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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 ■ ■ -^SSsfc. ■ 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. GRAND OPENING SPECIAL! Ill East Hay Street Winder, GA 770-8G8-2880 What is HOT-N-READY ?§ Large cheese or pepperoni pizzas... * Hot out of the oven! Ready when you are! No need to call ahead! No need to wait! No limit! WITH CHEESE DR PEPPERONI ORIGINAL ROUND cuirnwLitTiMi URTTt ALL DAY, (VERY DAY! 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