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Health & Fitness

Creepy Weird Meets Girls Next Door

Local women launch paranormal research and investigation group.

Sommer Carter and Sarah Cook love soccer, running and biking. By day, one is a chemical engineer and the other a librarian.

But when night falls the two young Alameda women strap on their electromagnetic field detectors, whip out their HD camcorders and morph into present-day ghost busters.

"People are surprised when we tell them what we do," says Carter from the Island residence she has shared for three years with her roommate Cook. "We're not creepy old men sitting around talking about ghosts all day. We are interested in other things," she explains. "We just happen to like the paranormal."

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Last month the two launched an organization called Alameda Paranormal Researchers which will investigate claims of hauntings or other unexplained activities for individual and business clients free of charge. The organization is also seeking new members interested in all things ghostly to help them pursue their research.

In addition to trying to gather evidence with digital cameras and other devices for clients who think their environment is haunted, the group is planning "meet ups" at various locations throughout California where there have been previous reports of paranormal activity such as Preston Castle in Ione. They have also visited the U.S.S. Hornet berthed in Alameda which is described, by some, as the most haunted ship in America.

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Carter says she became interested in apparitions as a teen while visiting a museum after hours when out of the corner of her eye she saw the transparent figure of a woman. Later, while living on Treasure Island in the San Francisco Bay, she says she was sitting at the dinner table in a house shared with roommates when she saw a woman in a white dress promenade down a staircase and then walk directly into a wall and disappear. Her roommates seemed non-plussed, claiming to have seen the same scene many times before.

Raised, Presbyterian, Carter says she still believes in God, but adds "I just think sometimes it is not as simple as what is taught." Depending on their clients' religious beliefs, Carter says they may enlist the aid or priests or other types of clergy to "bless" a haunted house or business. They would also not rule out, she says, seeking help from mental health professionals if their clients appear to be traumatized by their paranormal experience. 

"People who call people like us to help them are often freaked out," Carter says, "and it is our job to go in and see if we can determine what is happening, collect evidence and assist them in taking back their home if that entity is not welcome there."

Carter graduated with a bachelor's degree in science and engineering from Cal Poly and says she takes these sightings seriously and approaches her research through the eyes of a trained scientist. Before moving to Alameda she was part of a similar paranormal research organization in the South Bay. She plans on posting any evidence they capture on their website, with the permission of their clients.

"We are not trying to make money off of this," Carter explains, "We are just doing this out of our own curiosity. She says the investigators will take care of their own travel and other expenses incurred in conducting their research."

So far Carter, Cook and a handful of others are part of the organization and they hope other budding paranormal researchers will join them. While anyone is welcome to contact them through their website, Carter notes there will be a screening process involved and prospective members will be admitted on a trial basis after attending a meet-up in a public place. She said she is fully aware that safety is paramount and admits this sort of endeavor has the potential to attract oddballs along with serious scientific researchers.

Though she says she has had her own unexplained paranormal experiences, Carter admits she still holds some skepticism and does not completely scoff at the idea that in some cases a placebo-effect may be taking place. "For some clients," she says, "this could very well be all in their head. In those instances just having paranormal researchers investigate their claim may be enough to calm their fears."

The women divide ghost sightings into two categories, according to Carter. "There are what we call 'residual hauntings', "she says, "that are like a tape playing over and over again. The entity's energy is trapped in an environment and they seem to be repeatedly doing the same activities as when they were alive. They may not know they are dead." The other type of haunting Carter calls 'intelligent hauntings" and these, she says, have the potential to be more malevolent. In those cases, she believes the entity knows they are deceased and is “aware” they are interacting with people.

One barrier Carter hopes her organization can overcome is people's fear of asking for help if they believe they are being haunted. She says her organization plans to take a methodical and scientific approach to their research going so far as to delve into the history of the building and determining what may have transpired in or near it in the past.

"One family I worked with in the South Bay," Carter says, "had their lives totally upended by what they believed was the ghost of a child in their home. They saw the figure running down the hallway at night, making noises and believed it was waking up their own children wanting to play with them." Carter says they believe a child died years ago on the grounds of the home and may have been attracted to the children living there now. Although the researchers were unable to capture any evidence, after Carter's visit the sightings seemed to stop.

Sometimes, Carter explains, just having the investigation take place is enough to bring a halt to the sightings. Other times, she says, more follow-up or outside help may be needed.

Are Carter and Cook bothered when people equate them with the comic Ghostbusters movie series? "No, we're not bothered by it," says Carter, "When we tell people what we do they smirk, laugh and make jokes. It's a perfectly normal reaction to the unexpected.”

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