Paranormal Investigators See, Hear Ghosts

In the three years Beth Adams has volunteered for the Northwest Georgia Paranormal Society, she’s felt ghosts, heard ghosts—once, she even was a ghost.

“Recently, we were conducting an investigation north of Cartersville and I felt something tug on my hair,” she said. “That was followed by a voice we didn’t catch until watching later that said, ‘We need to get off the train.’”

The NGPS is one of many such groups that get more publicity this time of year, though they operate continuously. Adams joined the group—which is directed by Joey Bell of Rockmart—after watching an episode of Ghost Hunters and, of course, talking a friend into it as well.

Each team member—none under the age of 21—brings a specific skill set to the investigation. Adams, a veteran educator of 14 years and current Earth Systems and Environmental Science teacher at , breaks down facts presented by clients. Bell, who oversees the group’s various cameras, recorders and computers, also has a background in construction and has identified many a ghost as nothing more than a floorboard that takes a second to pop back into place.

To be blunt, any outside observer expecting proton packs or Scooby and the Gang rolling up in the Mystery Machine couldn’t be further from reality.

“We take this very seriously,” points out Adams. “The clients get a written report of our findings and a DVD of any evidence collected.”

In addition, “we remain skeptical in our approach and try to find normal reasons behind the paranormal activity reported,” explains the group in a statement at nwgaprs.com.

About once every six weeks, a team travels to sites from Ringgold to LaGrange. Occasionally, such as October, more requests turn up. “Recently we completed one investigation and did another the next night that involved children,” explained Adams. “Those cases receive top priority. We want to set their little minds at ease and give those parents comfort.”

Each investigation consists of four to six team members using digital recorders, infrared cameras, a full-spectrum camera, dowsing rods and a K-2 meter (for detecting electromagnetic energy), among other equipment. Simple tools such as stethoscopes have revealed paranormal activity in walls to be nothing more than mice, though it’s debatable to be the more accepted answer. An ordinary level can reveal that it’s actually an uneven floor, as opposed to an unseen force, that’s making a client feel like he’s being pushed.

Typical investigations last three to four hours, said Adams, though the overnight stay isn’t unusual. “We begin with an in-depth interview with the client,” she stated. “Are they seeing or smelling anything? Is activity centered in a particular room? We actually go in with the intent to prove there’s a logical explanation.

“One thing we’ve discovered is that when people say they’re experiencing nausea, dizziness or even hallucinations, this is caused by a buildup of electromagnetic energy around microwaves and clocks in a kitchen or outlets, light fixtures and fuse boxes.”

Still there are those instances when experiences are…well…not normal.

At one investigation, Adams and Bell were walking around a building they’d been in several times before. This instance, though, Adams said she didn’t feel comfortable going any further. Bell agreed. At that point they heard footsteps inside the empty structure.

“We’re outside talking about it, whether to go in with the team and hear a voice saying, ‘Please go away,’” said Adams. “Everyone heard it. It sounded pitiful.

“The next week, though, Joey and I went back and walked right in without feeling a bit of discomfort.”

Voices belonging to no one have appeared on recordings. In a Paulding County investigation, Adams’ walkie-talkie went off by itself. She asked her partner if she heard it. Later, in a recording, two other voices agree with Adams’ partner that they’d heard the device go off.

At a site in southwest Bartow County, Adams had been told about a deceased workman who had been fond of peanuts. Taking a bag and leaving it open in his former work area, she asked out loud for him to not mess up her camera. While setting up the rest of her equipment she noticed the camera tripod leaning.

She caught it, but a man’s voice is later heard on the recording saying, “It’s about to fall. Oh no.”

Later on, she remarked out loud she hoped he’d gotten some peanuts. On the recording later? “I tried a few.”

One investigation may disappoint Bartow Countians. “We’d heard Euharlee Bridge was haunted and have checked it out four or five times,” said Adams. “People say you’ll hear giggling and talking but we were out there into the middle of the night and all we heard was water.”

The overnight investigations can drag along, she admitted. Once, passing the time gave an observer a thrill.

“It was around 2 a.m. and another investigator and I were on an upper floor in a historic building,” Adams remembered. “When people entered the town from a certain direction, they couldn’t see our parked cars. We’re standing there in front of a window and notice one car pulling by very slowly before driving off.

“It occurs to us what that person is thinking when they look up at the window and see two of the whitest faces in Georgia. The next time they came by, we looked down and waved.

“They waved back, then sped away.”

Other spooky places we've heard about are:

• Acworth—Allatoona Battlefield, Hickory Grove Subdivision
• Adairsville—Barnsley Gardens, The Adair House
• Canton—Hell Church
• Cartersville—Camp Sandmann
• Douglasville— Gray Road
• Euharlee—Covered Bridge
• Kennesaw—Kennesaw State University, Campus Green, and Calumet West, Cheatem Hill, Kennesaw Battlefield, Kennesaw Mountain, Owens Meadow Woods
• Kingston—Cemetery Street
• Marietta—Kennesaw House, and Cobb Hill, Devil's Turnaround, Old Marietta Cemetery, Marietta Cemetery, Marietta Town Square and The Witch's Graveyard
• Paulding County—Picketts Mill

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