Want to Be a Ghost Hunter? Library To Host “Paranormal 101”

Hearing things that go bump in the night? Or are you just curious about the paranormal and the possibility of an afterlife?

Local ghost-hunting group will present its free program Saturday at the ’s Romeoville branch. TnT founder Melissa Tanner said the group created the event to help novice ghost hunters learn what it takes to investigate a suspected haunting.

From 1:30 to 3:30 p.m., group members will discuss the tools of the trade, from electromagnetic frequency (EMF) detectors to digital recorders and ghost photography, to the types of hauntings and how to tell if a phenomenon is natural or truly paranormal.

The team also will also share some of the data they’ve collected during their investigations throughout the Chicago area, Tanner said.

“We’ll do anything in northern Illinois or southern Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri,” she said. “We focus on Cook, DuPage and Will counties.”

After working with several other paranormal investigation groups, Tanner created TnT Paranormal in 2009. Group members came together because of a shared fascination with the paranormal, tempered by a healthy dose of skepticism.

“We all had a common interest, and we had like minds not to jump to conclusions,” Tanner said.

“We all kind of have a different story that got us here,” she added. “Some people had a loved one who passed away; some people want to know if there’s an afterlife.”

For Tanner, it was her childhood in a Missouri mining town that piqued her interest in the paranormal.

“There are a lot of Civil War battle sites,” and plenty of ghost stories to go with them, she said. Tanner also grew up near the famed “Spooklight” near the Missouri/Oklahoma border.

TnT’s members come from all over Chicagoland to conduct investigations at the request of homeowners or business owners. The group never charges for its services, Tanner said, and has a strict confidentiality policy.

“We always have permission to show that data we’re showing,” she said. “We never would give out a client’s (information) or address.”

For members, ghost hunting is a passion.

“Really it’s a hobby,” Tanner said. “And it’s not a cheap hobby,” she said, referring to the pricy equipment used during investigations.

It’s also time consuming.

“For every hour that we spend at a client location, we probably have six to eight hours of data to review,” including photos, audio and video, Tanner said. “What we’re basically looking for is things out of the normal.”

During an investigation, team members will check out clients’ claims of paranormal phenomena, from voices to apparitions to objects moving. They also look for other explanations for what clients are experiencing.

“Some people call it debunking,” Tanner said. Often, there is a perfectly normal reason for what could be mistaken as otherworldly experiences.

“We try to look for logical reasons that could be causing the activity they’re having,” Tanner explained.

That could be something as simple as a cracked window causing a homeowner to feel a chill, or an electronic device emitting a high EMF. High EMFs can physically affect people, causing everything from a feeling of being “creeped out” to depression, Tanner said.

“Even power lines (can cause it),” she said. “People get sick from it, and they think it could be paranormal.”

But what if the investigators can’t find an earthly reason for phenomena?

“We have had cases where we’ve actually documented stuff we can’t explain,” Tanner said. “We can’t say for sure it’s a ghost, but we have no other explanation.”

Often, homeowners are happy just to have their experiences validated.

“For some people, literally just hearing what we’ve found gives them peace of mind,” Tanner said. “Some people think they’re losing their minds.”

Some clients are not comfortable knowing there is no logical explanation for their experiences. In those cases, TnT Paranormal refers homeowners to a clergy member who can perform a blessing.

“We personally don’t do that,” Tanner said. “Most clients learn to live with it. They have to learn to take control of the situation rather than it taking control of them.”

 Paranormal 101

Tanner said the group’s “Paranormal 101” presentations have gained popularity, both with those who are curious about the paranormal and those who believe they have experienced a haunting.

“The largest (group) we’ve had is about 90 people,” she said. “We do get a few people that turn into clients. I think some of it is people wanting to learn more.”

But Tanner had a word of caution for wannabe ghost hunters, stressing that TnT Paranormal conducts investigations only at the request of clients—and with their permission.

“No vacant houses, no cemeteries,” she said. “That is trespassing. You can get arrested, and you can be prosecuted.”

To register for “Paranormal 101” call the Des Plaines Valley Public Library at 815-886-2030. For a schedule of TnT Paranormal events or more information on the organization, visit the group’s website at www.tntparanormal.com.