Before we seal the cork on 2011, there are a few ghosts of the year past yet to nail down. Some say literally.
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You may recall last year some investigators from 3AM Paranormal Midwest spent a night at the rotary jail in Gallatin seeking ghosts. Obviously, some people take spirit hunting more seriously than others. And these folks are serious – using digital voice recorders, electromagnetic field detectors, audio recorders, thermal scanners and infrared equipment.
After about six hours here, these investigators were excited by the evidence they collected. Team members proclaimed they recorded “extremely interesting activity” and expressed surprise at the amount of data which, they said, pointed to spirits. “We may have even captured an EVP” (electronic voice phenomenon).
I confess to being a skeptic. This was the first organized group to ever investigate our rotary jail. Although the investigators were from neighboring Stanberry and Parnell, they were affiliated with a group founded in California. They expressed plans to return here and also perform investigations at other locations like the Robidoux Museum in St. Joseph.
Never heard no more from them.
Television shows, like Ghosts Hunters and Paranormal States, help keep interest from waning. Investigators are blue-collar workers; these TV shows help people realize you don’t need a Ph.D. to hunt for ghosts. And, if you view such activities as entertainment, what’s the harm? Like I said, we published a news account of the first paranormal investigation ever conducted at the rotary jail and figured “case closed.”
But with the new year comes new interest. Editor David Blythe of the Lawson Review also heads the Ray County Historical Society. By chance conversation while getting his newspaper printed here one recent Wednesday morning, more paranormal investigations at the rotary jail here in Gallatin may be in our future.
David explained how paranormal research in Ray County was producing a revenue stream for their historical society. The group involved is much different with a much larger following than the first group to investigate our rotary jail. Many members of this larger organization like to make paranormal investigations a weekend outing – and they’re willing to pay for their time spent chasing ghosts throughout Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska and Missouri.
Founding team members from Paranormal Research Investigators (PRI) traveled from Topeka, KS, to spend a night at the rotary jail here in Gallatin. In conversation Dr. Nick Spantgos emphasizes logic first, paranormal last. He and co-founder Keith Ross have investigated over 360 locations since organizing their group in 2007. Only about 60 sites were found with potential evidence of the paranormal. Included on this list are the Ray County Museum and the Belvoir Winery in Liberty.
Ghosts don’t perform on command. Sometimes PRI investigators use as many as 10 digital voice recorders, 5 night vision camcorders, a regular digital camera, and a thermal imager simultaneously – that’s 18 pieces of equipment! An 8-hour investigation involves approximately 144 hours to review all the data collected.
PRI performed their own investigation here in November to see if the Daviess County Rotary Jail should be added to their list. They located audio equipment both inside and outside the jail facility so as to filter off any exterior noises that might confuse or contaminate sounds they attribute to spirits. And – you guessed it – they recorded at least one distinct unexplained noise during that night.
Paranormal!
More ghost chasing here is planned for 2012. The Daviess County Historical Society agreed to allow PRI to be exclusive investigators of the rotary jail. This means any other organized group of investigators must be authorized by PRI to conduct any investigative activities at the jail. In return for this designation, PRI agrees to donate a percentage of any revenue derived by PRI membership bookings at the jail.
A similar business arrangement successfully exists between PRI and the historical society in Ray County. You can learn more about PRI on their website: www.paranormalresearchinvestigators.com
Who knows what this really means? The potential sounds great since PRI membership, we’re told, is counted in the hundreds. Any revenue of whatever admissions charged would positively impact the Daviess County Historical Society, the caretaker of the county’s rotary jail property. The local not-for-profit volunteer organization is so poor that, for the first time in several years, the doors of the jail as a visitors center were closed last summer – not even enough money to keep the doors open part time. So, you can’t really blame anyone for chasing ghosts, can you?
The definition of paranormal is anything that cannot be scientifically explained. The PRI folks are convinced there’s something here worth charging admission to hear. You can be a skeptic about the ghosts while embracing the real deal: they keep all of what nobody can touch, and we split their stack of greenbacks.
Sounds too good to be true. So, yep, I’m a skeptic …about both the ghosts and the easy money. But, what’s the harm? Even if the ghosts prove to be too elusive or perhaps aren’t even real, the business deal in the works is certainly a pleasant mirage.
Thanks for reading (…wish we could print this in disappearing ink).
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OK, Ok, okay already. Some of these jokes are so old and corny they’re hardly worth the space to print …unless you haven’t ever heard them. So, let’s get them out front and out of the way (yuk, yuk, yuk!) of more serious conversations about the paranormal so promising in our rotary jail’s future:
Why is a haunted handkerchief so scary?
Because it has ‘boo-gers’…
What did the mother ghost say to her son?
Don’t spook unless you are spook-en to…
What do ghosts use to shampoo their hair?
Sham-boo.
What kind of pants do ghosts wear?
Boo-jeans.
What do skeletons say before eating?
Bone-Appetit’.
Where do ghosts shop for clothes?
At the Boo-tique.
What rides do ghosts like best at the amusement park?
The roller ghoster.
What fairy tale do ghosts like best?
Sleeping Boo-ty.
What kind of car does a ghost drive?
A Boo-ick.
What kind of streets do ghosts like best?
Dead Ends.
What does daddy ghost say to his family in the car?
Fasten your sheet belts.
What do ghosts eat for breakfast?
Ghost Toasties and evaporated milk.
What is a baby ghost’s favorite game?
Peek-a-Boo
How do ghosts fly from one place to another?
By scareplane.
What directions did the ghost give the goblin?
“Make a fright turn at the corner.”
What kind of ghost haunts a hen house?
A poultry-geist.
Why do ghosts go to baseball games?
Because they like to boo the umpire.
What should you say when you meet a ghost?
“How do you boo, sir. How do you boo.”
What did the mother ghost say to the baby ghost?
Put your shocks and boos on.
What do you call a ghost in a torn sheet?
A holy terror.
What tops off a ghost’s sundae?
Whipped Scream
Why did the baby ghost go to the doctor before Halloween?
To get a BOOster shot.
What do little ghosts drink?
Evaporated milk.
Why is a ghost such a messy eater?
Because he’s always a goblin.
Why do ghosts like to ride elevators?
It raises their spirits.
Why did the game warden arrest the ghost?
He didn’t have a haunting license.