Paranormal

Matthew Goetz wasn't surprised when he saw a photograph capturing a mysterious light at the Cobblestone Road Saloon. After all, Goetz, owner of the 148-year-old tavern in West Chicago, claims to have witnessed shadowy figures there a dozen times. "Maybe I'm nuts," he said, "but I've seen some things I can't explain." About one-third of Americans believe in ghosts and haunted houses, according to a 2005 Gallup poll. Such findings underscore the spiritual attraction to probing the unknown, said Jeff Belanger, who maintains the popular Web site Ghostvillage.

Rie Sadler and Jim Jones set out to look for ghosts. Instead, they found each other. "Clearly, we were destined — or doomed — to be together," says Sadler, 37, a project analyst for an Annapolis-based defense contractor. Her fiancé, a 47-year-old Baltimore County law enforcement officer, nods approvingly and smiles. "We just kind of melded together," he explains. Paranormal investigators by avocation — go ahead, call them ghostbusters; they don't mind — Sadler and Jones are two of dozens of people in the Baltimore area who spend their leisure hours collecting evidence of spirits.

Towson resident Emily Lynch stood hesitantly with her toes just barely touching the black line drawn across the floor. Keeping her eyes on the 2-foot-tall tropical plant covered with sensors and wires in front of her, she slowly stepped across the line. A loud growl suddenly rumbled out of two speakers nearby. This plant, with electrodes on each leaf connecting to a laptop computer, is part of a creation by Miya Masaoka, one of the artists featured in Blur of the Otherworldly, a paranormal art show that runs through Dec. 17 at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

If you believe your house is haunted, or want to try some investigating yourself, the online directory paranormalsocieties.com lists some 30 groups in Maryland that offer their services, usually free of charge. Here are a few operating out of the Baltimore area. Group: Greater Maryland Paranormal Society Founded: 2006 Investigators: 13 Location: Curtis Bay Website: greater-maryland-paranormal-society.com Caseload: 16-25 investigations a year "I grew up in a house in Brooklyn that had paranormal activity," says founder and lead investigator Bill Hartley.

Is there something out there? The folks at UPN seem to think so."Seinfeld" (7: 30 p.m.-8 p.m., WBFF, Channel 45) Jerry, Elaine, Kramer and George can't remember where they've parked their car. Who among us can't identify with that?"

NEW YORK - On a rainy, windswept night In Yonkers, Dr. Fran Bennett is walking the darkened corridors of a 300- year-old mansion hunting for ghosts. It's a typical Saturday night for Bennett, a paranormal investigator and founder of the New York Ghost Chapter, who for 16 years has been documenting what she claims is evidence that spirits walk among us. Most weekends find Bennett and her small team of investigators wandering in the dark and searching for spirits in an assortment of "haunted" locales - historic houses, museums, private homes, cemeteries and even restaurants - while armed with electronic equipment that includes digital cameras, infrared video, tape recorders, motion detectors and specially designed electromagnetic field meters.

The news is enough to make Rosa Suit's ghost blanch in terror. Berkeley Castle, a century-old West Virginia landmark where Suit's restless spirit is said to roam and occasionally engage in mischief, was claimed at auction yesterday for $360,125 by self-proclaimed ghost chasers. The new owners plan to scan around the clock for "paranormal" activity using electromagnetic sensory equipment. They also hope to make money by giving an inside view to spirit-seeking guests willing to spend $250 a night to sleep there.

AS A MAGICIAN, James "The Amazing" Randi works hard to deceive his audience."I am a professional liar. A cheat. A charlatan. I am an actor who plays the part of a wizard," he says.What, then, could he possibly offer scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Gaithersburg, more than 700 of whom packed an auditorium on government time recently to hear him.Scientists, after all, are devout seekers of truth.Aren't they?Not always, Randi told them.And who better than a cheat and a charlatan to lecture on fraud and self-delusion in science?

Marcello Truzzi, 67, an Eastern Michigan University sociology professor known for his studies of the paranormal, died of cancer Feb. 2 in Ann Arbor. Joe Rankin, head of Eastern Michigan's Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Criminology, said Mr. Truzzi was respected by scholars, magicians and those who study the paranormal. Most recently, Mr. Truzzi was director of the Center for Scientific Anomalies Research and editor of the academic journal Zetetic Scholar. George Freestone, 104, believed to be the world's oldest Boy Scout, died Saturday in Mesa, Ariz.

When most people hear static on the radio or see it on television, they adjust the dial (if they still use one). But there are some who tune in primarily for this white noise. These people hear words and see images formed by the fuzz. Strange as it may seem, they believe these words are messages from spirits of dead people trying desperately to communicate with the living world. This occurrence, known in paranormal circles as electronic voice phenomena or EVP, is the basis for a new film opening tomorrow called, appropriately, White Noise.

Mike Ricksecker, paranormal investigator and “ghostorian,” has had a lifelong passion for writing and mystery, which has led him to explore the realm of the paranormal. Ricksecker, 37, lives in Oklahoma but lived in Maryland while serving in the Air Force and, in 2010, published Ghosts of Maryland. He has published other ghost books and has appeared on Animal Planet's TV show “The Haunted.” Now, he shares one of his favorite paranormal experiences in Maryland, at the Dr. Samuel A. Mudd House in Waldorf.  If you're not familiar with Civil War history, Mudd gave haven to John Wilkes Booth after Booth assassinated President Abraham Lincoln; Mudd was convicted of conspiracy to murder Lincoln.

Somewhat creepy kids saying "Bloody Mary" + hand-held camera action + static = "Paranormal Activity 3," due out Oct. 21. Enjoy the just-released trailer! If you dare. Muhaha.  

St. John's College senior Babak Zarin says that, according to school lore, ghosts at McDowell Hall often made such a commotion that hall residents held seances to tell them — politely — to keep it down. Kathy Dulisse, director of community programs, said that once when she was alone on the second floor of the Carroll Barrister House, she caught a glimpse of a cloak of someone heading upstairs. She subsequently headed up to see who it was, and no one was there. Security officer Henry Smith said that one night this past summer at 2 a.m., while leaving the school gymnasium, he heard a "powerful whistling sound" close by. Later, while reading pamphlets in another building, he came across a story about a so-called ghost named "The Whistler" who makes the same sound in front of the gym during the early-morning hours.

Just in time for Halloween is Ed Okonowicz's latest ghostly work, "The Big Book of Maryland Ghost Stories," recently published by Stackpole Books. Since 1994, Okonowicz, who lives in Elkton, has written more than 20 books devoted to the macabre, apparitions and other weird, unexplained sightings that have haunted the Free State and nearby Delaware and its weak-kneed citizenry (especially this time of the year) since Colonial days. "It's a thick one, and I'd say there is 70 percent new stuff in it with the remainder being stories I found in old books, newspapers, historic documents or stories from earlier books of mine that are now out of print," said Okonowicz, who celebrated his 63rd birthday Halloween Eve, in a telephone interview the other day. "I think after all these years, I'm about ghosted out," he said with a laugh.

The terror du jour is "Paranormal Activity," but it's following the recipe set out by the made-in-Maryland "Blair Witch Project" a decade ago. It's a haunted-house movie, not a haunted forest film like "Blair Witch." But the catch-as-catch-can style, the mood of growing dread, and the conceit that audiences are seeing footage found after the demise of the characters are straight from the "Blair Witch" game plan. No one recognizes the similarities more acutely than Montgomery County native and Frederick resident Eduardo Sanchez, who co-directed "The Blair Witch Project" (with Daniel Myrick)

The painfully inscrutable paranormal thriller Push introduces us to a host of characters with various gifts - some can see the future, some can heal, some can plant ideas, some can make change for a dollar. By the time the credits roll, your most fervent wish is to run into a "wiper" (one who can erase memories) after stumbling into the lobby. That, or a telepath who could convince you that you just watched Slumdog Millionaire instead. We are told in a windy, opening-credits prologue that psychic experiments started by Nazis are now being continued by the U.S. government to create some kind of super army.

On paper, "The X-Files" sounds like the worst new TV series this side of "The Trouble With Larry.""The one-hour drama features a pair of FBI agents who investigate cases involving the paranormal," the synopsis from Fox Broadcasting says.Based on that, file "The X-Files" in the circular file.But TV series don't play on paper. They play on videotape. And what producer Chris Carter got on tape in the pilot for "The X-Files" just might make for one of the most unexpected ratings winners of the new season.

Many Americans became familiar with "the Amazing Randi" through his 30-odd appearances on the "Tonight" show, where he used his magic act to debunk faith healers and those who believe in supernatural phenomena.For the next week, James Randi will be appearing in U.S. District Court in Baltimore to defend himself in a libel case brought by a man whom Mr. Randi has accused of child molestation and blackmail.The civil trial before Judge Marvin J. Garbis began Thursday and is expected to last six days.

Matthew Goetz wasn't surprised when he saw a photograph capturing a mysterious light at the Cobblestone Road Saloon. After all, Goetz, owner of the 148-year-old tavern in West Chicago, claims to have witnessed shadowy figures there a dozen times. "Maybe I'm nuts," he said, "but I've seen some things I can't explain." About one-third of Americans believe in ghosts and haunted houses, according to a 2005 Gallup poll. Such findings underscore the spiritual attraction to probing the unknown, said Jeff Belanger, who maintains the popular Web site Ghostvillage.

Towson resident Emily Lynch stood hesitantly with her toes just barely touching the black line drawn across the floor. Keeping her eyes on the 2-foot-tall tropical plant covered with sensors and wires in front of her, she slowly stepped across the line. A loud growl suddenly rumbled out of two speakers nearby. This plant, with electrodes on each leaf connecting to a laptop computer, is part of a creation by Miya Masaoka, one of the artists featured in Blur of the Otherworldly, a paranormal art show that runs through Dec. 17 at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.