The Haunted West

After last year's disappointing attempts to harness my psychic tools, I wasn't expecting too much out of the Spirit to Spirit Communication class in this year's TMCC's paranormal series. In fact, I considered staying home, chilling on the couch and watching a little TV. At the last minute, I lost the - should I stay or should I go - argument with myself, got up off the couch and snuck into class 10 minutes late. I'm glad I went. Pride Hansen's approach to spirit communication is straight forward, easy to understand, and (most important) makes sense. I have a hard time swallowing anything too over the top or New Age-y (Is that even a word? New Age-y?). Anyway. I made it in time to catch his explanation on the difference between clairvoyance and mediumship. As I've mentioned many times before, I have little faith in mediums, that whole idea of a psychic "middle man" conveying messages to and from the spirit world on my behalf  just doesn't...

Today begins the much anticipated TMCC's Nevada Ghost and Paranormal Series 2010. As a former participant, I highly recommend these classes to anyone interested in the unknown, the paranormal, local history, and psychic phenomenon. As always, Kathy Berry has put together a great line up. This year's classes include: UFO study, dream analysis, life after death, spirit communication, paranormal photography and videography, researching haunted locations, decoding tombstones, and a ghost hunt field trip to Buckland Station at Fort Churchill State Park. As an added incentive, TMCC offered an extra investigation of the Chism House to those who signed up for the entire series and enrolled early. Unfortunately, due to prior work and school commitments, I was unable to sign up for the entire series this year. However, I did manage to work 3 classes into my schedule and the Buckland Station investigation. The classes I am taking are: Paranormal Photography and Videography wi...

Pictures of the Star Sirius - The Dog Star, Sirius, and its Tiny Companion NASA, H.E. Bond & E. Nelan(STScI); M. Barstow & M. Burleigh(Univ. of Leicester); & J.B. Holberg(UAz)                 It's been quiet around here lately. The entire summer, in fact. I haven't posted a blog since the end of May. It isn't because I haven't been busy, I have. And while I have danced and played and whiled away the days of summer, I simply could not bring myself to sit down at the computer and compose. Even on those days when it's been too hot to get out and do anything, I preferred to spend the time on my couch, watching TV or reading in the cool darkness of my home. Now while there are those that will accuse me of laziness, apathy, and/or procrastination, I have a solid excuse for my nonproductivity. I have been under the celestial influence of Sirius. "Dog Days" (Latin: diēs caniculārēs): are the hottest, most sultry days...

Back in March of this year, my friend Paul Lindermuth of the Nevada Paranormal Institute was contacted by Chris Cady, a local hypnotist currently performing at the Reno Underground. It seems that Chris and his backstage crew had been experiencing some strange occurrences such as voices, footsteps heard from empty areas of the set and dark figures moving in their peripheral vision. Chris himself experienced the feeling of a presence behind him during one of his performances. These sort of things were happening with enough frequency that Chris wanted a team to come in and rule out paranormal activity.  NPI invited members of the Reno Paranormal Meetup Group to investigate the Underground theatre. The plan was to set up audio and visual surveillance overnight, do some EVP work and then go back and collect the equipment the next day. The Pioneer Theater/Auditorium, now called the Pioneer Center for the Performing Arts, was built in 1967 and opened in 1968. A quick Inte...

When I began pursuing my interest in the paranormal, volunteerism was not what I had in mind. My intention was to get off the beaten path; learn about the history of Nevada and the West, explore hidden ghost towns, investigate haunted places, and capture that one bit of evidence that would prove a place to be inhabited by spirits. A few weeks ago I responded to my friend Jill's invitation to spend a Saturday washing walls, and sweeping floors. Now if you're thinking that there could be so many better ways to spend a Saturday, you are probably right. But, as it turns out, I learned a little about myself, my place in my community, and the satisfaction of "giving back". Along with  members of R.E.A.L., Reno Paranormal Group, and Virginia City Paranormal, I helped clean up the Old Washoe Club in Virginia City. My muscles whined the next day, but my spirit hummed a happy little tune. We humans are social creatures, we like to feel like we a...

At the Virginia City Paranormal Conference back in March, I had the pleasure of listening to Dave Schrader speak. Dave  is an experienced paranormal investigator, author and the host of "Darkness Radio". His talk was informative, Immensely entertaining and revelant to all aspects of the paranormal field, If you ever have the opportunity to hear Dave speak, do so. I was so impressed by the common sense advice he gave, that I bought his book: "The Other Side: A Teen's Guide to Ghost Hunting and the Paranormal" for Mariah. This book was co-authored by Parick Burns and Marley Gibson. Mariah has been hounding me to take her on an investigation, something I have been hesitant to do because of her age. However, she has been listening to me talk about my experiences, reads my blog, and watches the usual ghosthunting programs on a regular basis. I have taken her on a few ghost tours hoping that would placate her, but she is adamant about going on a true investigation....

From all reports I have gathered, the Silverland has paranormal activity throughout. However, a large portion of the basement is closed off for renovation and it was in this area that W.I.G.s. decided to investigate. The area under renovation consists of a large anteroom with doors leading out to the patio on the right and a hallway on the southeast corner which leads to several smaller meeting rooms off to the left and the restrooms toward the back. Since there were already a group of investigators in the back area of the basement, we walked down the hall and entered the first room. I don't know if it was because we were coming from a light area into a dark area and our eyes didn't have to adjust, but this room was dark. Black dark. It was so disorienting that both Mona and I needed to step back out for a second. By this time there were several passersby (Sandi and Veronica), which we enlisted to enter the room. They experienced the same weir...