Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Afraid of ghosts? This group can help
Have you ever heard footsteps in your attic or thought you saw someone out of the corner of your eye? Or maybe you’ve gotten a case of the chills for no reason on an otherwise warm day.
Most paranormal groups would tell you it’s a spirit sharing a room with you, but The Chester County In- stitute of Paranormal Research, or CCIPR, would say that it is very likely to be just the opposite.
Todd Weber, one of the group’s members said, “I know from experience that, with a lot of clients, there’s a reasonable explanation (for what they’re experiencing), and I’m just hungry to find it.”
According to Weber and one of the group’s founding members, Carol Starr, it is relatively rare that the experiences people are so quick to attribute to the paranormal actually are paranormal. Instead, they explained, there’s often an earthly explanation for those experiences, like a misplaced air vent or birds using a roof as a perch. Because of that, the group’s members say their main goal is to educate people.
“What I love is being
able to educate someone who thinks they have a paranormal problem, and I can show them the earthly explanation,” said Weber, explaining the satisfaction of making someone feel comfortable in their own home again. “What Carol and I are doing is showing people that the world is round,” explained Weber. “This is real. (Our goal) is to educate.”
But education isn’t the group’s only goal, and Weber and Starr were both excited to talk about how they’re able to help people who really are experiencing something paranormal in their homes. Starr explained that unlike most paranormal groups, CCIPR relies heavily on technology that is able to prove their experiences. She explained that the team brings several different instruments with them to a location, including video cameras and Electronic Voice Phenomena recorders.
Bringing along equipment allows the team not only to provide proof if necessary, but also to return to the scene later in order to study those things they may not have noticed while there.
“A lot of clients, we walk out and think we have nothing because we’re all equipment-based,” said Starr, explaining that most of the time, they’ll review their recordings later and realize they captured something none of them had noticed at the time. Because the group is made up of four members — Starr, Weber, Rob Devitis, and Toby Vattilano — many investigations are performed as a partial group. Recording the investigation allows for each member of the team to provide input before showing their findings to the client.
According to Starr, though, the most important equipment a client can bring is themselves.
“What you have to use going into it is your five senses,” she said, explaining that any piece of information, whether it’s a perfume smell that you know you’re not wearing or a sound coming from a room nobody is in, can be important to finding what — or who — you are looking for.
While CCIPR receives plenty of requests from people who are willing to pay, Weber explained that the group’s work is free to the client.
“Sometimes people just need an ear to listen to them without actually going through an investigation,” said Weber, who explained that their process involves talking to a potential client on the phone and then in a location separate from the home before committing to an investigation.
Themost important part, according to both Weber and Starr, is that if someone suspects something they should not attempt to handle it themselves, and “don’t try to get answers off the television.” Starr added, “don’t freak yourself out. Reach out to a group like ours who can help give you peace of mind.”
Because each of the group’s four members hold full-time positions outside of CCIPR, Weber explained that the best way to contact them is through e-mail at info@ccipr.org, or by visiting their website at www. ccipr.org.