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Ghost-hunting team, library patrons share paranormal experiences

Doors opening and closing by themselves. Lights going on and off. Orbs floating through the air. Disembodied voices and hands. These are just a few of the events researched by Central Virginia Paranormal Investigations (CVAPI). The ghost-hunting team founded by Jackie Tomlin has been investigating paranormal phenomena across central and southern Virginia since 2008 and has worked on projects with the Discovery Channel. Tomlin and two members of the Chesterfield, Va., group visited the Virgil I. Grissom Library in Newport News on Oct. 19 to present Ghost Hunting 101, a free program open to the public.

Jackie Tomlin, founder of Central Virginia Paranormal Investigations, discusses ghost-hunting and demonstrates equipment Oct. 19 at Grissom Library. Photo by Karen Gill/Newport News Public Library System

Doors opening and closing by themselves. Lights going on and off. Orbs floating through the air. Disembodied voices and hands.

These are just a few of the events researched by Central Virginia Paranormal Investigations (CVAPI). The ghost-hunting team founded by Jackie Tomlin has been investigating paranormal phenomena across central and southern Virginia since 2008 and has worked on projects with the Discovery Channel.

Tomlin and two members of the Chesterfield, Va., group visited the Virgil I. Grissom Library in Newport News on Oct. 19 to present Ghost Hunting 101, a free program open to the public.

Talking to an audience of more than 80, Tomlin explained that the group began through the website www.meetup.com, and now is very busy investigating private, residential hauntings.

“I’m a psychic,” Tomlin said. “But I’m not coming to your house to do a séance, and I don’t use a Ouija board, nothing like that.”

Investigations begin when homeowners who want help fill out a form on the group’s current website, http://www.cvapi.com. Tomlin said she then contacts the homeowners for a telephone interview to determine “whether they have a legitimate request or they just watched a ghost show last week.”

“We are not here to make you believe,” she said. “Most people don’t believe until they have an experience with it. They say, ‘I’m not crazy.’ Well that’s a given. Anyone can have an experience with the paranormal.”

She then gathers information on the home’s history through public records, and consults plat maps to determine whether it is located near railroad tracks, an electric substation, a large body of water or a cemetery, all of which can increase paranormal activity, she said.

Next is a walk-through of the home to determine whether it is safe and navigable for the team and their equipment in the dark. If they agree to conduct the investigation, both parties sign “no-sue agreements,” she said. The team does not charge homeowners for investigations, but they do fundraisers, accept donations and have two sponsors to help with equipment purchase.

The actual investigation involves the team members’ overnight surveillance of the home with nine sensitive, infrared video cameras; digital voice recorders; audio amplifiers and more.

“We are not out to prove you wrong,” Tomlin explained. “We try to duplicate what the homeowner has experienced. We are there to respect their wishes. It will be overwhelming when we arrive, with lots of people and equipment. But when we leave, you won’t know we were there.”

She emphasized that every haunting is different, that a home doesn’t have to be old or historic to be haunted, and that about 90 percent are not negative. Negative haunting are often brought about by intentional or unintentional actions of the homeowners, she said.

“You decide how to work with human spirits.” But she warned, “Don’t provoke it, and just asking questions could provoke it.”

Some families need counseling or the help of clergy and demonologists to deal with the spirits, and she will refer them to others for assistance, she said. She recommends smudging, an American Indian tradition, to get rid of unwanted spirits.

“We are a team of skeptics and believers. We don’t assume everything is paranormal,” Tomlin said. She described a case in which the home’s lights were going on and off by themselves, as well as other problems, which all turned out to be due to an electrical overload in the home. “I had a guy who kept calling and emailing about a black shadow,” Tomlin said. “I went over to show him it was his own shadow.”

Everyone has the ability to scare and spook themselves, she said. “Don’t go home and think about this, and then call me because acorns are hitting your house.”

Tomlin presented tips and suggestions for getting started in ghost-hunting without a lot of money, and explained that those interested don’t have to be specialists to conduct investigations.

Audience members asked questions and shared their own paranormal experiences, which involved animal spirits, unusual odors, energy fields, dreams, and more.

Karen Wright of Waverly drove one and a half hours for the program, and shared with the group that she experiences unexplained electrical buzzing in her body, especially when she around a lot of electricity and people, such as at conferences.

“It was good that people had an opportunity to share their experiences,” said Karl Harrison of Windsor, who also drove an hour and a half to attend. “It was one of those rare situations where people would feel comfortable sharing. Where else would you feel comfortable doing that?”

The Library program was made possible by the Friends of the Newport News Public Library.

The Newport News Public Library System consists of four public libraries, a public law library and a bookmobile. Programs presented by the Library System are free and open to the public. For more information on Newport News Public Library System programs, please call 757-247-8875 or visit www.nngov.com/library. View photos from the Newport News Public Library System’s programs at www.flickr.com/photos/25845028@N05/. View all Library News Releases at http://www.nngov.com/pressroom/press-releases/library-press-releases. To make accommodations for services and program attendance under the Americans with Disabilities Act, call the Library at 757-591-4858 voice/TDD three days prior to the event for assistance.

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