Maryland Gazette Article

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Paranormal activity
Ghost hunting spikes around Halloween
By MARC SHAPIRO Staff Writer
Published 10/31/09

Orange juice glasses don't just shatter without a reason.

And chandeliers don't turn themselves off and on without electric malfunctions.

But at The Inn at Mitchell House outside of Chestertown they do.

"Strange things have happened over the years," said Tracy Stone, who operates the bed and breakfast with her husband, Jim. "Nothing that's frightened me to leave, but definitely things you can't explain."

Word about The Inn reached the Millersville-based Maryland Society of Ghost Hunters, whose members went to the site to investigate another case of paranormal activity.

Interest in the group peaks around Halloween, when "seasonal ghost hunters," as founder Rodney Whittaker likes to call them, ask about group membership and the number of investigations goes up. His group has been conducting paranormal investigations since its 2004 founding, and is one of several similar organizations in the area.

Using KII meters, which measure electromagnetic activity, infrared thermometers, digital audio and video recorders and digital cameras, the group looks for signs of paranormal activity. Indicators include increased electromagnetic activity, a temperature drop and mist in photographs.

"If it's paranormal it'll show and then it'll dissipate," Whittaker, a Millersville resident, said about electromagnetic activity. "At that point you want to take a photograph or audio."

The ghost hunters often use the KII meters to ask the spirits yes or no questions, using spikes in activity to mean "yes."

Whittaker, who said he's been physically touched by paranormal beings, claims paranormal activity can also be indicated by a temperature drop of 8 degrees Fahrenheit or more.

"The entity needs energy to manifest, and when it draws energy the temperature drops," he said.

Whittaker had good reason to believe he and his fellow hunters would find something paranormal at The Inn at Mitchell House, built around 1743 and expanded in 1825.

In addition to the legend that Sir Peter Parker, a British navy captain who died at the nearby Battle of Caulk's Field in 1814, haunts the house, guests have experience some weird things.

One morning, when guests were discussing a rumored dog ghost at breakfast, an orange juice glass, just sitting at the table, shattered.

"We always thought that we had a dog ghost because the animals would act very strange in one particular room," Stone said.

In another incident, Stone was talking with two guests in the front of the house and a chandelier turned off while all the other lights in the house stayed on. As Stone went to check the circuit, which was fine, it turned back on.

"I can't say that I do or I don't (believe)," Stone said. "I just feel as though there is always a possibility."

The group also captured audio of a girl and a man speaking, separately, on digital recorders. They claim voices like this are often inaudible when they are in the room.

Like Stone, Whittaker used to be very skeptical. But once he caught something on camera he couldn't explain, he started to believe.

It all started when he went to an investigation conducted by the West Virginia Society of Ghost Hunters thinking he was going on a haunted forest walk.

"I caught these light anomalies draped over tombstones, some floating," he said. "I went back the next day and couldn't find anything. I was hooked."

After doing an investigation about every three months with the group for two years, he looked for an active Maryland group to no avail.

"I wanted one scheduled investigation a month," he said. "I not only wanted experience investigators, but a group willing to train new members."

What started as a Yahoo! group with only one member has grown to about 74 active members that hail from Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia. To try to cover its territory, the group is split into Central Maryland and Eastern Shore chapters.

Members of the group work in a variety of fields. Whittaker, a service representative for a tool distributor, hunts ghosts with a Navy scientist, an information technology consultant, a member of the Air Force, an attorney, a photographer and many others.

"The ones that are the most skeptic tend to be our more skilled investigators in the end," Whittaker said.

Gayle Tiqui, a Glen Burnie resident who joined the group a year ago, found herself hooked as quickly as Whittaker did.

"I was interested in finding out if there's something out there," she said. "Once you go and do an investigation or two and you experience something you can't explain, you say 'wow, there is something.' "

The group recently started using spirit mediums to communicate with ghosts. They've found success by verifying things like clothing and facial features with homeowners who claim to know the spirits.

Whittaker, who gives lectures around the state about the paranormal and what his group does, has his goals set high. He wants to set the record straight, once and for all.

"I hope one day to capture a full body apparition on video that would prove the existence of ghosts," he said.
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