If there's something weird in your neighborhood, who you gonna call?
How about Dustin Plummer?
The founder of the Madison County Paranormal Society (MCPS) said he'll never turn down an investigation, though he acknowledges that he has yet to bust any ghosts.
Plummer began his foray into the realm of the supernatural about seven years ago when he and a friend started a ghost hunting group. Those efforts eventually became the MCPS.
“What triggered the interest for me becoming a ghost hunter was when me and the guy who founded (MCPS) with me were just talking about ghost hunting one time. We decided to do it, and it's been kind of an obsession since,” said Plummer, who lives in Madison.
His co-founder now has his own separate paranormal investigation group, and Plummer said MCPS membership has fluctuated a bit throughout the years.
“We're pretty much the same core group. We're just kind of small, trying to get answers about the paranormal for people,” Plummer said. “Right now we have three — myself, my wife, Angie, and my son, Connor.”
Sometimes Plummer will accept a new member, he said, and sometimes he'll allow people to join him on a ghost hunt. In any event, he always tries to keep at least three people on his team in order to divide up responsibilities during an investigation.
Connor is the group's cameraman, running a full-spectrum digital camera. This piece of equipment is supposed to be able to show the image of a spirit more clearly — if one is in the room, Plummer said.
Both Plummer and his wife use an EMF meter, which is an electromagnetic field detector that shows the presence of EMF radiation.
“EMFs can kind of make people think they're seeing things if they've got too high of levels in their home. It works on their brain. … If I get anything beyond my baseline, which always stays the same, then possibly there might be something there,” Plummer said.
He and Angie also use hand-held digital recorders to try to detect EVPs, or electronic voice phenomena. These are sounds detected by recordings, but not necessarily by human ears, that some interpret as spirit voices.
Plummer said that while he's never come across any evidence to make him a concrete believer in ghosts, he did pick up some EVP evidence at a cemetery he investigated in the past.
“I got really good EVP work – a solid EVP that said, 'Help me,' ” he said.
A self-described honest-to-goodness skeptic, Plummer said he actually does not believe in ghosts, though he does believe in paranormal entities.
“My belief does go more biblical. I believe in demons and angels and God and all of that, but I believe that when you die, you pass on to wherever your final resting place is going to be,” Plummer said.
That's not to say that supernatural activity doesn't occur sometimes in some places, he said.
“If you go as far as just to believe in demons, all sorts of paranormal activity can happen because demons are there,” he said.
However, there are lots of reasons a house may go bump in the night, and Plummer said he happens to have experience in detecting that sort of thing due to his past remodeling of homes and similar work.
He doesn't discuss his own personal beliefs with clients, Plummer said, but he always takes their concerns seriously.
“We don't charge, we're a free-will donation. I go to help people out. … There are families out there that have genuine concerns because they've got stuff going on, and it's my job to find out if they actually do,” he said.
Plummer said clients will sometimes request a cleansing of their home, regardless of whether or not evidence of the paranormal was found. A priest, minister or medicine man may perform the service, depending on the client's preference.
Plummer said he keeps the MCPS safe by having the group pray together before and after each investigation “so that when we leave, that way nothing will follow us home if there was something there.”
An investigation into the Masonic Lodge in Norfolk two weeks ago didn't produce any concrete results, though there were unexplained equipment failures.
Stories of unusual noises, shadows and occurrences had brought the MCPS to the lodge in the past as well. Those participating in the ghost hunt did note strange movement of lights and other phenomena during the investigation.
Hours of video and audio recordings were taken, and the MCPS spent the next week analyzing the information.
“From that, I make a video to show the client of what I debunk and of what's paranormal, if anything. ... We didn’t find anything on the evidence. The only thing we got was the personal experience that we all shared.
“Other than that, is there something there? Yes, but there’s no real proof until we can catch (something) on video or audio.”
Source
No comments:
Post a Comment