While trick-or-treaters may be dressing up as ghosts this Halloween, the Duke City Paranormal Research Society will be hunting for actual ghosts.
The trio has investigated local businesses and homes believed to be haunted since February 2014. This is the time of year the team reflects on past experiences and plans for future trips in and out of New Mexico.
Team cameraman Ed Sather and his wife, Sara, moved to Albuquerque from Seabrook, Texas in 2009. With a shared interest in the paranormal, they met lead investigator Phillip Ray, who has conducted investigations for 14 years. Together they formed The Duke City Paranormal Research Society.
Starting his own group was something Ray said he always wanted to do, so a good friend and fellow paranormal researcher in California helped him get on the right track.
“I’m a truck driver by trade, but I have many hobbies and the paranormal is one of them,” Ray said. “I want to do this for science and research legitimately so that the skeptics understand that we are real.”
Sara Sather is responsible for research and going through archives.
“I love history,” she said. “When I go to a property, I want to know who was here before, so I do the research behind it.”
She said being a ghost hunter comes with its challenges, especially when certain businesses restrict investigations.
“Some people really don’t want to be a part of it,” she said. “It may not be that they don’t believe [in ghosts]; maybe they don’t want their hotel to be thought of as haunted.”
The first step in the ghost-hunting process is screening calls and conducting background research. Ray said it’s dangerous for people to take matters into their own hands, which is why he asks clients if they’ve used Tarot cards, Ouija boards or other means to contact spirits before deciding to investigate.
If he feels comfortable, Ray said he likes to “debunk,” or attempt to find causes for mysterious phenomena. His main job is to check for things that might explain a “haunting” such as electrical wires, hidden animals or holes in the walls.
If something can’t be explained, the team starts investigating using cameras, electromagnetic “K2” meters, REM pods and recorders to try and capture Electronic Voice Phenomena.
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“We just use a regular Nikon camera and an SB-11 box, which sweeps radio frequencies,” Ed Sather said.
Notable places the team has walked through include the Schaffer Hotel, St. James Hotel, Luna Mansion and the Belen Harvey House. They also traveled to Cripple Creek, Colorado in May to explore the former mining town.
“The prime time to be ghost hunting is during the “Witching Hour,” between 1 and 3 a.m.,” Ed Sather said.
He said he was in the basement of a local jail with two other paranormal research groups when his equipment stopped working.
“We were asking questions using the K2 meter,” he said. “We played the recorder and heard three whistles and after the third one, there was a little growl and then it died.”
The team plans to head back to Cripple Creek next month to investigate a private residence.
Ray said he would love to get the chance to tour the state prison in Santa Fe in the near future as well.
His sister, LaToya Lazoya, is a senior at UNM. Like Ray, she said she is interested in the paranormal and has joined the group for a few investigations, one being the Luna Mansion in Los Lunas.
“I’m 26 years old and I still kind of get freaked out by the dark,” Lazoya said.
She said that some of the old buildings at UNM would be interesting to check out at night, after they are closed.
“I’ve always wanted to sit in Zimmerman (Library) and Johnson Gym,” she said. “Sometimes you just get weird feelings.”
Jenna Stoff is a culture reporter for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at culture@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @JennaStoff.
