JUNE GLOOM GHOST HUNT -an adventure into the paranormal world of TWITTER

LAST NIGHT!

Last night was really something, thanks to my twitter (and now real-life) friend George Ruiz, who organized a ghost hunting event along with TEAM FISCH. (Forensic Investigations of Southern California) 

George invited 20 of his closest friends from the world of Social Media- to you and me that means the INTERNET. People who are having huge success in the cyber world, with hundreds of thousands of followers on their web shows, twitter, facebook, video blogs, etc. Especially TWITTER. What is TWITTER? It’s fun, that’s what. Sign up and follow some people (see list below for starters)

TWITTER… I was turned on to twitter a little over a year ago by Steve Garfield (who was “tweeting” from SXSW at the time) and my frequent creative collaborator, Lee Stranahan, my go-to guy for all things interesting about the internet. One of the earliest “TWITTER friendships” I struck up was with George Ruiz, who I shot messages to now and then concerning common interests- martial arts, movies, tech toys, and…eventually, ghost hunting.

FAST FORWARD… to a few weeks ago, when George mentioned on TWITTER that he wanted to go on an investigation with a real team. WELL… I just happen to be a member of one of the foremost paranormal investigation and cleaning teams in the country, TEAM FISCH. So George and his lovely wife, Cynthia, along with friend & famed photographer Vu Bui, ventured with us on a small investigation at a house beneath the Hollywood Sign. Not too much happened- a couple of cold spots, but it was really fun. (It’s always FUN) A few very strange EVPs (electronic voice phenomenon) appeared on the digital recordings upon later review- always interesting, because you rarely hear them in real life, but they tend to show up later on digital devices. Sometimes they are very clear and disconcerting, especially when they speak directly to you.

#jggh… George was hooked and we began plans for last night’s hunt. An ideal location was secured by TEAM FISCH lead investigator and founder, Steve Trousdale, and investigator David Krohn, at a secret address in LaCrescenta, just north of LA. The invites went out and the hunt was on!

Saturday night, June 13th… There were tweets aplenty, all filled with excited anticipation. As nine o’clock approached, I stood outside the house in the cul-de-sac, sipping my New Orleans coffee when I heard a familiar voice half-whispering from the dark. It was George, who then led me around the corner where I beheld a group of twenty spectre-like figures in the shadows, emitting flashes from cameras and camera phones, and typing away on TWITTER. As they stepped into the streetlight, the self-proclaimed “tech geeks” were not so geeky at all, and turned out to be a great looking group of interesting, excited guys and gals, full of energy, conversation, and probably caffeine. I was very impressed seeing so many people in real life after following most of them for so long on TWITTER and watching their various web shows. For some reason, I half expected “closet case couch potato computer geek shut-ins”. Not the case at all! Everyone was fun, respectful, and easy to deal with. (We had to walk the house in several small groups, requiring an undo amount of patience from everybody involved) The night’s crowd was generously taken in by David & Alisa Krohn, who allowed us to congregate on their patio near the haunted property. We had chairs, a cooler of beer, a little space heater, and some groovy lite jazz playing in the background (my Uncle George’s Chromonica Jazz CD) and some incredible conversations. The night was a great success. I think everyone had a really memorable time.

The Investigation… There were 5 groups that walked the house. The first and last groups (I happened to go with both) had the most activity: spiked meters, lots of cold spots, banging, footsteps, etc. There’s definitely an entity or two occupying the house. Nothing that came across as nasty or evil. It felt like it was playing hide-and-seek with us at times, moving from room to room. Evidence will be posted throughout today and the next few days as we review digital recordings and video. We’ll also be receiving plenty from our guests in the coming days, I assume. Sign in here (it’s quick, free & easy): TEAM FISCH to view video, photographic and audio evidence from this investigation and many, many previous investigations.

Here’s to a great evening with friends, old and new! I highly recommend it, with or without the paranormal. (P.S. Everybody got a free parting gift, a DVD copy of the early edition of my first feature film, “The Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde Rock N Roll Musical”)

A special thanks goes out to the members of  TEAM FISCH, besides Steve and myself, onhand with plenty of help and expertise were Gary, Nathan, Nick, Calvin and David.

OKAY! Here are your instructions:

First, go to www.twitter.com and sign up (if you haven’t already) It’s quick, easy, fast & free. THEN… start following some cool people and start tweeting (writing messages about what you’re up to, into, or even nothing at all- in 140 characters or less) you can also send pictures, video, music, etc. AND…if you come across someone weird or bothersome, just BLOCK them and they’re gone forever. No such thing as twitter Ghosts. I’m posting a new song every day during June (see my earlier ARTIST OF THE MONTH post)

Here’s the list of super cool TWITTER people from the June 13th June Gloom Ghost Hunt, (in no particular order) You’ll want to use their twitter usernames, (eg: Lee Stranahan is @stranahan) Search on TWITTER: #jggh for tweets about last night.

             Team F.I.S.C.H.            @teamFISCH

Alan Bernhoft               @abernhoft

George Ruiz                  @georgeruiz

Cynthia Underwood       @cynann

  Jeff Cannata                 @jeffcannata

 

Rudy Jahchan              @rudy

 Dan Trachtenberg    @dannytrs

  Casey McKinnon      @caseymckinnon

Tosca Musk                @tikitosca

Alex Albrecht           @alexalbrecht

Heather Stewart      @heatherstewart

Brigitte Dale              @brigittedale

Taryn Southern       @tarynsouthern

Angie Cole                 @angiecole

Sean Bonner             @seanbonner

Tara Brown               @tara

Kathleen Leonard  @katydutexas

Veronica Belmont  @veronica

 Zadi Diaz                   @zadi

Steve Woolf            @stevewoolf

~ by abernhoft on June 14, 2009.