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PAGE 2A
BARROW JOURNAL
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2008
‘Ghosthunters’ search for the supernatural
BY KRISTI REED
Strange noises. A whispered
voice. Things going bump in
the night. Who are you going
to call?
No, not the Ghostbusters.
Around here, you call the
Barrow County Paranormal
Society or BCPS.
Since 2006, local resi
dents have called upon BCPS
founder William Colley and
his team to explain the unex
plainable.
Colley, the lead investigator
for the group, said he formed
BCPS after his own experi
ence with the paranormal.
Several years ago, Colley
and his wife, Rebecca, were
living with his parents when
his father died. Shortly after
his father’s death, Colley and
Rebecca rented a home on
Candler Street. Soon after
Most Haunted
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moving
Also Inside:
•See Barrow’s house
strange
places on page t h i n e s
10A
GHOST HUNTERS
Members of the Barrow County Paranormal Society
include: (front row I. to r.) lead investigator and founder
William Colley and investigator and technical support
specialist Rodney Bennett, (back row I. to r.) investiga
tor Steven Leuse and photo and video technician Laura
Hanson. Not pictured: investigators Rebecca Colley,
Nicole Hurley and Rocky Reaves. Photo by Kristi Reed
began to
happen,
Colley said.
“Cold breezes would move
by you, footsteps, the smell of
a wet dog in the living room,’’
he said. “My wife would wake
up in the middle of the night
and say there’s someone in
our son’s room and you would
hear my son in there jibber-
jabbering.”
Colley’s son, who was about
one and a half at the time,
would be wide awake in the
middle of the night looking
at the corner of the room and
talking.
After months of increasingly
weird occurrences, the Colleys
were able to purchase a home
of their own. Eager to get
away from the strange events
at their rented house, both
Colleys were excited about
the move. Unfortunately, their
excitement did not last long.
“There for a while, every
thing seemed ok,” Colley
said. Then the strange noises
started.
Colley’s wife began hearing
footsteps in the house and was
convinced someone, or some
thing, was in the house with
them. Colley, who worked
nights, was initially convinced
the noises were caused by the
new house settling. He was
unable to convince Rebecca of
that though.
“It got to the point where
she wouldn’t sleep upstairs at
night,” he said. “My son and
my wife would sleep down
stairs because they were afraid
to sleep upstairs.”
On several occasions,
Colley’s wife and son would
flee to the neighbor's house
after feeling a presence in the
house.
Eventually, Colley realized
the noises were not caused by
house settling.
“I got home one morning
and Rebecca was sleeping
downstairs,” he said. “But I
could hear someone running
back and forth across the floor
upstairs.”
The Colleys went upstairs
and Rebecca, at her wit's end,
ordered the spirit to “go to
God.”
From that point forward, the
strange noises stopped.
Colley said he decided
to start the Barrow County
Paranormal Society to under
stand what had happened to
him and his family.
The other members of his
team share Colley's curiosity
and eagerness to learn about
the paranormal.
Laura Hanson, whose sis
ter is married to Colley, said
her motivation for joining the
BCPS was simple.
“It was my sister and my
nephew living in that house,”
she said. “I was there, I spent
the night with her quite a few
times. We’d stay downstairs
because there was something
upstairs.”
Investigator Steven Leuse
had not had any paranormal
experiences before joining the
group, but had several friends
discuss supernatural occur
rences.
Leuse was skeptical of his
friends' accounts, but said he
is now a believer after hearing
Electronic Voice Phenomena
or EVP.
Using ordinary recording
equipment, BCPS investiga
tors will ask if a spirit is pres
ent at a location and if it
would like to make contact.
Depending on the situation,
the investigators may ask
other questions in an attempt
to solve the haunting. Though
no responses may be heard at
the time, ghostly voices may
be heard when the recordings
are played back.
“After getting my own
(EVP) on my own recorder, I
really couldn’t come up with
any other explanation,” Leuse
said.
Rodney Bennett, Colley's
brother-in-law, is an inves
tigator and also handles the
technical support aspects of
the investigations. Though an
admitted believer in the para
normal, Bennett is considered
the team’s “debunker.”
“I keep my mind open,”
he said. “It’s something I’ve
always been interested in,
but I try to make it my job
to ask questions and put it
off on something that could
be humanly possible. Then
there's some cases where there
is just nothing else possible.”
CONTROLLING FEAR
While some may be fright
ened at the prospect of spend
ing the night in a haunted
house, BCPS investigators
revel in the opportunity.
Though the team may at
times experience frightening
phenomena, they will not run,
Colley said.
“With what we do, we can't
really run away,” Colley said.
“If we hear something or have
something strange happen, if
we turn and run away, then
there’s no need for us to even
be there.”
If the team hears or sees
something strange, they will
immediately try to determine
the cause, Colley said.
“We have to charge into
it,” he said. “What made that
sound, what caused it? Is it
something paranormal or is
it something we can explain
naturally?”
Sometimes though, the
scariest experiences take place
after an investigation, Bennett
said.
After investigating a haunt
ing in Auburn, Bennett said
he was spooked by the techni
cal evidence gathered at the
scene.
“We went to the house
several times and did several
investigations,” he said.
On one of the trips, the
team took a psychic to do
a reading at the scene. The
investigators would ask ques
tions and the spirit answered
through the medium.
OThe reading was video
taped and audiotaped. Bennett
said when they later played
the recording, he heard some
thing very odd.
“In both recordings, you can
hear a disembodied voice in
the recording answering our
questions before the psychic
does,” he said.
THE TRUTH IS
OUT THERE
The BCPS does not charge
for its services. Colley said he
and his team are simply moti
vated by the search for truth.
“We’re trying to document
this stuff, experience it and try
ing to figure out what causes it
and how it works,” he said.
Investigator Hanson said the
BCPS is also trying to help
people who may not under
stand what is happening to
them or their loved ones.
“A lot of these people
call because they’re scared,”
Hanson said.
The BCPS will investigate
to see if what they are expe
riencing is paranormal or if it
has a logical explanation.
The team has investigated
eight cases so far this year,
and is always eager to handle
more.
The group maintains a web
site, www.barrowcountyg-
hosthunters.com, where visi
tors can read about previous
investigations and complete a
contact form if they would
like to request an investigation
of their own.
Colley said people will
sometimes request help, but
then later change their minds
after talking to friends of fam
ily.
People are reluctant to admit
or accept that they may be
dealing with the paranormal,
he explained.
“It scares some people. They
are not open-minded. People
have a very narrow percep
tion of how life is,” Bennett
added.
Colley and his team work
to reassure those who ask for
help that they are not alone.
“I tell them I have experi
enced unexplainable phenom
ena and that we study this
scientifically,” he said. “We
reassure them that they’re not
crazy. If they’re crazy, we're
all crazy.”
Bennett said most people
are curious about the super
natural, even if they aren’t
believers, and are generally
accepting of those who pro
fess to have experienced the
paranormal.
“I think subconsciously, a
lot of people believe that there
is something there,” he said.
“Whether they want to come
out and openly admit it is a
different story.”
Despite the skepticism of
some, Colley believes in what
he does.
“I know that there is some
thing else out there going on
and it's not just angels and
demons,” he said. “There are
people that are still here in
spirit. Are they waiting for the
end of the world, the return of
Christ? Who knows?”
Tree recycling/collection
business gets OK in Auburn
BY SHARON HOGAN
Plans for a recycling business
got a boost last week follow
ing a zoning change approved
by the Auburn Planning and
Zoning Commission.
The commission unani
mously approved a rezoning
for property located at 112
Etheridge Road from AG
(Agriculture District) to M-l
(Light Manufacturing District)
for a recycling/collection busi
ness for trees and other organic
debris.
Paul Bagley, Downey Trees,
Inc., said that his tree and com
post recycling business will
only accept trees, limbs and
yard trimmings. No lumber or
other construction debris will
be accepted, Bagley reported.
Bagley presented a concept
plan for the business and stat
ed he was planning to plant
Leyland Cypress and Nandina
around the property.
Auburn resident John Nelms
asked about the hours of oper
ation and the noise level of
the business. Bagley stated
he was not sure of the hours
of operation at this time, but
he did know it would not be
late hours. Bagley stated there
would be a few trucks at the
business at night.
Bagley advised that, in regard
to the noise of the mulching
machine, that someone could
stand near the machine and
have a conversation at normal
speaking levels.
Auburn Mayor Linda
Blechinger stated she has been
sharing the vision that the
planning commission and the
council have for the city with
Bagley from the time that he
brought in his proposal for
his business. Blechinger stated
Downey Trees was pleased
to improve the appearance of
Highway 8 by installing the
landscaping.
Planning commission mem
ber Rhonda Hammond made
the motion to approve the
rezoning. Hammond specified
in the event the property is not
used as specified in the pro
posed fashion the zoning will
go back to AG.
OTHER BUSINESS
In other business at last
week’s meeting:
•the commission approved
an amendment to the land
use map. The amendment
will re-designate single
family residential, industrial,
public/industrial, open space
and multi-family residential
to commercial. Auburn City
Planner Larry Lucas stated the
majority of downtown is des
ignated for commercial use on
the plan.
•the commission unanimous
ly approved rezoning sever
al parcels in the Downtown
Overlay District from AG,
R-100, R-MD, RM-8 and C-l
to C-2.
Lucas stated the proposal is
to rezone the downtown area
as C-2 and will set the stage
for what city leaders plan to
accomplish in the downtown
overlay district.
Council meeting rescheduled
The Winder City Council meeting and work session has been
rescheduled for November 11 due to the local and national elec
tions on November 4.
The work session will begin at 5 p.m. and be followed by the
6 p.m. regular council meeting.
The council meets at the Winder Community Center, 113
East Athens Street, Winder.
Barrow zoning denied by Braselton
BYANGELA GARY
A proposed rezoning for a
light industrial business on
Hwy. 124 in Barrow County
was denied by the Braselton
Planning Commission Monday
night.
The planners unanimously
recommended denial of a
request from Don Panoz and
Fountainhead Development
to amend the land use map
and change the zoning classi
fication of the 61.8 acres from
general commercial/business
and high density residential to
light industrial/warehouse.
More than 75 people, most
ly members of the Hoschton-
Braselton Community
Association, attended the
meeting to oppose the zon
ing change. Planning director
Kevin Keller had also pro
posed the change be denied.
The Braselton Town Council
will take action on the request
when it meets Nov. 10.
At the planning meeting
Monday, Ed Vanburen pre
sented the proposal and said
the zoning change is needed
to “better market the prop
erty.” He said there is too
much residential in the town
already and not enough busi
nesses. He added that the type
of businesses the owners want
to locate on the site include
electrical and plumbing opera
tions.
“We don’t see residential
in the future there,” Vanburen
said.
Three people spoke in
opposition to the request.
Rick Matthews, president
of the Hoschton-Braselton
Community Association,
said the group wants “quality
development” for the area. He
said it should be a “gateway to
Barrow County.”
In other business Monday,
the planners approved two
amendments to the develop
ment code.
One change outlines the
rules for outdoor storage at
buildings. All storage, other
than seasonal items, have to be
stored in back of the business
in an enclosed area. Seasonal
items must be removed within
90 days.
The other change deals with
home occupations and lists the
allowed uses under this clas
sification.
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