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(Enlarge) The curator at the Howard County Historical Museum, in Old Ellicott City, asked the Greater Maryland Paranormal Society to study the former church for possible contact with spirits from beyond. She is still awaiting the results of the Sept. 25 investigation. (Photo by Kitty Charlton)

As curator of the Howard County Historical Museum, in a former church dating back to the 1800s, she knows the sounds and sensations a building steeped in decades of history can make.

Creaking wooden floors.

Random knocks and pings.

Unexpected drafts blowing coolness past her.

But footsteps when she's in the building alone, after closing time?

"That was a little unnerving," she says. "And I have had other people hear it too, so I know I am not hallucinating."

Griffith says she was working in her office in the basement of the museum when she heard footsteps on the floor above.

She went upstairs to investigate and saw no one.

It has happened periodically in the three years the Dorsey Hall resident has been working at the museum on Court Avenue, in Historic Ellicott City.

"I have never felt afraid, really. But I will hear a strange noise now and then and It surprises me more than it scares me. I still hear the footsteps now and then," she says. "I don't like to be the last one around to close up."

By chance, Griffith was approached by Colin McGuinn, an investigator for the Greater Maryland Paranormal Society and a frequent visitor to the museum, which fosters his love for history and his native Howard County.

"Colin asked if I would be willing to have the group come in to do an investigation," Griffith says. "I said, 'Sure, why not?' "

In the last year, the museum was also visited by investigators from the DC Metro Area Ghost Watchers and a Baltimore-based paranormal investigation team.

The former had "a few subjective experiences, but little objective findings to report at this time," according to its Web site. The latter team's investigation results were still being reviewed, Griffith said.

The waiting game

On Sept. 25, a crisp fall Friday night, complete with a bright moon above, a dozen members of the Greater Maryland Paranormal Society, arrived about 8 p.m. at the church to set up nearly $5,000 worth of audio and video recording equipment, and to sit and wait in the dark.

And wait.

And wait.

Amid the show and tell that make up the exhibits of the county's history, wires snaked from bell tower to basement, cameras were installed into corners, duct tape was plentiful and batteries charged. Rubbermaid bin after Rubbermaid bin of equipment was set up by a skilled team of technicians. A 36-pack of Duracell batteries is on hand for use in eight digital voice recorders.

"This is the part they don't show you on TV," says McGuinn, referring to the popular "Ghost Hunters" cable TV show that chronicles the investigations of The Atlantic Paranormal Society (TAPS).

"Can you tell me about the pipes in the building? Any smells? Anything unusual?" Elyse Caudill asks Griffith, reading off a questionnaire used at the onset of each investigation.

Griffith says there are times when the printer in her office will turn on and off on its own.

Around 9:30 p.m., GMPS founder Bill Hartley relays the lingo of 'lights out.'

"We're dark," he calls into walkie-talkies that bring his voice to GMPS members positioned throughout the building. One team of investigators sits on the sooty floor of the boiler room basement, another sits in a former Sunday school room on the first floor and another sits amid the wooden pews of the church's worship area.

For 15 minutes, everyone sits in silence, including Griffith, the curator, who takes a seat in the former bell tower entrance.

Then the questions from investigators begin.

"If you are here in this room, can you give us a sign?" asks an investigator in the dark, encouraging any spirit in the room to walk toward an instrument used in their investigations called a K-2, which will change the machine's green light to a different color if an electronic field is sensed.

Cathy Yeakel has been a part of GMPS since the group began three years ago.

"I've always been curious about the other side," says Yeakel, of Glen Burnie, who works for an environmental consulting firm. "For me, I like to be able to rule things out."

Fear cage

McGuinn says earlier readings with an EMF detector (electromagnetic field) "were off the chart" in Griffith's basement office in the fluorescent lights above her desk. Not uncommon in an office setting, he says, but such a reading is indicative of a "fear cage," which can cause one to feel dizzy or nauseous in the workplace.

In the dark office on the night of the investigation, McGuinn places a small flashlight on the ground in the middle of the room.

"You are more than welcome to turn it on," he says, speaking to any spirit that may be listening. "Can you let us know you are here by turning the flashlight on?"

The flashlight remains off.

"Ninety-eight percent of the time this is what it is like, you sit around and nothing happens," McGuinn says, noting most paranormal investigators, including GMPS, set out to debunk theories rather than to prove them.

In the basement boiler room, investigator Lori Bruther is asking questions, too.

"Did you go to Sunday school here?" she asks. "How old are you? Do you feel threatened by having me here? I really would love if you could come toward the green light. We are all your friends."

By 10:30 the teams are ready for a smoke break and to stretch their legs. They file out of the church and talk of investigations of the past in North Carolina, Delaware, Pennsylvania and Maryland.

"This is one thing you never see on the TV shows, all the down time," says Hartley, the founder of the group.

After the break, Bruther's team sits in the former Sunday school room, but the only activity they hear is the noise coming from Main Street, where the Judge's Bench is hosting a live band and noisy patrons on the sidewalk.

Meanwhile, in the worship area sitting on a pew, Hartley and Caudill attempt to get spirits to communicate with them using divining rods. As they take turns asking questions and holding the metal rods, the rods twist and turn, dimly lit by the portable flashlight that glows green from an earpiece on Hartley's ear.

"I am not moving them, I am just holding the handles," Hartley explains.

"Is it cool? Yes," Caudill adds, referring to using the divining rods. "Is it evidence? No."

By 1 a.m. investigators are ready to call it quits.

By Oct. 1, the hours of footage and digital recordings were reviewed and no paranormal activity was discovered, according to McGuinn.

Nevertheless, Hartley ruled the night a success, ghost or no ghost.

"Everybody did their job and had fun," he said.

user comments (4)

user gmpsociety says...

We would like to thank Mary and the Howard County Times for coming along with us on this case. As a follow up we wanted to say that out side of some personal experiences we were not able to document any evidence on this case. And hope to come back and try again sometime in the future. And also if anyone else is in need of our service please feel free to visit us on the web at HTTP://WWW.greater-maryland-paranormal-society.com, all our contact info is on there. Bill Hartley GMPS

Posted 9:19 PM, 10.01.09 | Permalink

user milton says...

Wow. The sort of nonsense that some people believe in never ceases to amaze me.

Posted 12:46 PM, 10.02.09 | Permalink

user minutemanii says...

What's silly is the theatrics used by going "lights out" in order to investigate for ghosts like they do on the show "Ghost Hunters". Truth is, if there are spirits, they can be seen in daylight hours, perhaps even more, as confirmed by the ghostly images I just captured at Gettysburg two weekends ago. Many other paranormal photos have been captured there during the day, and the Ghost Tours at night are merely a method to empty tourists' pockets. I was a skeptic until 2006 when I began to see anomalies and unexplained images and apparitions in photos, quite unexpected and accidental. It was then that I became a believer...No joke!

Posted 5:39 AM, 10.03.09 | Permalink

user says...

You are correct about some things in your comment. The Lights out thing has become very much something that is seem to the TV shows. And yes there are lots of times when images have been captured in the day, and or with the lights on. However seeing that you are not on our team and have no idea as to what types of equipment that is being used, you may not be the best to judge the how and why it is done. Out cameras as well as the cameras used on this case by professional photographers are inferred and work better in the dark. And it also cuts down on the chances of getting "orbs" in the photos. Also at night many locations are more quiet and the chances of having any outside interference are reduced. Seeing that many things from just cars to radio signals are less at night makes it easier to be able to debunk a lot of false positives. And this location is right next to and behind a court and sheriffs office. So how many problems do you foresee us having in the day?? We don't ask for people to believe in the paranormal or much less question how we investigate. We are in no way affiliated with any ghost tour. My dislike for them are well known by anyone who knows me. I agree they are just a way to spend money. But then again I have as much dislike for them as I do people who crowd battlefields for nothing more then trying to take "ghostly images" and are not there for the history. My family fought on the battlefield of Gettysburg and it sickens me that people exploit there sacrifice to sell a ghost tour. And how many silly people go to Sachs Bridge because of the "ghosts". Take a picture of dust, call it a orb and post it on the Internet. As far as being a skeptic vs. believer in the paranormal, I have been doing investigations for over three years, I have never charged a cent to any one of our clients and outside of the very rare times such as this investigation, we have never posted a word about any location or client we have investigated because there are a lot of people who are like Milton who feel that they need to go out of there way to say how they don't believe. So when people who do feel that there maybe something going on in there house or business, they feel that the first thing they must start there emails off with is "I am not crazy but". Or they continue to live with it instead of having a team like ours come out and see whats going on. I am a bit of both a believer and a skeptic. I have had enough things happen in my life to tell me that there is ghosts but I go in to every case as a skeptic. Everyone on my team is a skeptic to the paranormal. When I interview for new investigators, if they tell me how much they love the TV shows and believe in the paranormal, I will not take them on the team. Truth is while I have lots of great stories from my life and the paranormal, I am still one of the biggest skeptics out there. To be a good investigator you have to be. And in a world of Milton's, while I know what I have experienced in my life was real. To many it becomes just a good ghost story. And in fact most of the cases we have worked on have proven to be anything but paranormal. But finding a earth bound reason is most times better then any ghost story cause we have helped someone. That is the only reason the GMPS is out there, to help others. I have over the years collected many really good evp's, photos and videos from our cases, and they will never see the light of day to the public because we are not in the business of entertainment. We are dedicated to helping others in any way possible. Stories like the one you just read and may feel the need to comment on are just a way for us to let people out there know that there are dedicated people who are ready to listen to you and try to help. We are not the only team out there like this, and I can only hope that anyone who reads this understands that just because you may not believe and feel that talking about ghosts and the paranormal is silly, while it may help you to sleep at night does not mean that it is not real to someone else. Growing up in a house on Hanover St in Baltimore has taught me that the paranormal is real. And thousands of other groups out there tell me that I am not the only one. But I will say that if you find a team that comes with a price tag, you may want to steer clear of them.

Posted 9:04 AM, 10.03.09 | Permalink