Do You Believe In Ghosts, Muskego?

Tis the season of ghosts and goblins, but for Paranormal Investigators of Milwaukee (PIM), the season lasts year round.

During a presentation at the Tuesday night to a full house, lead investigator Noah Leigh said he formed the group in part as an extension of his interest in scientific research. He has multiple degrees in science, which he said helped him to form investigations using the logical method any scientist would conduct during an experiment.

Other members of the group included self-proclaimed skeptic Michael Graeve (pronounced gravy) who lends his technical skills to the investigation as well as Karen Kolasa, who is a 'sensitive,' or someone who is able to pick up on images of spirits to provide insight into an investigation.

What TV shows like Ghost Hunters and Paranormal Adventurers don't show their audiences are the hundreds of hours of evidence review it takes over many days of investigation to provide 45 minutes of entertaining television.

"It's boring," said Tony B, an investigator. "The reality is that it takes many tedious hours of reviewing audio tape and careful listening to find something."

Once 'something' is found, it needs to be corroborated by other team members and a unanimous concensus over its validity made.  The rule of thumb for investigators: when in doubt, throw it out.

However, those rare gems that are discovered - for PIM the majority of it is audio evidence - are fascinating.

The crowd was presented with a series of EVPs - electronic voice phenomena - that were captured on digital recorders during investigations. Several were very clear (called 'class A EVPs') and indicated intelligent hauntings.

Intelligent hauntings are interactions with phenomena that indicate some awareness or relevance to the situation at hand.  For example, a voice is heard on the recording answering a question about the whereabouts of the spirit's parents: My parents are here (near) by me.

Is it real?  Is it enough to sway the doubters?

Ultimately, the team members mirror many of those in the audience.  Some skeptical, others hopeful, but all searching for an answer of what is out there.

Editor's note:  the group does not accept money for their services, which are kept confidential at their clients' discretion. Contact their website if you need their services or for more information.