GHOST searches for spirits

Have you ever felt like your house might be haunted? If so, there is an Auburn-based team that might be able to help you. The Ghost Hunting Observation Study Team, or GHOST, has been traveling to different locations and investigating paranormal activity for about 2 ½ years. The team has about nine members, most of which are teenagers.Colfax High student Brendan Jacob, 14, said one of the first investigations he and his friend, Connor Hopkins, conducted was in his own house. "I kind of grew up in a house that I always thought was haunted, and then when I met Connor I shared my experience with him, and we tried to catch something on camera," Brendan said. "The first piece of evidence we caught was I took a picture on my camera phone going down the hallway, and there was an apparition of a girl or boy, we couldn't tell which. And we got a lot of audio of sounds – people talking, growls." Placer High student Connor, 15, said ghost shows he used to watch growing up helped inspire him to start the team. Connor said one of this first encounters involved being chased by a shadowy figure outside a suspicious home in his neighborhood. "I just got hooked from there," Connor said. Placer High student Cassie Taylor, 15, said she was hesitant when she first heard about the investigations. "I guess Connor kind of got me started in it," Cassie said. "He invited me to some of (the investigations), but I guess I was too scared to go. When I finally went with them, it was a really fun thing." Ted Vincent, 47, is a cameraman and producer for the team. Vincent said he got involved with the team because he loves the filming aspect and has a little bit of ghost hunting experience. Vincent said he is impressed by the professionalism of the members in the team. "These guys, when they are out investigating, they seem like they really have it together," Vincent said. Ralph Clay, 72, is a retired drug enforcement agent and worked for the Auburn Police Department in the 1960s. Clay is Connor's grandfather, and he manages and drives the teams to its various locations. "At first I thought they were crazy, but … I'll tell you, I have seen things I can't explain," Clay said. "We recently had a demon situation locally, and we worked on that thing for three or four days … and we got rid of it." Connor said team members prefer to call demons inhuman entities, because they are evil spirits that were never people. Clay said these types of negative spirits have an impact on residents. "The people that inhabit the house, it will actually affect their personalities," he said. Brendan said with the most recent case, the mother who called the team said her children were not acting like themselves."Ever since they (moved to) that house … they were fighting a lot," he said. "She says she has felt a lot better about what is in the house (since the inhuman entity was banished)." The team used sage and holy water to remove the negative spirit from the house, Brendan said. At this particular incident the hunters believe the spirit scratched and wrote on Brendan. The writing included the words "dead" and "leave." Clay said the team has video footage of what they believe is the entity crawling on Brendan's back. The team acts on calls from community members for its investigations and has traveled as far away as Virginia City, Nev. Names and addresses from investigations are kept confidential. Brendan said the team has conducted about 30 investigations. The team has an upcoming investigation scheduled at the Holbrooke Hotel in Grass Valley. The investigators do not automatically assume what they find, see or hear is paranormal activity. They start by trying to prove it isn't, Brendan said. "When we catch something we try to find a logical explanation for it before we call it a ghost," he said. If an investigation continues, the team uses video cameras and equipment such as laser grids and digital thermometers to record and measure signs of unusual activity. Throughout a night, team members try to talk spirits out of hiding while running recording equipment. Later the investigators document all of their experiences and try to decide what exactly they encountered in the home. Wyatt Casper, 13, who attends E.V. Cain Charter Middle School, said one of his most memorable encounters was seeing a white lady in a long gown in a cemetery in Coloma. When the team tried to follow her, Casper said the woman fled, darting in and out from behind trees. Connor said the group hopes to continue investigating as long as it can. "Our goal, and kind of dream, is to have our own TV show someday," he said. Remick Letcher, 13, who attends E.V. Cain, said while the team members are young, they are as professional as possible on the scene. "We may be young, but we are not just little kids with cameras," Letcher said. Connor said it's important to remember one thing when possibly dealing with spirits. "Ghosts were people too," he said. "You don't have to be afraid of them." Reach Bridget Jones at bridgetj@goldcountrymedia.com -----------------------------------------------------Ghost Hunting Observation Study TeamWhat: An Auburn group that investigates potential paranormal activityWebsite: ghostparanormal.orgFor information or to apply to join the team: Call Connor Hopkins (530) 305-9304 or e-mail GHOSTparanormal@yahoo.com