By Steve Dunkelberger
The Weekly Volcano (Ranger newspaper)

It's never been hipper to believe in ghosts. With television shows such as "The X-Files," "Crossing
over with John Edward" and even "Touched By an Angel" touting the belief in the hereafter and ghostly movies like "The Others," "The Sixth Sense" and "The Blair Witch Project" burning up box offices, the belief in ghosts has apparently hit the main stream at least at some level.

Ghost hunting clubs and investigation groups are sprouting up around the country, with a half dozen or
so starting up in the Puget Sound area in just the last few years. The largest and most local of them is AGHOST, Amateur Ghost Hunters of Seattle-Tacoma, which formed about a year ago. Its members lug their digital cameras, instant thermometers, tape recorders and other ghostly gear to historic buildings, vintage businesses and abandoned structures to learn more about what goes bump in the night.

The non-profit group that meets in Federal Way gathers evidence of paranormal activity such as photos of unexplained images or "orbs," unusual cold patches or out-of-the-ordinary smells or sounds, as a way to raise the question that there just might be life after death. And their activities are falling on welcome minds.

"I am amazed at the acceptance level," Vice President of AGHOST Patricia Woolard said. "Of course, people might believe in the existence of ghosts, but they initially look at me a little strangely when I tell
them what I do in my spare time. But then they start to ask questions and seem genuinely interested in our work. Everyone has a story to tell." Her own tale to tell involves an "encounter" about five months ago when she was visiting her father, who was battling progressive multiple sclerosis and a brain tumor. He was dying. Woolard held vigil over his bed, sleeping at his bedside day in and day out. Days passed. On day three or four, Woolard was sleeping in a bed next to him and turned her back for just a
moment to relieve a cramp. "As I laid there, I felt a hand brush my back from my shoulder down to the middle of my back. My immediate feeling was one of elation and comfort. I did not turn around. I knew I would see nothing. I knew that my father was trying his best to comfort me. I felt elated because I had finally felt something I could not explain, and I didn't want to cheapen the experience by turning around and looking. My father was in a coma, unable to move, speak, eat, physically unable to touch me. I know in my heart that during those seven days, he didn't spend much time in his body ... My work with AGHOST has made dealing with the process of dying a lot easier. My belief in the afterlife has made death a much less 'permanent state.' I think that when the physical body dies, the spirit is free to roam"

Ross Allison holds similar views. He founded AGHOST last fall after posting a message looking for like-minded locals in a national ghost hunting web site. He's been researching ghosts and other unusual activities for 10 years and admits he has yet to have a "sighting." "I, myself, have not had an encounter with a ghost," Allison said. "But I can honestly say I've had some pretty weird experiences. I've been in cemeteries and heard footsteps behind me when no one was there. I'vehad someone tap me on the shoulder and turned around to see nothing. It's pretty creepy when you take a photo with a digital camera, and you find a smoky figure right in front of you that you couldn't see with the naked eye. Or knowing in your gut that you're not the only person in the room, when it appears that you are."

The group's meetings include lessons in evidence gathering, Ghostology 101, the industry-accepted categories of ghosts and how to investigate an "encounter." Much of the curriculum comes from "The Ghost Hunter's Bible," by Trent Brandon. Meetings of the 50-member-strong group also include briefings on the latest news from the group's current investigation.

One such investigation was of the former Western State Hospital sanitarium located at Lakewood's Fort Steilacoom Park. After it has been at the center local folklore as one of the most haunted spots in Western Washington, the group decided to investigate the claims and put that question to rest. "Everyone knows about this place," said Freelance Supernatural Investigations member Dutch Jackson. "There have always been legends about this place." FSI, which focuses on recording ghost "impressions" through the collection of sensory information -- temperature, smells and observations -- recently merged with AGHOST, which approaches investigations with state-of-the-art computer software called SPECTRE and data-collecting equipment such as digital cameras, Geiger counter, infrared video cameras. "With being the most advanced group in the Northwest by having the higher end of equipment, it allows us to work in a more scientific way," Allison said. SPECTRE, for example, collects readings on temperature, barometric pressure, motion, sound and other trackable information. The Special Paranormal Energy Computer Tracking Research Equipment then compares all the data during "hotspots" as a way to collect "evidence" of a ghostly presence. These investigations are pretty heady stuff.

The groups partnered on the Western State Hospital investigation after Federal Way's Psychic Spectrum Center owner Skip Leingang and a friend scoped out the area and came face to face with a ghost. They were walking around the ruins overlooking Waughop Lake in the center of Fort Steilacoom Park and felt chills and began getting dizzy, signs of a ghost presence.

"Throughout the whole thing, we heard children laughing and playing, and there was no one there," he said during a follow-up investigation at the building.

Night neared, so they decided to leave. There it was. As they drove away, they saw the image of a boy -- showing signs of mental retardation -- waving good-bye to them. "We described him separately, so we knew we saw the same thing," he said. "He was just smiling and waving at us."

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