Ghost hunting is alive and well in Sussex County

Sussex — Do you watch SyFy? Do you enjoy paranormal investigation reality shows? What if you needed a ghost whisperer? What if you are one and you just don’t know it yet? Jacqui Geary of Sparta and Brian Valliere of Sussex answered all of those questions for themselves a long time ago. That’s why they co-founded a local ghost hunting group that takes its work seriously. The East Coast Research and Investigation Paranormal Team hunts ghosts for fun and assistance, and emphasizes that objective evidence of the paranormal must be obtained along with the subjective, in order for investigation of an alleged haunted site to be considered credible. Geary first developed her passion for ghost hunting as a teenager in Vernon. Both she and Valliere, a self proclaimed skeptic who got his early start in Newton, sought out sites that local folklore or Weird N.J. claimed to be haunted. Hooked on curiosity, over the years both gained substantial knowledge of paranormal investigation. When they joined forces two years ago, the pair began sharing ideas about the kind of ghost hunting group they hoped to create. Those ideas manifested this July when ECRIPT had its first meeting at Geary’s jewelry boutique in Lafayette. The quickly expanding group grew out of that space, and last Friday she and Valliere opened their new storefront. Trinity Metaphysical Center & Gift Shop in Hamburg is home to ECRIPT, Jacqui’s Jewelry Boutique and Angels Are At Our Side, a business that provides Reiki healing and psychic readings by Monica Wortman, another ECRIPT member. Most members become ECRIPT certified ghost hunters. Geary developed course material for a four-class process which educates participants about the spiritual and scientific aspects of investigation. Topics include types of hauntings, ghost hunting equipment, evidence analysis and working with psychics and mediums. Certification lets clients know that the group’s intentions are serious and respectful. “This work is about helping people, living and dead, to get answers and feel more comfortable,” said Geary, who emphasizes a scientific discipline and professionalism to her students. How do they investigate? According to Geary and Valliere, people usually request a ghost hunting investigation because they want to know what it is that’s annoying them in their home, or they believe there’s a ghost in their home and want ECRIPT to provide validation. A typical investigation involves two steps. First, one of the two psychic mediums that work with the group visits a site before other members of the group arrive. She obtains intuitive information and may attempt to communicate with any spirits that are present. She keeps her findings to herself. In step two, a team including the second medium, investigates the site and records what it finds. Video and photo cameras are used, along with sound and temperature recording equipment. ECRIPT members are taught to rule out physical explanations, like drafts and effects of electric wiring. How do they know if it’s really a ghost? A medium has no way of independently proving what she intuitively sees, hears and feels. That’s where ECRIPT’s hard evidence comes in. After an investigation, the group validates or debunks its own findings by comparing all intuited and recorded data. When, for example, they see lights or orbs in photos or videos that were not visible to the eye in places where mediums saw or felt something, the group believes that they have validation of something paranormal in that spot. So why bother if you can’t know for sure? “Ultimately, this work is about faith and hope,” said Dionne, a psychic medium who, along with ECRIPT, recently assisted a family concerned about experiences in their home that they couldn’t explain. “We were able to help the family understand that they didn’t need to be afraid.” ECRIPT members investigated Dionne’s home, too, and helped validate her intuitions about spirit activity there.

I grew up in a haunted house and I’ve had similar experiences throughout my life. I appreciate finding a disciplined group like ECRIPT that emphasizes the scientific side of ghost investigation.” Virgil from Stanhope recorded data on his first investigation with ECRIPT last week.