CBS47 Special Report: Uncovering Paranormal Activity

CBS47 Special Report, Sanger California: Uncovering Paranormal Activity
Do you believe in ghosts? It's a question that everyone's been asked at some point in their lives. Now a local group is working to answer that question using a little bit of science and a whole lot of passion.

The goal of this group of ghost hunters is to discover whether or not ghosts are real.

CBS47's Brittney Hopper followed the Sanger Paranormal Society on one of their recent hunting expeditions.

Whether you believe in them or not, there are groups of people who seek them out. Ghost hunters; people who look for paranormal activity. And on this night, they’re at the old Sanger hospital, which they say is one of the most haunted places.

Some people say they don’t believe in ghosts while others do, and some have made it their mission to prove their existence.

Jeffery Gonzalez and his team are the Sanger Paranormal Society. They spend hours each week tracking down leads on UFO's, Big Foot and ghosts. "Ghost... dime of a dozen out here, I mean there are just so many ghost stories it's unbelievable," said Gonzalez.

Ghost hunting has gone high tech too. The team, usually about four to eight people, is trained in the latest infrared cameras, electronic gadgets, EMF meters and sound equipment. They use them all to help investigate the paranormal.

The team loads into their van and heads out to the old Sanger hospital, where many were born, but also a play where many have died.

The owner of the old Sanger hospital, Roy Sanders, believes there's something out of this world going on inside the vacant building. He wants the Sanger paranormal society to check it out. "The nursing staff have said they've heard things at night when it's dark and when they're alone in here they hear things that they probably shouldn't," said the Sanders.

It’s a tedious process to set up for the ghost hunt. It takes hours to get the equipment in place. Cameras are installed in every room every room and inside hallways, all in hopes of catching a glimpse of a ghost.

Part of the team will stay with the van, monitoring video feeds for hours.

The hunt will take all night, sleep will be lost and no one is paid for their time. So why do they do it? "There's just a lot of people who love this stuff and they want to know if it’s real. Is this stuff real?" said Gonzalez.

The team is joined by a psychic, who claims to feel spirits during the ghost hunts.

Inside the hospital, she leads the team to the area where she says has the most paranormal activity. "If I see them or if they say something to me, I will repeat it back to them," said psychic Robin Sandobal.

And so the hunt begins. The lights are off, it's dark and spooky. We start out near the former birthing center. The psychic says she feels something. She's overcome by emotion. "I can feel sadness," said Sandobal.

We go the other direction, where the operating room once was. This time the psychic stops. "Yeah I don't want to be back here," said Sandobal.

As the team quickly walks away, Sandobal says an evil spirit was felt, so she decided to not go any further.

As other team members watch in the van, one of the monitors starts flickering. Jeffery says it's the camera in the room where the psychic felt an evil spirit. He says it could be a faulty cable or a ghost not wanting us there.

Dexter Morgan is a skeptic. He was brought on by the Sanger Paranormal Society as a de-bunker. His team will try and prove the activity going on is not a ghost. "We can't disprove that it's not haunted but we can say that that piece of evidence is not valid,” said Morgan.

The two teams work together closely. "If they cannot de-bunk it then we're going to let the audience figure out what's really going on," said Gonzalez.

A week later we all meet back with Gonzalez in his studio as he reviews hour after hour of video captured from the hunt. He carefully studies the video, watching every frame, every shadow, and every move on the monitors.

So did he discover a ghost?

While the hospital is no doubt spooky and many have had odd experiences inside, this time it seems the ghosts are camera shy. "I mean sometimes we get stuff and sometimes we don't," said Gonzalez.

But Gonzalez is not discouraged because the fun and the challenge for the Sanger Paranormal Society is in the hunt.