Free Spirits

The Northern New York Paranormal Research Society communicates with the dead, offers ghostly guidance, and looks for spirits - just don't call them Ghostbusters.

Story and photos by Sally Hale

It was the little girl who saw the ghost first.

For several months, the private residence in Malone had been plagued with unexplainable occurrences. Voices, belonging to no member of the family, were heard. Footsteps echoed from the upstairs. Doors, which had been left shut, were later found to have swung open. Objects that had been left in one location were discovered inexplicably moved to a new location. And one of the daughters claimed to have felt a hand graze, ever so slowly, over the back of her head. Concerned, the owners of the property called the Northern New York Paranormal Research Society (NNYPRS) to investigate the possible paranormal phenomena.

"There was a young Civil War soldier named William – he had a marvelous bullet wound in the forehead – standing in the corner of the room," said Dale (who uses only a single name), co-founder of NNYPRS and a medium. "He showed himself to the young girl, who was 11 or 12, earlier, and I asked her what he looked like. She said, 'He wears a blue uniform,' and that was exactly what I saw."

Armed with a digital thermometer, a staple of the paranormal research trade, the three member team recorded the average temperature of the house as 68 degrees. Dale pointed the thermometer in the direction of the ghost's presumed location – only to have the temperature drop by a mere four degrees. Then, with a video camera rolling, the unexpected happened.

"To show the spirit had control, the medium (Dale) talked to the entity, and told him to touch the thermometer," said Merrill McKee, President of the NNYPRS. "The reading on the thermometer dropped from 64 to 58 degrees instantly."

Indeed, the corner of the room immediately cooled, with the temperature falling to 58 degrees on demand.

"That," McKee said, "is compelling."

The NNYPRS, which was founded in 2001 by McKee and Dale, then included only those two members. Headquartered in Malone and Moira, and with a capital region chapter in Albany, the largely home-based operation has since grown: now, six years later, the organization has expanded to include 15 members, with seven members in the headquarters chapter and eight in the capital region chapter. Two investigations are underway in Albany, and the NNYPRS is actively involved in two separate local cases in Fort Covington and Malone. On average, they receive one investigation request through their website each month, with queries coming in from everywhere from Burlington to Syracuse to Plattsburgh. Although the NNYPRS has in the past received as few as 10 requests in one year, they did, however, offer their assistance 30 times in 2005 alone.

"We investigate paranormal occurrences, ghosts to haunted houses to UFO's – the whole gamut of paranormal activity."

"The term Ghostbusters is an absolute misconception," McKee said. "We like to be called paranormal researchers. We investigate paranormal occurrences, ghosts to haunted houses to UFOs – the whole gamut of paranormal activity. We are a selective group; you have to be in it for the right reasons. Too many people want to be rich, they want to do it for the fame. We do it for the research; we do it for the truth."

And this truth is brought to light with an arsenal of products that are hallmarks of the paranormal trade. According to McKee, during an investigation the team could use such tools as an electromagnetic field detector, a thermometer for temperature readings to reveal abnormalities, and a video camera. In addition, pendulums, dousing rods, and mediums, or psychics, may also be employed. And the investigations are thorough. First, the individual or individuals experiencing a suspected haunting will contact the NNYPRS via e-mail or phone. Then two or three members will conduct a pre-investigation interview with the person or persons who witnessed the phenomena. Questions will be asked to determine what, exactly, may be causing the problem, and based on the answers received a course of action is determined. An investigation date is set up, and the team will make one, two, or three trips to the site; an investigation does not occur on one night alone. With their tools in hand, the NNYPRS determines, said McKee, exactly what is causing the alleged phenomenon. A report – which contains photographs, a CD-ROM of EVPs, or electronic voice phenomena, and recommended suggestions – is then prepared. And the process is free – and confidential.

"It's a misconception that ghosts appear at night; it can happen at any time, anywhere."

"Paranormal activity doesn't happen on demand," McKee said. "It's a misconception that ghosts appear at night; it can happen at any time, anywhere, but evenings are better for everyone. We always go into every case with open eyes; we don't have any preconceived notions. We totally run on donations and membership dues, which cover travel costs, film, etc. We don't charge for services, but we let people know that donations are welcome. Seventy-five percent donate. The process is totally confidential. We're telling them that nobody has to know – just us."

The majority of the time, according to McKee,the individuals who contact the NNYPRS for assistance are simply trying to determine what, exactly, is causing an unexplainable – and possibly paranormal – occurrence. And while McKee admits that the majority of people would prefer to live in a ghost-free property, not all demand that the spirits vacate the premises.

"Our main purpose is to determine if there's any natural cause for what's happening," McKee said. "As a group, we technically don't remove ghosts. We give guidance, and a psychic can communicate with the spirit. A lot of times, the residents of the house just say, 'Hey, we know you're [the ghost] is here, we acknowledge your presence, and you have to move on.' Sometimes, they talk to the spirit and say, 'That's fine, you can stay, just don't bother us.' [The clients] mainly just want to know that they're not crazy, or that they just imagined it; they're trying to figure out what's going on."

For McKee, a New York State Corrections Officer by day, his first paranormal experience occurred in a most mundane place; namely, a bathroom stall.

"The windows were locked; there was no other exit. No one could have gone out."

"I've been interested in the paranormal all my life; I was always drawn to it," McKee said. "My first experience occurred when I was 10 years old. My friend's mother was a teacher in an elementary school in Malone, and she let us in the building over Christmas break. I went to the bathroom, and I left my friend, who was playing basketball in the gym 25 feet away. I was in the stall, and I heard someone else come into the bathroom. I left, but I never saw anyone come out. I stood outside the door for several minutes, then I went back inside; the bathroom was empty. The windows were locked; there was no other exit. No one could have gone out."

Not all ghosts are malicious, according to McKee. Despite the images of violent poltergeists that the term ghost can evoke, McKee maintains that 90 percent of the paranormal activity the team encounters would not be classified as demonic.

"Imagine that there are 10 people in a room and you're trying to get their attention for 10 years," McKee said. "You'd do anything to get them to notice you, right? They're frustrated, they don't know they're dead yet, and they're trying to communicate."

"Most want to make contact," Dale echoed. "Imagine you were part of mankind but you were unable to connect, and this goes on for hundreds and hundreds of years."

However, that is not to say that being a paranormal researcher can never be unnerving. Indeed, McKee, who praises films such as The Others and The Sixth Sense for their "excellent portrayals of what goes on on the other side," admits that some locations, such as a cemetery in Troy, can be, as he said, unsettling.

"Any paranormal researcher who said they're not scared, ever, is lying."

"There is one cemetery in Troy, Forest Park Cemetery that is listed as the tenth most haunted in the United States; that place is teeming with energy," said McKee. "It can be unnerving. Any paranormal researcher who said they're not scared, ever, is lying. Every case we do is unique."

Yet McKee, who deems that "all" of the local jails are haunted and is in the process of collecting stories on the topic, cannot fathom abandoning the paranormal research field.

"It's more than a hobby," said McKee, whose home of two years is, perhaps surprisingly, ghost free. "It's a passion. No one else here does as thorough a job as we do. We do it to find out the truth, to add to current paranormal research, and to help people. To have the woman who's been crying for two to three months, who couldn't sleep, and after seeing us can call and say that she can, finally, sleep – it's a wonderful thing."

Do you believe in ghosts?

A real life Sixth Sense?

"I could see things that others couldn't."

The year was 1951, and Dale was seven years old. Her extended family, which totaled roughly 40 people, was descending upon Long Island for their annual Easter celebration. Her Uncle Joe had four sons, and Dale, his only niece, whom he treated "like a princess," was a particular favorite. The pair had a tradition: in her grandparents' house, there was a long hallway of several feet located on the main floor. Dale, with her "chubby legs," would run and make a flying leap into her uncle's arms; he would then proceed to lift her up, swing her around, and kiss her on her cheeks. But one day, without warning, the scenario changed: running towards her uncle, Dale suddenly had a vision of his impending death.

"Right then, I knew he was going to die," Dale said. "They couldn't tear me off of him; I figured, if I held on to him, he wouldn't die. Two weeks later, he dropped dead at my cousin Phyllis's wedding reception (from a heart attack). I was always able to see spirits, but that experience was the most memorable. I didn't know that it wasn't normal. My family was absolutely not accepting, so for years I was a '‘closet' psychic."

Over the ensuing years, Dale, who prefers the term "sensitive" to psychic, developed a self-described fascination for the mind. This led her to obtain a PhD in psychology with a minor in parapsychology from the University of London. (According to the American Association for Parapsychology, AAP, there is no accredited university in the United States that awards degrees in Parapsychology.) Working as a professional sensitive for the past 20 years, Dale, who acts as a medium on investigations, has worked on "hundreds" of cases, both independently and with the organization.

"I'm familiar with all paranormal disciplines, and I help people live their lives," Dale, who has researched the paranormal for 40 years said. "I want people to be happy with themselves, to help them face their fears, anxieties."

And that sentiment is expressed for both the living and the dead. Roughly five years ago, Dale was driving past a cemetery in Messina when she claims to have spied a girl, between the ages of six and seven, sitting on a rock, coatless, within the graveyards gates. At Dale's beset, her driving companion backed up to return to the cemetery, but it was too late; the girl had vanished. A week later, Dale saw the same girl, in the same location – and this time, Dale said, she spoke to her. Or rather, her ghost.

"The girl said she slipped and fell under the bus," Dale said. "She was unable to give her name. Angie (McKee's wife) went to the library, did some research, and found that the girl had died 30 to 40 years ago. She had been knocked under a bus, but the driver didn't see her; he drove over her skull. After we knew her first name, we told her that her mother had passed away; the last place she remembered seeing her mother was at her grave stone, and she wasn't leaving. We explained what happened, she was relieved, and, then, she passed."

Dale continued, “Psychics are accepted now publicly, and it's not what it was 40 years ago.…What an awesome time to be alive.”