Many people have different beliefs on the existence of ghosts or the supernatural. Some say they've experienced the supernatural and others are saying that they have actually seen apparitions or figures. Most are skeptical about the validity of the paranormal claims.
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In Shepherdstown, West Virginia, the entire town is reported to be the most haunted town in the country according to Chief of Police, Sgt. Mike King. In the recent year, most of the 911 calls that come in are related to paranormal occurrences. Sgt. King had to do what no other police department has done and created a Paranormal Investigations Unit. It is such an intense experience that Destination America has come out and created a documentary following the paranormal investigators in a show called "Ghosts of Shepherdstown" which follows paranormal investigator Nick Groff, paranormal technology expert Bill Hartley, and paranormal sensitive Elizabeth Saint as they conduct their investigations around the town.
Sgt. King hired the paranormal investigators because the paranormal calls have recently spiked in activity and it takes responders away from other emergencies. Reported calls have included a woman banging on a homeowners front door without a head, a woman who heard a close range gunshot with no one in the area, a child who somehow broke into a locked house, and a reported home invasion. Nothing was found on the police side, however a lot of evidence was recovered on the paranormal side.
"Ghosts of Shepherdstown" airs new episodes Sundays at 10 p.m. EST on Destination America.
Paranormal Investigations can be a very expensive profession. It requires some every day equipment such as cameras, motion sensors, and flashlights. Other equipment is also required such as EMF Detectors which measure an electromagnetic field. Theoretically, an apparition, ghostly figure, or any paranormal activity circulates around an electromagnetic field and the EMF Detector can measure how strong the field is.
Audio Recorders are also used for recording EVP messages. EVP stands for Electronic Voice Phenomenon. The audio recorders can pick up audio frequencies that are not audible to the human ear which is known as white noise. In that white noise, theoretically can be the voice of an unknown entity since paranormal activity revolves around an electromagnetic field.
Sometimes, a tool known as a Geo-Box or a Geo-Phone is used. It has a similar purpose to the audio recorder, however instead of recording, it translates the white noise in real-time for immediate communication with these unknown forces of energy or entities.
According to multiple religions, the idea of paranormal activity is linked with the devil and is frowned upon by the church. In some cases, it is reported that members of a variety of churches conjured up spirits by the art of fortune telling or spirit board sessions. One case was in an Amish community and to remove the devil, an exorcism had to be performed.
Many people have desires to be "ghost hunters" however according to an expert, it takes certain people to be able to actually investigate paranormal activity. In an exclusive interview with Odyssey, Bill Hartley of "Ghosts of Shepherdstown" has shared what qualities it takes to become a paranormal investigator"
"A lot of people think of this as some kind of hobby or a chance to make a name for yourself. But if you're not doing it to help others, you should not do it. People go a very long time at times dealing with the paranormal for years and want to be taken seriously and need to help of people who are out to help."
Hartley also told Odyssey that it requires a large amount of reading and furthering your education even though paranormal investigations is not a common teaching:
"There are tons of books on ghost hunting. Grab some and take notes. Remember nothing is a set way of doing things just because you can't really make what's on the other side to do the same thing every time."
Next time you hear a little bump in the night, you may never know what you are dealing with. It could be nothing, or it could be something from the supernatural.
