Bartlesville-based paranormal investigators look into hauntings
BY LAURA SUMMERS World Correspondent
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
10/24/12 at 2:41 AM
BARTLESVILLE - For those who hear footsteps down the hall when no one is there or voices speaking out in the night, here's a group to call for help - Southwest Paranormal Investigators.
Established in 2001 as a group devoted to investigating phenomena that aren't easily explained, Southwest Paranormal is based in Bartlesville but conducts its work around Oklahoma, as well as having upcoming appointments in other states.
Wolf Ishcomer founded the group after having some unusual experiences of his own.
"I had lung failure, and I passed away for a time," Ishcomer said. "When I woke up, I started experiencing more things than probably I should. People came to me for answers, lost souls. I guess when I passed on and came back, it opened up my mind to what is going on in the world. A lot of people are kind of desensitized to it."
Southwest Paranormal conducted a recent investigation at Bartlesville Community Center where they took photographs of a shadowy figure and caught what might be residual hauntings in the form of noises from the past when Garfield Elementary School was located on the site.
"The staff and volunteers see one apparition - always a woman - and they believe it to be a school marm who was at Garfield," investigator Kevin Dewey said. "We also caught what we thought was residual sound from the old Garfield School that was there. It sounds like children singing 'Wheels on the Bus.' "
Another investigation at Brown Mansion in Coffeyville, Kan., revealed an orb floating through a hallway where locals often report hearing footsteps, dogs barking in an area that formerly was a kennel and a strong smell of women's perfume, which seemed to follow the investigators around the historic home now preserved as a museum.
Southwest Paranormal uses a variety of equipment to try to capture evidence of hauntings. There is a four-channel digital video recorder capable of monitoring four zones at a time, infrared cameras, motion detectors, static detectors, lasers and digital recorders, which often pick up sounds the human ear doesn't hear.
The group has conducted investigations in private homes and public buildings. Dewey says 80 percent of the incidents people report are situations that can be explained by natural causes such as mold, gas leaks, old water pipes or faulty wiring.
But then there are the cases Southwest Paranormal investigates where voices show up on recordings and shadowy figures appear in photographs and film. These could be classified as hauntings.
"We are here to help anyone who has experience that they can't explain," Dewey said. "Growing up, every member of this team has had an experience from their childhood that has yet to be explained. We are looking for answers for ourselves, and we are looking for answers for you."
To learn more about Southwest Paranormal Investigations, visit the group's Facebook page or email the group at southwestparanormal@yahoo.com.
Original Print Headline: Bartlesville-based team looks into hauntings
Associated Images:
Kevin Dewey with Southwest Paranormal Investigators shows a photograph to visitors of what looked to his team like an unexplained shadowy figure caught on camera while they were investigating at Bartlesville Community Center recently. JAMES GIBBARD / Tulsa World
Southwest Paranormal uses a variety of equipment to try to capture evidence of hauntings. JAMES GIBBARD / Tulsa World
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