DALLAS — A paranormal hunting event was held at the Back Mountain Memorial Library on Oct. 21.
No – the local library is not haunted, at least not according to Bill and Kris Brennan’s paranormal equipment.
The couple, paranormal investigators who own The Silver Broomstick in Shavertown, held an hour and a half presentation that highlighted their 39-year experience of visiting and exploring “haunted locations.”
“I started in 1978,” Bill said. “There was a case in my neighborhood; I grew up in Wyoming. I was hooked.”
To date, Bill and Kris have completed over 300 paranormal investigations.
“We have been pursuing to prove or disprove if it exists,” Bill said. “There is no set equipment, degree or experts in the field. If anyone says they are an expert, run away from them.”
The couple seems to take a more skeptical view to their investigations and combine their field work with a lot of research on the region and property.
“It is a lot of fun,” Bill said. “We do a lot of historical locations and research a property’s history at the local courthouse, Recorder of Deeds office and libraries.”
Paranormal investigation is a field of study that has several basic theories, he said.
For example, there is a theory that a ghost is someone who has died and is “stuck” between the physical world and the afterlife for one reason or another, Bill said. A spirit is a person who died, passed into the afterlife and can come and go between the afterlife and the physical world, he said.
A second theory states a ghost is a recording of a deceased person’s energy that replays a single event over and over.
“You may see someone come down a flight of stairs every morning at 6 a.m. and sit down at the kitchen table and put a pair of boots on and walk out the door; that was somebody that lived in that home who did that,” Bill said. “We are all made of energy and energy cannot be destroyed, so we leave that electric imprint.”
The same theory defines a spirit as the actual living essence of a person who stays in their physical body after death.
The couple experienced various paranormal manifestations that included seeing full-bodied apparitions, recording disembodied voices, as well as physical contact.
“The trophy is always the full-bodied apparition,” Bill said.
In all the years they have investigated paranormal activity, the duo never caught a full-bodied apparition on video.”
“We have caught one on a photo,” he said.
Over the years, Kris saw three full body apparitions.
“They were very clear, very distinct, apparitions,” Kris said.
Bill and Kris use a variety of equipment that includes electromagnetic field meters, cameras, a digital voice recorder, a thermometer, an infrared thermometer and a compass to capture what they encounter.
“We are old school,” Bill said “A compass is a great EMF detector. If your compass is set on true north, a disruption will make it not point to true north.”
Something broke that electromagnetic field, he said.
“There is a theory believed that a break in the electromagnetic fields means spiritual activity,” Bill said.
Thermometers also are an essential tool.
Any abrupt degree in temperature change of five to 10 degrees or more signifies spiritual activity, Bill said.
“The infrared thermometer was actually quite handy when we were in Gettysburg,” Kris said. “I was grabbed — two hands on my arm.”
When Bill used the thermometer to take a surface temperature of Kris’ arms, it revealed a seven-degree difference. When Kris asked the spirit to grab the other arm for confirmation, the temperature changed from arm to arm, Kris said.
A thermal imaging camera showed Kris’ one arm was blue, Bill said.
The thrill of the hunt is what attracts novices to paranormal investigations, the couple said.
“Has anyone watched any of the paranormal TV shows and thought ‘wow that is so cool look at the activity they caught in 28 minutes,’” Bill said.
Bill and Kris said investigations involve a lot of time to review video, photos, voice recordings and data from their other equipment, cross-referencing the time stamps on everything.
“Kris and I were on a TV show for a while, and we filmed for three days to get film for 28 minutes,” he said. “A lot of stuff ends up on the cutting room floor.”
“A lot more goes into a paranormal investigation than, ‘Hi, are you here?’” Bill said.
