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Ghost Finders - Researchers explore South Jersey's haunted past.

The lights in the basement locker room of the Woodbury Country Club went black and Rorie Hirschmann turned on her night vision video camera to record the darkness.

Through her camera she saw a small bubble of light float through the air and called her fellow investigators over to replay footage of spirit energy she captured on screen.

"Is anyone there that wants their picture taken?" Hirschmann asked the spirits. "Can you fly in front of my camera again?"

They obliged.

Hirschmann is one of the South Jersey Paranormal Research (SJPR) investigators that spent the night of Friday, September 13 searching for spirit energy at the 130-year-old club, once the home of a general during the Civil War period. Several employees have witnessed strange activity at the club and SJPR was invited to check the place out.

"I go into certain rooms and feel like I'm not alone, but there is no one there," said Woodbury Country Club Manager Trevor Lacy.

Before going into the building Susan Bove', co-chair of the non-profit group, said the solar and geometric activity were just right that night.

"There is different activity around the earth that affect spirit activity, because they are energy and use energy to manifest," Bove' explained. "Woodbury has a lot of history, and we also believe it to be a very haunted place."

A group of investigators, dressed in black and ready with cameras, voice recorders and flashlights covered in red cellophane - so they are not picked up on the cameras - marched into the building and split into teams.

Bove' and Hirschmann's team went into the men's locker room. Another team went into the ballroom, a place where they expected a great deal of energy.

"I grew up in a haunted house," Bove' said. "So I'm not a stranger to the paranormal."

She remembers hearing footsteps and slamming doors and seeing lights that have turned on alone at her house.

"You just feel in and know you're not alone," she said.

Bove' walked slowly throughout the empty room, careful not to trip on the golf shoes lined up along the lockers.

"Flash," Bove' said before snapping a blinding digital photo. "We say that so you know it's coming. It gives you a chance to close your eyes."

The small ball of light is an orb, or spirit energy, Bove' explained. Still cameras and video camera can capture the images.

Spirit voices, Electronic Voice Phenomenon (EVP), are recorded by a simple digital voice recorder.

Bove', who has developed a trained ear to discern EVPs, said she has heard EVP of a person cursing or making fun of someone.

At the country club a team of investigators in the ladies locker room suddenly smelled a strong perfume, something SJPR prohibits on investigations. They replayed a voice recorder later and heard that when they started describing the strong smell a male voice whispered. "Tell me some more."

During any given investigation, hundreds of pictures and hours of voice recordings are taken and reviewed afterwards.

Bove' explained that the best evidence collected is when a few things happen at once, such as hearing EVP at the same time several orbs were floating by.

"We try to negate whatever we take." Bove' said. "We are our own best skeptics."

The investigation at the country club lasted three hours, and while there they were not finding a lot of things, Bove' said she and her team did find a lot of orbs when they reviewed their materials later.

SJPR if often invited to investigate public building, private homes and even cemeteries.

"A lot of people just want proof that they are not crazy," said investigator Karen Spring. "They don't want us to get rid of them."

Bove' said the group does not investigate a location that may have demons. She explained that a human spirit cannot physically harm people, but demon spirits are not human and have been known to cause harm.

"If someone was a jerk when they were alive, they will probably be a jerk when they're dead. But they can't hurt you," she said.

Spring said the group does not use Ouija boards or perform séances.

"It's one thing if someone is already there." she said. "It's another to invite them."

Bove' stays busy planning investigations and sometimes speaking at lectures on paranormal activity. She is eagerly looking forward to the Woodbury's upcoming Ghost Tours and of course, Halloween, which happens to be her daughter's birthday.