Oct 28, 2006

Real-life ghostbusters get the call

By Ann Tatko-Peterson / MediaNews

Silence envelops the large banquet room at the historic Benicia Clock Tower.

Fifteen feet above, Gloria Young cautiously traverses the rafters of a partially enclosed loft.

The rhythmic tone of her voice breaks the unnerving silence: "Whoever's up here, can you talk to me? Can you tell me your name?"

Silence.

"Why are you still here?"

Silence again.

"Can you give us a sign, maybe? Nobody wants to hurt you. Can you just tell us why you're still here?"

After a moment's silence, three clicks register on the Geiger counter that Young's daughter, Chrystie, points toward the loft.

"That's right," Young says encouragingly. "Can you do that again? Can you make it go faster?"

At first, there is no reaction. Then, the Geiger counter delivers four more methodical clicks, before falling silent again.

Chrystie smiles. "We've had it happen, where it goes a lot faster," she says in a whisper. "It's really kind of freaky."

Freaky, intriguing or just plain crazy - Young and other paranormal researchers have encountered the full range of labels when it comes to their trade. Yet, paranormal research has gained traction in recent years, fueled by movies and television shows as well as sophisticated electronics for studying paranormal phenomena.

The Bay Area alone has two well-regarded investigative groups: the Bay Area Paranormal Investigations (BAPI) and Ghost Trackers Paranormal Research Group, the latter being the oldest and largest in Northern California.

Young founded Ghost Trackers in 1992 as "a bunch of people with flashlights who were trying to get a thrill in a cemetery," she says.

Since 2000, the former emergency room nurse from Santa Clara has made serving as the group's director her full-time job. Today, the group has five core and 23 part-time investigators.

It also has a track record of television appearances - including on ABC News and Biography - as well as documentaries and an annual Ghost Hunters Conference.

And, as Young aptly puts it, the group has "all the bells and whistles." They use traditional equipment, such as still photography and video cameras, but also digital recorders to try to obtain electronic voice phenomena (sounds and voices usually not audible to the naked ear) and Geiger counters or electronic magnetic field detectors, to measure energy.

The underlying mission, Young says, is to find ways to help living people learn to coexist with ghosts.

"A lot of people tell me to get rid of the ghosts," she says with a chuckle, "but I won't do that. Ghosts are people, too, and they were there first."

Young grew up hearing ghost stories at her father's knee. As curiosity took root, she turned to books in elementary school.

Her life's work was born after reading the original version of "Things That Go Bump in the Night."

"I know some people probably think we're crazy, but there are way too many questions that need answers," she says with a smile. "And it's too much fun not to do it. We have an opportunity to get into places that some people can't.

"I've had my hair pulled, my shirt tugged. I've been pushed. Chrystie's been shoved. We've had experiences some people will never have."

Michael Cline wondered about such experiences as he watched television shows about haunted hotels and houses. Then, three years ago, the computer engineer from Hayward found out about Bay Area Paranormal Investigations, which had started in 1999.

"Something in me clicked," says Cline, who is now director of BAPI. "I knew I needed to do that. I needed to understand more about what people are reporting."

He also wanted a personal experience.

Only once has he encountered something unexplained by science or logic. It happened inside a Hollywood Forever Cemetery mausoleum, where a cardboard crescent moon flew 3 feet from the wall, with no one in the vicinity.

"To this day," Cline says, "it's the one event I have to chalk up to the unknown."

In 80 to 90 percent of their cases, the six investigators at BAPI attribute reported hauntings and sightings to "natural explanations," Cline says.

"We tend to be a skeptical bunch," he adds. "It may be a house settling, mice in the wallboards, drafts caused by leaking windows or just misinterpretations. Only with a small percentage can we not find an explanation for what's being reported."

It's that small percentage that keeps business thriving for BAPI and Ghost Trackers.

Neither group charges for investigations. Payment, they say, is the interest generated by their search for answers.

Cline was surprised by how quickly his group's mailing list has grown. He credits that to the paranormal's growing popularity, with television shows, such as "Medium" and "Ghost Whisperer" and movies such as "Sixth Sense" and "The Others."

"It has really snowballed," he says, "to the point that it's not just a passing interest for some people."

Especially the experts.

Young has devoted almost 15 years to exploring the darkest corners of the oldest buildings. Until recently, she had never been inside the Benicia Clock Tower, built along the Carquinez Strait in 1859.

The building is rich in history. In 1912, an accidental explosion destroyed one of the building's two towers. Two years later, a clock was installed on the remaining, rebuilt tower.

The building is also steeped in mystery. One employee reported speaking to a man, dressed in 19th-century work clothes, who later vanished before his eyes.

During her investigation, Young says, she felt a pressure holding her back as she climbed up the clock tower. The feeling passed after a couple of minutes.

"Most people wouldn't give a thought to that," she says. "After dealing with this for so long, I get different variations. Was there something there? It's quite possible."