Great Lakes Paranormal and Research Society

The following article featuring the Great Lakes Paranormal and Research Society was run in the Sterling Heights Sentry on February 24, 2010

BUILDING A MYSTERY

Local residents probe for paranormal activity in 'haunted' homes

CORTNEY CASEY C & G Staff Writer

Published: February 24, 2010

By day, they're software engineers for a major corporation, rooted in a world of concrete facts and figures, florescent lights and office desks.

But by night, Todd Hurley and Paul Chevalier deal with a whole other reality - fraught with shadowy figures, mysterious voices and inexplicable symbols - as co-founders of the Great Lakes Paranormal and Research Society.

The pair launched the endeavor in 2007, after bonding at the office over a shared love of the occult.

Chevalier, a self-proclaimed "info junkie," would bring news stories about paranormal phenomenon into the office, and Hurley would recount tales of informal ghost-hunting expeditions at cemeteries, abandoned buildings and other potentially "haunted" locales.

"We decided just to pool a little bit of money together, buy some equipment, and start organizing and do it more seriously," said Hurley.

Hurley of Sterling Heights and Chevalier of Grosse Pointe Park started their investigations with a handful of friends and relatives who had experienced odd occurrences in their homes.

The first, undertaken shortly after the pair had purchased their first set of technical equipment, occurred at a Shelby Township house where the occupants reported seeing shadows against shower curtains, hearing whispers and chewing sounds, and feeling a presence sitting beside them on the bed.

The homeowners also discovered once-scattered Christmas card boxes mysteriously arranged in a neat tower, topped by a triangle.

"We couldn't stack it back up that way if we tried," said Hurley.

Chevalier said he and Hurley "started carrying on conversations with these spirits," using electromagnetic field detectors to glean yes or no answers that suggested the ghost of a young girl was lingering in the home to protect the homeowner's living daughter.

Later, Hurley said, they checked their voice recorders and found "electronic voice phenomenon" - spoken words picked up by the recorder but not heard in person - that provided "meaningful answers."

They commissioned a clairvoyant for the "cleaning process" to free the girl's trapped spirit and later discovered a pyramid of stacked billiard cue sticks as a sign of thanks, said Hurley.

The pair's other investigations have taken them throughout southeastern Michigan, including Sterling Heights, Grosse Pointe and Detroit.

Another particularly notable investigation occurred in Corktown, where they collected a slew of EVPs, including a little girl's voice commanding, "Hear me," and saying "Lily is good" in a singsong voice.

Zoe Villegas, whose family has owned the house for 15 years, said she brought in GLPARS after experiencing a deluge of abnormal activity:lights and faucets activating independently, doors slamming, footsteps, voices, figures lingering outside where there was once a rose garden.

It all started, she said, when her relatives began restoring the 1870sera Victorian house, which - prior to their arrival - was passed down within the same family.

Villegas sleeps in the bedroom that once belonged to the matriarch, and "I always felt somebody in that room with me, sitting on the bed or walking around." That house was particularly chilling for Chevalier and Hurley because Villegas, who tagged along, had the propensity to emit bloodcurdling screams - and did so several times, including when a deadbolt in the kitchen turned itself loudly.

Otherwise, "I would say, for the most part, we're pretty calm," said Hurley. "We've seen a lot. It takes a lot to rattle us."

Their most recent jaunt was a return visit to a St. Clair Shores residence where they believe renovations stirred up a dormant spirit. The homeowners reportedly spotted figures peeking around corners, heard cat sounds and snatches of big band radio music, and discovered piles of swept sand.

Hurley said the society's first task is ruling out scientific explanations for alleged supernatural activity. For instance, a small percentage of the population is extremely susceptible to changes in electromagnetic fields that can be caused by every day household items - so much so that they may suffer from hallucinations, he said.

Using equipment like EMF detectors, digital voice recorders, infrared video cameras and motionactivated still cameras, Hurley and Chevalier spend an average of five hours on site, always at night, deactivating the electricity and appliances to try to eliminate possible interference.

They classify paranormal activity into two categories:residual, meaning the spirit is "imprinted" and performs repeated actions with no relation to the present, and intelligent, involving spirits that appear to respond to the investigators.

What happens after they discover something supernatural is up to the homeowner. "Some people just want to know if there's something … and they don't mind if there's something there," said Chevalier. "Other people want it gone, whether it's good or bad."

Villegas said her family was more curious than fearful.

"We've been here so long, it's gotten to the point where it's like coexisting," she said. "It's a part of the house. It was just, kind of, I guess, for confirmation."

If occupants'requests for a spirit to leave are unsuccessful, GLPARS will bring in clairvoyants or clergy as necessary to try to eradicate the ghost, said Hurley.

While GLPARS'caseload has been exclusively residential thus far, Hurley said he hopes to expand into more commercial settings, like "haunted" hotels or bars. And though they welcome donations, they never charge for their services.

"This is a hobby for Paul and I. … We're not looking to get rich by any means," he said.

Chevalier and Hurley acknowledge that their extracurricular work is a polarizing topic, a hard pill to swallow for skeptics and alluring to others.

"Very few people are neutral," said Chevalier. "More people are fascinated than think it's a waste of time. Everybody has a story of something strange that's happened to them or someone in their family."

Co-workers at the software company are aware of the duo's afterhours activities and have reactions ranging "from skepticism to fear to 'Can I go with you?'" he said. "I've known people who don't want me to even talk about it. They're like, 'I couldn't even go to sleep last night.'"

For more information on GLPARS, visit www.greatlakespars.com. The society is currently accepting new investigations.

You can reach Staff Writer Cortney Casey at ccasey@candgnews.com or at (586) 498-1046.