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                SJPR in the Media - Gloucester County Times - October 28, 2004



			




			




				



                  




                  Is Anybody out there? 



                  Local ghost hunters work to prove the 



                  paranormal exists...




                  
by Teresa Anicola




                  
When Marisa Bozarth became 



                  curator of the Historical Burlington County Prison Museum, she 



                  had no idea what was in store for her.  




                  
Often left alone in the museum, 



                  which housed prisoners from 1811 to 1965, she has had some 



                  strange experiences.




                  
"I've heard some things there 



                  is no explanation for, like footsteps when no one was there. I 



                  often feel like someone is watching me when I'm alone there," 



                  said Bozarth.  "Nornally most of the cell doors are 



                  padlocked shut. One time it sounded like someone was pushing 



                  against it trying to open it up and then it closed shut again.  



                  You could hear the iron on the door hitting the stone wall."



                  



When Bozarth and a another museum 



                worker went in to investigate the noise, thinking it was a 



                visitor, they discovered there was no one in the building, she 



                said.  

It's stories like these that 



                pique the interests of local ghost hunters like South Jersey 



                Paranormal Research group.  A volunteer group with about 40 



                members.  It's mission is to scientifically prove the 



                existence of ghost.  Recently 20 group members conducted an 



                investigation of the prison.


Researchers use a variety of 



                equipment to detect ghosts, including digital cameras, digital 



                and analog recorders, non-contact thermometers and video cameras 



                with infrared light extenders which allow researchers to film in 



                the dark up to 100 feet.


Before the investigation began 



                the group was led in a prayer to St. Michael for protection.  



                Researchers then split into three groups, one of which was led 



                by Susan Bove' of Glendora, founder and co-director of the group 



                and another by Deb Thornton of Williamstown.


With prison lights shut off, Bove' 



                led her team downstairs where the kitchen and cook's sleeping 



                area used to be.  The team investigated the adjoining 



                outside courtyard where prisoners' exercise and public hangings 



                took place. 


"Is there anybody here?" asked 



                Bove', while standing in the kitchen area posed with a video 



                recorder.


At various times during the 



                investigation, Bove' was able to see orbs on the video monitor.  



                Orbs are balls of light which researchers believe are one way 



                spirits manifest themselves.  In addition to the electronic 



                equipment, they are also required to take field notes where they 



                record times and events. 


Male voices were recorded in the 



                cooks areas.  One of which said. "The called Billy Pierce 



                to save that from you."  Two other voices were recorded one 



                of which said. "Garret heard it."  A second voice replied, 



                "Yeah, I noticed."


According to Bove', it takes a 



                few weeks after the investigation to put a full report together.  



                Researchers take time to pore over their evidence, discount 



                whatever seems questionable and sends the end results to Bove'.


"I compile it all into a timeline 



                to try and see if somebody's evidence corroborates with someone 



                else's evidence," she said.


According to Mike Hrycyk, a 



                researcher from Bellmawr, they take their investigations 



                seriously.  With a masters degree in biology, he brings a 



                certain amount of expertise to the group.  On preliminary 



                investigations, he even studies nearby flowering trees so he 



                knows what type and color pollen is in the air.


This is the group's second visit 



                to the prison.  The first was in May 2003, when one of the 



                investigators was pushed down the steps and another researcher 



                on a different team was supposedly side tackled into the wall.


Ron Reed, a museum volunteer from 



                Mount Hilly, witnessed the events.  When the first person 



                was pushed down the steps, he heard someone pounding on the 



                front door.  Although he opened the door a few seconds 



                later, no one was there. 


Also that night, he noticed 



                something peculiar when shutting off the lights.  He said 



                there is one main switch which shuts down everything, but that 



                night, the lights went off one group at a time, as if on 



                separate circuits.


"I always look for other 



                explanations," said Reed, a retired corrections officer. "I 



                don't say I do believe, but I don't say I don't."