Woodbury woman recruited for first season of 'Ghost Hunters Academy'

From NJ.com: Woodbury woman recruited for first season of 'Ghost Hunters Academy'
From the time Rosalyn Bown was 7 years old until she was in her 20s, she would know when her family members — or herself — were in trouble.

“My premonitions were while I was awake,” Bown said. “I would just know that something bad was going to happen to a relative.”

These premonitions, which were very specific and eerily accurate, sparked her interest in the paranormal.

“Those premonitions have since gone away, but my interest in the paranormal field has remained,” Bown said.

This interest led Bown to join a local ghost-hunting group in 1999.

“My first ghost hunt was of an historic inn in New Hope, Pa.,” she said, and she hasn’t stopped since.

In 2009, 10 years after her first investigation, Bown was recruited for the first season of SyFy Channel’s “Ghost Hunters Academy.”

The show, an elimination-style competition, features TAPS (The Atlantic Paranormal Society) members Steve Gonsalves and Dave Tango from Ghost Hunters as they lead a group of prospective investigators on various ghost-hunting cases at allegedly haunted locations that were previously investigated by TAPS.

The winner is invited to join the Ghost Hunters or Ghost Hunters International teams.

“I was the only cadet on my season of ‘Ghost Hunters Academy’ who did not audition for the show,” Bown explained. “I was scouted by their talent agency, who emailed me out of the blue to say they thought I would be a good fit for the show, and to ask me to submit an application and a short video about myself.”

Bown spent eight “fascinating weeks” on the road with the “Ghost Hunters Academy” team.

“Filming with ‘Ghost Hunters Academy’ was an amazing experience,” she said. “While the cutthroat competition aspects of the show were stressful and, at times troubling, traveling with the crew and investigating amazing haunted locations that I otherwise would not have had access to, more than made up for it.”

A former member of the South Jersey Ghost Research group, Bown and co-founders Amanda Staszak and Chrissy Desjardins created Perceptive Paranormal Research in January.

Having participated in nearly 200 paranormal investigations to date, Bown names her time at the Mark Twain House in Hartford, Conn., as her most memorable experience.

“I’m a fan of his books and found it humbling to investigate the home where he raised his family and penned some of his works,” she said.

Her scariest moment occurred, surprisingly, in her own home.

“I was actually most frightened by an incident within my own, 80-year-old Woodbury home,” she said. “Late one night a few years ago, I rounded a corner and came face-to-face with a tall shadow person in my living room.”

She said the figure was a solid, three-dimensional man, but was entirely black and devoid of all color.

“It was unnerving, primarily because it was totally unexpected for two reasons — one, I was just minding my own business, preparing a late-night snack, and two, I don’t usually see spirits quite so clearly with the naked eye.”

When experienced investigators such as Bown get “scared,” it’s most likely because they were startled, as in this case, not because something is actually terrifying, she said.

Perceptive Paranormal Research, Bown’s group, offers investigative services to those with haunted homes or businesses, free of charge.

“I hope to teach people, first and foremost, that they don’t have to be afraid of ghosts,” she said. “Rather, they should find hope in the apparent, enduring nature of the human consciousness, and comfort in the presence of their dead loved ones.”

Bown said that an investigation into a home’s haunting can be the first step in coming to terms with any paranormal activity a resident may be dealing with.

Interested in all things paranormal, Bown also enjoys investigating haunted historic locations and urban legends.

Recently, Bown joined cast members from SyFy’s “Fact or Faked,” “Ghost Hunters International” and “Ghost Hunters Academy” to investigate Fort Mifflin in Philadelphia.

Bown was stationed in The Citadel at Fort Mifflin, which she said wasn’t very active during her investigation, but looks forward to combing through the hours of audio and video footage she collected that night in the hopes of discovering something that may not have been evident to her eyes and ears.

On Aug. 20, Bown will join members of “Ghost Hunters Academy” and “Ghost Hunters International,” along with a number of other celebrity investigators for an overnight investigation of the Battleship New Jersey in Camden.

For more information, visit www.perceptiveparanormal.com.