Published: April 05, 2007 06:56 pm         

Ghostbusters?

Laurel County couple investigates paranormal activities in Kentucky

Joe and Fleshia Patterson’s dining room is about as typical a room you can find. Sunflowers spiral up one plum-hued wall. The hutch is filled with family crystal. A ceiling fan spins out the afternoon heat.

But glance left and it becomes clear this is not your average living space. Digital cameras of every description line two card tables, and laptop screens show black and white pictures of a kitchen, hallway and living room.

A few days ago, the Pattersons decided these rooms belong to a house that is haunted by ghosts. As co-founders of the paranormal investigation group Kentucky Shadow Chasers, it’s something they determine almost every week.

Joe, an employee of Sara Lee Bakery Group, and Fleshia, an operations manager, have been obsessed with ghosts ever since they had a spirit haunt their own home.

About 11 years ago, Fleshia was sitting in the living room when she saw her daughter’s best friend standing in the kitchen.

“She was wearing a black shirt, dark pants and her hair was cut short and dyed black,” she described. “Just like she had it before she died.”

A week before, the girl Fleshia saw had been killed in a car accident.

After Fleshia saw the apparition, strange things started to occur in the Patterson home.

“We started hearing noises, feeling cold spots,” Fleshia said. “I was brushing my teeth one morning and the spirit picks up my hair for about half a minute. After a while, she made a shadow so dense she would block the light out in the room.”

Though they had never believed in — or had even given much thought to — ghosts before, the Pattersons quickly decided their home had become haunted.

Though unnerved by the presence, they were not scared.

“I think she wanted us to know she was okay,” Fleshia said. “She wanted to get our attention.”

But two months later the ghost had become a nuisance — “It got to the point that we weren’t sleeping,” Fleshia noted — and they decided to rid the house of her.

They had the house cleansed by a friend, which involved anointing the home with holy water while reciting a Catholic exorcism prayer.

It worked.

“It was like the light started coming back through the windows,” Fleshia said. “It’s like being in a room full of people talking to you all the time and then going to a quiet room.”

While they were relieved to have the girl gone, the Pattersons had become fascinated by ghosts. They joined a paranormal investigation group in Somerset that helped perform cleansings .

In 2003 they decided to start their own group and called it the Kentucky Shadow Chasers.

Today, the group has 30 active members who are strewn all across Kentucky. Every weekend, upon the requests of property owners, the Pattersons and other members head out to homes and businesses to rid them of ghosts — absolutely free of charge.

“We have something scheduled every Friday and Saturday,” Fleshia said. “It’s gotten to the point we have to reschedule clients we have so many.”

For the Pattersons, documenting ghosts is high-tech work.

“All our evidence is based on scientific evidence,” Joe said. “We don’t do seances or Ouija boards.”

They employ digital cameras, digital and analog voice recorders, electromagnetic field meters, digital monitoring systems, infrared bullet cameras and thermal imaging cameras to locate spirits.

According to the Pattersons, the ghosts can manifest themselves in three different ways: poltergeist, residual and intelligent.

“A poltergeist mimics a young girl, but is just kinetic energy,” Fleshia explained. “It’s not actually a ghost.”

A residual is “an imprint at a location that plays over and over,” Joe said. “It doesn’t interact. Like the apparition of soldiers at Gettysburg battlefield.”

An intelligent is a ghost that will interact with people.

The Kentucky Shadow Chasers spring into action when people contact them saying they suspect a building is haunted.

Sarah Jackson and Carolyn Crump recently called the group to have its members check out Diamond Point in Harrodsburg, Ky., a home now used as a welcome center. Jackson and Crump, who both work in the building, reported hearing footsteps and smelling odors that could not be traced to a point of origin.

A group of nine investigated the building for four hours and were able to capture a “partial apparition” on film.

Joe said they’ve ruled out any possibility that it was a light source or trick of the camera.

“So there’s no other excuse,” he said. “No other car lights or anything. We’ve ruled out every possibility so that only leaves us with the impossibility.”

Investigators also recorded a male voice that responded “No,” when Joe asked for its name.

After the investigation, a team researcher started digging into Diamond Point’s past. In 1923 Zeletta Curry became its sole owner. A year later her friend Clara Chappelle moved in as well. According to Jackson and Crump, one of the odors resembled the smell of glycerin and rose water, a common facial cleanser used by women early in the 20th century.

Another excursion brought the Kentucky Shadow Chasers to Waverly Hills, an abandoned sanitarium in Louisville.

“More than 63,000 people died of TB there,” Fleshia said. “It was full of shadow people. I saw straight on a human form walking.”

Using the thermal imaging camera, investigators noted the temperature on the fifth floor of the building was just 13 degrees Fahrenheit, though it was 80 degrees outside.

“A nurse had hung herself there,” Fleshia said.

“She wasn’t married but was pregnant,” Joe added. “She gave herself an abortion. They found the baby in the cistern. Then she hung herself.”

A visit to Villisca, Iowa, also gleaned interesting results, after the group visited the former home of J.B. Moore. In 1912, Moore, his wife, his six children and two neighbor children were killed with an ax.

“We heard children’s voices singing, talking to each other, praying,” Joe said.

Fleshia added other investigators have seen a residual of the murderer reenacting his crime.

While talking of their finds, the Pattersons’ passion is obvious.

“It’s so cool, it’s so cool,” Fleshia said.

But the couple is also good natured about how unusual their hobby is.

“The majority of people will tell you you’re crazy,” Fleshia said. “And then they’ll start telling you their own ghost stories.”



Staff writer Tara Kaprowy can be reached by e-mail at tkaprowy@sentinel-echo. com.