On July 27, I took part in one of the oddest assignments I’ve ever agreed to: tagging along with a group of paranormal investigators while they inspected an old farmhouse in Bristol. I’ll preface this by saying . . .
that as a journalist, I’m paid to be sceptical of every story that comes across my desk and this one was no different. However, to be fair to my hosts and for the sake of a good story, I made an effort to rein in my cynicism and practiced indifference.
When the invitation was pitched several weeks ago, I hadn’t thought much about it, assuming that our weekend reporter JD would get the assignment but the crafty weasel managed to book the weekend off. So there I sat that Saturday night, posted up at the agreed meeting spot at Ninth Line and chemin Ragged Chute, waiting to tour an abandoned building with a group of strangers. I half expected a van with the Ghostbusters logo stencilled on the side to pull up.
The team from Bytown RIP (Research and Investigation into the Paranormal), didn’t have such ostentatious branding (a missed opportunity in my opinion), but they eventually pulled up the gravel road and led the way to a distinctly decrepit-looking structure sitting out in a pasture.
The leader of the group, Sandra Lepage, introduced herself and her teammates, Eileen Langevin, Patrick Labbe and Hervel Zenher. The group of friends has been looking into paranormal activity for several years, and Lepage, along with some of her colleagues had experience with different investigation groups before forming their own team.
She said that the house was built in the 1800s and she had toured it on several occasions previously, with agreeable results.
“We thought it would be a good place to test equipment,” she said. “I found out who the owner was and I approached him. At first [he thought] it was funny, he chuckled. We went in to make sure it was sturdy, it’s been abandoned at this point for over 40 years … I came the first time eight years ago maybe. Every time we’ve come here we’ve had good results as far as recordings.”
She said that since the owner announced he had sold the property, this was likely their last time to poke around the place. She emphasized the importance of treating the spirits and the home with respect.
Lepage showed off the KII EMF (electromagnetic frequency) detector they would be using for the outing, (only $40-$100 on Amazon, depending on the brand), as well as other tools, such as an animatronic teddy bear for communicating with younger spirits. She said that while some groups focus more on the gadgetry and “scientific proof” in their investigations, Bytown RIP relies also on subjective human experience.
“Things aren’t necessarily deemed, if you want, on the scientific level, but for the client, it brought them a lot of comfort,” she said, referring to previous work of theirs near Golden Lake, Ont. “We’re not charging anything, our investigations are free … Sometimes you do have to step out of the scientific realm.”
“You have a lot of hoaxers too, you know, people that are, they just make things up as they go along, but you do have some legitimate, gifted people,” she added, praising the perceptiveness of her teammates Labbe and Zenher.
Zenher said that he and Labbe are often in tune when it comes to sensing paranormal activity.
“That is [something] we cannot easily explain to average people, to the mundanes,” he said. “First, they don’t want to hear about it, most of them. But they like to have people that like to help in that domain, we understand the risk.”
A glance at the structure made me more hesitant than the thought of any malevolent spirits. Bricks were crumbling in the long boarded-up window frames, and the whole structure groaned and creaked when we pried open the door. As we ventured around the outside of the building, dodging cow patties and thistles, Labbe put some of my concerns into words.
“You just don’t know, the house could fall on you,” he said, glancing at the stairs down into the building’s basement, choked with weeds and debris. “It’s an old building so there’s some physical risks I’m not going to take, but when it comes to spiritual risks, that’s a whole different thing.”
We stepped into the musty structure, and the stuffy, warm air hit me in the face.
Zenher lit a candle and explained to me that it would be an anchoring point should my sprit be separated from my physical body.
“Sometimes you can be kicked out by a ghost, outside of your physical body,” he said. “If that happens, theoretically, your body’s supposed to fall down and you’re floating around. So you come close and we will bring your body close to the flame … Bring you back and reattach you.”
What have I gotten myself into?
The majority of the investigation as it turned out, was to stand in one room, deemed the most active by Zenher and Labbe with the lights off. Langevin filmed with a night vision camera while the group asked a series of seemingly random questions while waiting for the EMF detector to light up.
Expecting nothing, I’ll admit, I was caught off-guard when the little instrument blinked rapidly in response to a query from the group. How the investigators deciphered flashing LEDs was beyond me, but I assumed that just came with practice.
From what I gathered, they believed a man and a young woman’s spirit were still active in the place, and even played some old-time music and left gifts to appease the ghosts. After nearly a half-hour of interrogation, we took a break, which was much needed due to the mosquitoes and the stifling air in the house. I took the opportunity to say my goodbyes and head home.
I left without a clear idea in my head of what I had just taken part in. Why exactly, would these people put up with the bugs, the heat and the remote locations for the chance to do these activities pro bono? I wanted to remain a cynic about the whole thing, and chalk it all up to wishful delusion, but that just didn’t do it justice. While ghost hunting wasn’t exactly my cup of Earl Grey, the Bytown RIP folks seemed like your typical group of pals having fun on the weekend, albeit with more candles and EMF detectors.
At risk of sounding glib and putting too fine a point on it, perhaps the real paranormal activity was the friendships that were formed along the way
