Searching for ghosts in Scugog

From Durham Region.com: Searching for ghosts in Scugog
SCUGOG -- Things that go bump in the night -- and creak, and thump, and even, "Geeeeeeeet ooouuuut!" -- were on the minds of those who gathered at Scugog's Museum Village Saturday.

It was Durham's first Paranormal Day, an event that attracted psychics, mediums, and ghost hunters. Members of SCOPE -- the South Central Ontario Paranormal Enthusiasts -- were on hand to show off an array of ghost-hunting equipment they used to scan the historical buildings on the site for denizens of the past who may yet linger there.

SCOPE member Chris Goring of Whitby was happy to discuss the science behind ghost hunting, and the interests that motivate him and his colleagues to tread where those with less of a taste for the paranormal might not.

"We don't necessarily go in to prove a place is haunted. We try to find a rational explanation," he said. "The definition of paranormal to me is something that can't be explained by rational means."

The crew set up cameras in buildings on the museum site and also scanned them with devices that measure temperature, electromagnetic fields and radiation. They also toted sensitive recorders, video and still cameras and meters to measure energy surges.

The arsenal of equipment helps detect phenomena that might indicate a ghostly presence, or some perfectly rational explanation, said Mr. Goring. An energy spike, for instance, might be caused by old, bare wires. A cold patch picked up by an ambient temperature thermometer could be explained by something as pedestrian as a drafty window.

Or it could be something else.

"There is an element of excitement when things happen," Mr. Goring said. Those things, he explained, could range from anomalous readings to ghostly images on photographs to actual contact.

Mr. Goring got interested in paranormal investigations, as you might expect, after a personal experience. Years ago he was installing sprinklers in an aged Toronto building, working alone, when he heard a voice whisper in his ear, "Why?"

"I was freaked out," he said.

But he was also curious. He began looking for ways to delve into the paranormal and discovered SCOPE, a non-profit organization whose mandate is to investigate what appear to be manifestations of paranormal activity. Their motivation is simple.

"For us it's a personal validation of our interests," Mr. Goring said. "We've had experiences we want to validate."

Mr. Goring's first foray with SCOPE yielded a profound experience. It was when the crew was examining audio from an investigation that they discovered what paranormal investigators call an electronic voice phenomenon -- voice-like sounds audible only on recordings. On the sound clip, posted on the SCOPE website, investigators are heard chatting amidst an eerie swirl of ambient sounds. As they pause, there's a sound, like a low growl: "Get out", it seems to say.

"I was hooked," said Mr. Goring.

Most folks, if they believe in the paranormal at all, might be inclined to shy away from such brushes with the inexplicable. Mr. Goring and his colleagues seek them out. But they try to stay objective, looking for explanations for what they encounter. Consequently, they tend not to be too skittish when they do.

"We really don't get on edge. We don't get afraid, because that's what we're looking for," he said. "Not everything is paranormal. There can be a lot of explanations."

So: What happened Saturday night?

For the most part, it was quiet. The SCOPE crew fanned out across the museum site, consulting with mediums to get a feel for the place. Then they worked from 9 p.m. until about 3 a.m., taking readings in various locations. Mr. Goring and his partner encountered a few interesting moments, one of them in the basement of the school house, when a First World War-era gas mask repeatedly fell from a hook as they observed it.

In the Lee House -- where, legend has it, a ghostly lady walks through walls -- they used a ghost box, a device that scans radio frequencies, emitting white noise that can sometimes sound like speech.

"We kept getting the name John Gibb," Mr. Goring said.

"Apparently, he wanted us to leave."

The SCOPE crew now has hours of video and audio tape to review for more hints of anything ghostly.

You can visit the SCOPE website at www.scopeonline.ca.