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photo by Brie Cohen
Tobi Utz looks over the ghost hunting equipment being passed around Wednesday during the Ghost Hunting 101 class taught by ghost hunters with The Investigative Paranormal Society of Minnesota and put on through Community Education.
How to hunt for ghosts
Class teaches step-by-step guidelines
Published Thursday, October 23, 2008
Ghosts do exist.
And with the proper patience, equipment and team, anyone who’s interested in hunting them can do so.
That was the message presented Wednesday night at an Albert Lea Community Education class titled Ghost Hunting 101.
Though it was a more unusual class than many other’s put on by Community Ed, it turned out to be a big hit for area residents, drawing 29 people to sign up to attend. It can be a controversial topic, but attendants Thursday night showed much interest.
The class was taught by the four members of The Investigative Paranormal Society of Minnesota, or TIPSMN, a ghost hunting team that was organized a year ago on Halloween. The group has since conducted more than a dozen investigations throughout the region.
Photo by Brie Cohen
Nick Larson, founder of TIPSMN and a ghost hunter, holds up one of the devices, an electromagnetic field detector, used to detect ghosts while teaching the Ghost Hunting 101 class at Brookside School on Wednesday. An EMF device detects electromagnetic fields; fluctuation of 2.0 to 7.0 usually means a ghost is present.
Nick Larson, founder and lead investigator of the group, described the equipment he thinks people need to have to become a successful ghost hunter. This includes an audio recorder, an electromagnetic field detector, a thermometer, a digital camera and a video camcorder, he said.
Most audio recorders can record sounds outside of the normal hearing range for people, he said. And from them can come Electronic Voice Phenomenon, also known as EVP, or a way to communicate with spirits.
To capture an EVP, turn on the recorder and first record the location, date, time and team members in the investigation. This can help identify possible voices on the recording.
He said its best for people to ask questions and then wait 20 seconds before asking another question.
Larson explained there are three classes of EVPs, ranging from Class A to Class C, depending on how much cleanup work is needed on the recording.
He played five clips of recordings from some of the group’s previous investigations and asked the attendants to see if they could identify what was being said in each recording. The majority of the sounds were difficult to make sense of.
Next, an electromagnetic field detector can indicate possible spirit activity, picking up on active electricity, he said. It’s important to remember with this to stay away from any power sources in the area like televisions and computers as they will set off the detector.
Photo by Brie Cohen
A photo is displayed on the projector screen during the ghost hunting class. The picture was from one of the TIPSMN investigations on a farm and the investigators said it has a light streak in it, center, as well as the ghost of an 8-year-old girl, far left window.
Third, thermometers can identify cold spots, which can be indicative of a spirit.
“Temperature drops of more than 10 degrees are good signs a ghost is present,” Larson said.
Digital cameras can provide the most important types of evidence. They can photograph orbs, apparitions, ectoplasm and light streaks, which are all involved with spirits.
Lastly, the video camcorder is used to give a detailed record of the investigation.
When conducting a paranormal investigation, Larson said, people should first gather information about the place they’re going to, along with involved witness accounts and maps if copies are available.
Never go on an investigation alone, he said. And always remember to take along a flashlight, extra batteries, a cell phone, a two-way radio and chargers for cameras.
It’s important to conduct an investigation professionally, using common sense.
Some possible places to ghost hunt, the group talked about, are graveyards, houses, old schools, old hospitals and asylums.
Larson asked the people in the class if they knew of some places in Albert Lea that might be good to ghost hunt.
People responded with answers including the old Ramsey School, the Freeborn County Government Center, and the Marion Ross Performing Arts Center.
The group said they have done several investigations in southern Minnesota, along with some in Wisconsin and some in Iowa. Their services are provided for free and are conducted on a have-time schedule.
Later on in the course, one of the ghost hunters told the audience she is a psychic medium, which spurred several questions.
Larson said he and fellow team member, Gary Shaw, have been friends now for about six years. Shaw’s fiancee, Jamie Kubista, is also on the team, along with a new member, Cindy Heimdal.
Larson and Shaw said they conduct investigations in their free time, and usually end up doing one every month or two. This is just a hobby for them outside of work, school and family life. They’ve investigated several private homes, along with an asylum and some woods.
Whether people agree with the group’s ghoulish ways, they can visit the TIPSMN Web site at www.tipsmn.org. There, people can request an investigation if needed.
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Comments
Posted by lundepride (Laura Lunde) on October 23, 2008 at 9:45 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Whoa, this was an interesting story!
Posted by Wildbill (anonymous) on October 23, 2008 at 10:44 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I think we would be very naive not to think there is some kind of spirit world.
Posted by mrthunder (anonymous) on October 23, 2008 at 12:03 p.m. (Suggest removal)
GIVE ME A BRAKE LOL
Posted by mosedart (anonymous) on October 23, 2008 at 2:17 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I think you would be very naive to think there IS some sort of spirit world. People have to be pretty stupid to believe this sort of crap.
Posted by movedon (anonymous) on October 23, 2008 at 4:10 p.m. (Suggest removal)
even if you do not believe in a higher spiritual being you would be naive not to believe that there is an evil spirit. until you have had this experiance first hand don't be to quick to judge. It's out there
Posted by mosedart (anonymous) on October 23, 2008 at 4:23 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Yeah, i'm sure. Does this "evil spirit" hang out with the tooth fairy and santa?
Posted by Daphney_01 (anonymous) on October 23, 2008 at 4:44 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I know for a fact that there are spirits out there because I have seen them myself. The story was Great!!! The Paranormal does exisit. I have even captured EVP's.
So for some of you non- believers, before you say that it is crap, try it out for yourself before saying that No they don't exsist.
Posted by bobbyg (anonymous) on October 23, 2008 at 5:11 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Do you suppose we could look for Roger Bok's spirit?
Posted by JesusIsLord (anonymous) on October 23, 2008 at 11:01 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Isn't it crazy how we look into the things of evil but ignore the things of God? Listen everyone, God is real and so is the devil but make a decision to follow Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. We've all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. When we die we will all have to stand before God and He and ONLY He will decide whether we go to Heaven or Hell. 10 out of 10 people die so decide what you will do today. Stop playing around with the evil spiritual realm and accept Jesus into your heart before it is too late...He died on the cross for your sins so that you wouldn't have to be sent to Hell. If you ever lied....if you ever stolen anything...if you've lusted after a man or woman...you've sinned against God so Jesus came to save you from Hell....He died so that you wouldn't have to die eternally!!! Think about it....
Posted by ctnpsqrl (anonymous) on October 24, 2008 at 12:43 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Hey, JesusIsLord,
How can you be so sure that these ghosts/spirits/whatever are evil? If there is a God, don't you think that this God is much bigger than we are and that there are things that as humans we'll never fully comprehend? I don't think life is as black and white as you make it out to be. Attitudes like what you're displaying here are the same ones that propelled Jessie Ventura to say that religion is a crutch for the weak. Don't prove him right. Let your ideas and your God be bigger!
Posted by wildthing (anonymous) on October 24, 2008 at 6:59 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Ecclesiastes 9:5 For the living are conscious that they will die; but as for the dead, they are conscious of nothing at all, neither do they anymore wages, because the remembrance of them has been forgotten.
Posted by tipsmn (anonymous) on October 24, 2008 at 7:57 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Wow a lot of nice comments! Hey everybody I'm the guy in black, pictured above. I read everyone’s comments and I can tell you from personal and professional experience that ghosts do exist. Now whether you believe me or not is up to you. I am a firm believer in God and Jesus, but I also believe that there is so much in the world that we don't know, how do we know that ghosts don’t exist? There are even several passages in the bible that talks about ghosts. If you have any questions feel free to ask, I’ll try my best to answer them.
Posted by mosedart (anonymous) on October 24, 2008 at 10:48 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Do you ever think that maybe there are more logical explanations for what you observe and perhaps you see what you want to see? You want them to be ghosts so if you can't immediately explain it you say it's ghosts. That doesn't make it true. I think that same line of thinking can be extrapolated to religious beliefs. People tend to see "god" or "ghosts" in what really has a simple scientific explanation.
Posted by JesusIsLord (anonymous) on October 24, 2008 at 1:04 p.m. (Suggest removal)
The Bible says,
"I will set me face against the person who turns to mediums and spiritists to prostitute himself by following them, and I will cut him off from his people." Leviticus 20:6
Making contact with the spirit/ghost realm is dangerous...obviously, I believe they are evil spirits but since you DON'T know please don't fool around with this stuff. I don't believe God is calling us to do this.
Rather, God says later in Leviticus 20:7,
"Consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am the Lord your God. Keep my decrees and follow them. I am the Lord, who makes you holy."
Chose to follow God, not ghosts.
Posted by JesusIsLord (anonymous) on October 24, 2008 at 1:11 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Also, tipsmn...if you want to use science to back up the Bible, I would suggest coming to Blue Earth, MN on November 1st for an event on Creation vs. Evolution. It starts at 3:30 pm. It is done by Dave and Mary Jo Nutting (www.discovercreation.org). I challenge you to come...
There are a lot of things we don't know but there are a lot of things that we can figure out about this world through the Bible if we understand the Bible in its proper context.
Posted by wingo (anonymous) on October 25, 2008 at 11:22 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I don't recall anywhere in the article that ghosts are evil. I call them spirits and I think there are good ones and bad ones. I believe in God, but I don't think it has to be dragged into everything all the time. You act like because somebody believes in something that he\she is not a believer, to me YOU are judging and doesn't it also say that no one should judge, only God. Hmm! Maybe You aren't as much of a believer as you claim to be.
Posted by JesusIsLord (anonymous) on October 25, 2008 at 2:27 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I'm not judging you per se, but I want to for sure warn you that what is taking place here with hunting ghosts is not a Biblical thing. You are actually playing with fire. How about we have a seminar on how to find God? Hmmm? How about we have a seminar on how to find the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives? The question is what God will say on the day of judgement, definitely not what I will say. The Bible say, "But seek first the Kingdom of God, and His Righteousness..." Matthew 6:33. You know, its a sad thing to see that we are having seminars on how to hunt for ghosts when God said in the Bible that He deserves all of our attention.
Posted by lovelylady (anonymous) on October 26, 2008 at 11:14 p.m. (Suggest removal)
JesusIsLord person, wow you are really upset by this. I never could understand why fundamental Christians get so upset by this stuff, when in reality adds proof to the pudding that their is a good. And who said anyone was looking for evil? Perhaps, we are grasping for evidence of Truth. The Bible shows that God use to talk to us, He use to interact with us. Nowadays, the only people that say that God has spoken to them are right winged fanatics that take away funding aimed at helping those in need. They use God in their Reganomics, taking away federal funding that helps the poor. Back to the spooks. People are grasping, and who is to say that ghosts are part of God's plan? How do we know they aren't really angels? We don't know, but we should probably avoid talking smack about anything that was in reality part of God.
Posted by lovelylady (anonymous) on October 26, 2008 at 11:19 p.m. (Suggest removal)
discovercreation.org is biased. A skewed view. I don't get why fundamentalists have a problem with science. I hate to tell you this but no matter what God did, he had a plan of action. A method. A method. For real.
Posted by JesusIsLord (anonymous) on October 27, 2008 at 1:15 a.m. (Suggest removal)
If you need evidence of truth by ghosts then there is a problem. I'm sorry but you are looking in the wrong place. Look up. Look at the mountains. Look at the complexity of your body and your DNA. There is definitely a creator and He made you and me. They say that a worm is more complex than a computer and a airplane. Airplanes and computers were created by humans, they just didn't happen by chance. Doesn't it make sense that the worm was created by something...not random chance, darwinism, etc. A painting is created by an artist, a building is built by a contractor, and the universe was created by God in 6 days. God will prove to you the evidence if you look in the right places.
The questions are: Do you know God personally? The problem is that even the demons know OF God and Jesus. But where do they live? They live in Hell. They live in the lake of fire where there is nashing of teeth.
The ONLY way to God is through Jesus Christ because we have sinned against God so we are seperated from Him eternally unless we confess our sin and accept Him into our heart forever. Remember, the demons tremble at His name...
Lovelylady person, I'm not saying all this to prove someone wrong but I care where you and everyone else is going to spend your life eternally. Hunting ghosts is not in and of itself seeking answers other than that there is some evidence of a spiritual realm. I understand that. The more important thing to think about is faith in Jesus Christ's death and resurrection for your sins. Please consider where you are going when you die. Do you know for sure? You only get one shot at getting it right...and we don't know when we will die. Jesus could come back any day.
Have a good night.
Posted by JesusIsLord (anonymous) on October 27, 2008 at 1:44 a.m. (Suggest removal)
ATTENTION: PLEASE READ THIS...IT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT DECISION THAT YOU WILL EVER MAKE!!!
"For the wages of sin is death BUT the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 6:23
3 Keys:
a.Believe
b.Confess
c.Accept the Gift
Definitions....
Wages: What you earn (work)
Gift: Free
Sin: Bad stuff
Eternal Life: Life with God
Death: Separation from God
forever
Because we sin we earn death BUT The gift of God is eternal life
You need to know if you've sinned? Look at the 10 commandments:
ONE: 'You shall have no other gods before Me.'
TWO: 'You shall not make for yourself a carved image--any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.'
THREE: 'You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.'
FOUR: 'Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.'
FIVE: 'Honor your father and your mother.'
SIX: 'You shall not murder.'
SEVEN: 'You shall not commit adultery.'
EIGHT: 'You shall not steal.'
NINE: 'You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.'
TEN: 'You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's.'
Jesus said that if you've broken just ONE commandment only ONE time, we've deserved eternal Hell. However, there is a way and it is accepting Jesus because He is the only way to God. We need to know God personally because if He doesn't know us by the time we die, He will reject us eternally on the day of judgement.
Hell: Us........seperation (Sin)......God
Heaven: Us.......Accepting Jesus (confessing sin)..........God
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