It’s good to see that there are those out there that seek the truth, and not trying to make a quick buck with fake evidence.
Sharon Clauss’ blog is very informative and enjoyable to read. You guys should check it out:
autumnforestghosthunter.blogspot.com

PHOENIX — Sharon Clauss of Ahwatukee Foothills has every reason to believe in ghosts.

Her childhood home in Fairfax, Va., is legendary for mysterious sounds of footsteps some believe are made by a Civil War phantom.

She has a passion for visiting and studying the history of cemeteries. And she’s a member of a Mesa-based group called the MVD Ghostchasers. The group made headlines in 2007 when it investigated reports of the paranormal at George and Dragon Pub in central Phoenix.

Still, Clauss isn’t sure that ghosts, or at least ghosts as defined in the dictionary, exist. She’s not convinced life continues after death. If a television show like “The X Files” were to be filmed in Ahwatukee, Clauss resemble the skeptical FBI agent Dana Scully.

“I’m a skeptic at heart. I tend to want actual objective proof,” she said.

So by daylight, Clauss earns a living doing medical transcriptions. By moonlight, she ponders the supernatural in a novel she is working on and in her blog, autumnforestghosthunter.blogspot.com.

“There’s nothing more difficult than trying to explain to people that a place is haunted and you know it because of your senses,” Clauss said. “Even I roll my eyes at that.”

Clauss’ quest for scientific proof that ghosts exist began when she was 10. Her family had moved into a house that was rumored to be haunted by a Civil War soldier.

“I grew up in a mansion built in the 1750s and was taken over by Union soldiers and used as a field hospital,” she said. “I spent my childhood digging up the relics.”

Aspen Grove 1860s post Civil War

Clauss recalls hearing what sounded like a soldier’s boot steps on the house’s wooden staircase each night at bedtime. She tried to tape record the foot steps, but just got faint, barely recognizable sounds. She recalls wanting to tell friends at school about her experiences, but not knowing where to start.

“It was a weird way to grow up,” Clauss said. “At the time there was no such thing as a ghost hunter.”

Since then, movies like the 1984 comedy “Ghostbusters” and the more recent Sci Fi channel television show “Ghost Hunters” have changed things, Clauss said.

Her childhood home, which Clauss’ family moved out of when she was 15, has since been featured in newspaper stories about reported hauntings and the HGTV “If Walls Could Talk” series.

Also paranormal investigation groups, like the MVD Ghostchasers, are around to teach aspiring ghost hunters how they might use digital cameras, audio recorders and electromagnetic field detectors to record possible supernatural events.

“We have been ghost hunting since before ghost hunting was cool,” said Debe Branning, who founded the group in 1995.

“We started taking pictures and at first we thought every one of them had a ghost. Over the years we have learned that (what looks like ghostly images) is pollen or moisture in the air. We always look for a logical explanation first.”

Clauss, who researches cemetery history for the group and organizes its annual “cemetery crawl,” now owns a full array of ghost hunting gear. She practices with it whenever she gets an opportunity.

“I think it can all be explained by science,” Clauss said. “Even if something is caused by the supernatural, it all comes down to physics.”

So far, most of her ghost investigations have yielded mundane explanations.

In one case, the mysterious sound of a door slamming was coming from computer speakers as they played a creative alert. In another, the problem of a “haunted” closet was solved when the owner cleaned and organized it.

The MVD Ghostchasers are a volunteer group and do not charge for investigations. Branning said each investigation is screened before anyone from the group visits.

“We get lots of pranksters calling,” she said.

One thing MVD Ghostchasers have observed is that there are more reports of hauntings near metro Phoenix waterways and railroad tracks, Clauss said.

Clauss said she presently is helping investigate strange happenings in an older house in Mesa.

Still, Clauss said, that does not mean she believes the place necessarily is inhabited by spirits of the dead.

“I am up in the air about whether ghosts really exist,” she said.

“But I do believe in ‘residual hauntings.’ I definitely believe a strong emotion or an event can leave an imprint somewhere and be replayed,” she said.

She also believes many older houses badly need rewiring

Full source:KPHO News

Written by Javier Ortega - javier@ghosttheory.com
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