Name: Andy K.
Age: 31
Degree/Certification: B.A.in History and Biology; M.A. in History; A.B.D. in History PhD program
Occupation: College Professor
Marital Status: Married
Date Joined: April, 1998
Purpose for Joining: I have been interested in ghosts since I was a child. For twenty years I have eagerly read books about hauntings and I have traveled to many well known haunted locations. The Philadelphia Ghost Hunters Alliance has given me the opportunity to take this long term interest to a more advanced level. Now, rather than randomly seeking ghosts, I can be a part of an organized scientific effort. My desire to study ghosts and my experiences with the group have added a new dimension to my life. I have always believed that my interest in the paranormal and the search for the "vibrations" from the past closely parallel my love for history. Now, the search for ghosts is giving me an entirely new outlook on the world we live in. I have a much greater respect for the things that we do not know about our world. The PGHA has given me the opportunity to play a role in the effort to try to explain that unknown element.
Experiences Prior to the PGHA: There were times in recent years (before I joined PGHA) that I felt as though the paranormal experiences in my life had been limited. But now when I look back, I was actually quite fortunate to have had several experiences that kept my fascination with ghosts alive.
The New Jersey house in which I spent about five years of my childhood was quite unusual. I have distinct memories of the strange sound of large objects being moved around the attic, despite the fact that the area was entirely empty.
One of my most vivid experiences occurred on the Petersburg National Military Park in Virginia when I was 17 years old. It was a rainy day. I was walking up the path to a Civil War fortification. As I walked, I heard men's voices coming from within the fort. I thought nothing of it, simply assuming that there were other tourists in the fort. I began to walk up the path over the earthen wall. As I did so, the voices stopped. When I looked inside the fort, there was nobody there. I looked beyond the rear of the fort, there was not a living soul anywhere in the area. I only wish now that I had stopped to listen to those voices.
I had some experiences during an overnight stay at the Myrtles Plantation in Louisiana. We felt a dramatic temperature change within the house, witnessed lights blinking on and off, and my sister, who was with me at the time, felt a cold hand brush across the back of her neck.
Recently I experienced a variety of paranormal events, including objects being mysteriously thrown down the steps in a rowhouse that another sister was temporarily living in. Despite these experiences, by far, my most vivid contacts with the paranormal have come as a result of my membership in the PGHA.
Joint Investigations:
Within the last year I have had the
opportunity to participate in Investigations with the following groups:
The International Ghost Hunter's Society - Dave Oester and Rev. Sharon Gill
The Pennsylvania Ghost Hunter's Society - Rick Fisher
The Society for Paranormal Investigations - Tom Hartman
Seminars / Workshops /
Conferences:
1998 IGHS Ghosts of Gettysburg Conference
Equipment Used for Ghost
Hunting:
Night Owl Cyclops Compact Night Vision
Sony Mavica FD71 Digital Camera
EPD Raynger ST4L Infrared Thermometer
Canon 35mm SureShot Camera
E.L.F. Zone Electromagnetic Field Detector
Optimus Compact Cassette Recorder with External Microphone
Panasonic IC Digital Recorder
Personal Quote: There is more to the world than what we can see and than what science currently explains. The moment we forget that fact is the moment we close our minds to a greater understanding of ourselves and the universe in which we live. History teaches us that it was only when humans were willing to go beyond culturally created obstacles, take a risk, and face their fears that our species has advanced. We must learn from this history. Today we face a culturally created bias against anything that does not appear "logical". We must go beyond this. We must allow ourselves to be open to the possibility that we do not understand everything about our world. We must go beyond our egos and the belief in our intellectual superiority. We must study the unknown with an open mind in order to achieve greater understanding.