling it as one of the most haunted locations in the country, if not the world.
Early in the morning following the overnight exploration, Halstead, 38, was on the building's fourth floor with a member from another group. Both men had strange feelings and heard a noise, so Halstead set up a 35mm camera to take a picture.
"I thought I saw something in the viewfinder," Halstead said about the moment just before he snapped the shot.
It wasn't until he developed his film, however, that Halstead noticed a female figure standing to the side.
"I was stunned, hypnotized," Halstead said. "I stared at it for hours."
Halstead's photograph won Missouri Paranormal Task Force the Best Ghost Evidence of 2006 Award at the Ghost World Conference in Gettysburg, Pa., in July. The group was also nominated but did not win for Best Ghost Hunting Organization and Best Paranormal Research.
The members of Missouri Paranormal Task Force conduct their investigations on their own time at their own expense, providing most of their services to private clients rather than their own independent studies.
"We're not out to try to prove anything for ourselves or thrill seek," Myers said.
Arnold resident Sandy Oates, 41, joined the group in June 2006 with her husband, Jim.
"I'm interested in it and finding out more," Oates said.
As the group's case manager, Oates files through requests received for haunting investigations. She rules out hoaxes and jokes, researches the property and schedules appointments to meet with property owners.
Myers said the group has a serious interview process and looks for reasonable explanations for odd activity before conducting a full hands-on investigation. As a rough estimate, he said that about 50 percent of the time the activity can be explained.
The group once captured an orb on video that appeared to move and grow brighter. Upon further investigation they discovered the figure was actually a spider.
Oates said they try to be scientific in their approach to their studies, but they do use psychics, like Myers' wife, who prefer to be referred to as "sensitive."
"There's a stigma attached to the word 'psychic,'" Oates said.
One of most interesting experiences she has had was when the group investigated a restaurant last summer. Motion detectors went off in the basement where a video camera was set up. She went down to investigate, saw a blue figure with arms and a head seemingly float down from the ceiling where an old staircase once stood. They fondly call it the Blue Ghost.
"If I had just seen that on TV, I would have been like, 'what else is that?'" Oates said, sympathetic to skeptics.
Myers said most of the entities they encounter are indifferent toward the investigators, "not like Casper the Friendly Ghost" or malicious, although he has had light bulbs and rusty knives thrown at him.
"Seventy percent of the time nothing happens, but sometimes it does," Myers said. "You always have to plan for the unexpected."
Some members of Missouri Paranormal Task Force will be featured in "Children of the Grave," a horror documentary scheduled to air on the Sci Fi Channel and DVD release in October.
More information and photos of the group are available at <http://www.catchmyghost.com/>.
"This stuff is real," Halstead said. "No joke."
