Today I attended an event at the Eaton branch of the Preble County District Library entitled “Southern Ohio Supernatural”. Southern Ohio Supernatural (SOS) is a father, mother, and son team of ghost (and just about everything else) hunters from Camden, Ohio. Here’s a description from their Facebook page:
We are a family investigating the paranormal. After a life time of experiencing what others call strange we have officially started our own investigating team. We not only accept cases of ghost, & spirits, but also Sasquatch, cryptids, & U.F.O.s. We not only go in searching to find the truth but to actually help those having the experiences to rid their home of unwanted spirits if that is the goal. We have investigated not only lots of local areas, but also Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Adena Mounds, Serpent Mounds, & Point Pleasant, WV.
When I arrived, I found an almost full room of mostly older folks. One of the library employees introduced the SOS team: John (dad), Marsha (mom), and Matt (son), and read the description above. (Kudos to this person for managing to keep a straight face.)
Most of the session was a back-and-forth between the three of them, telling stories. Some highlights:
- Marsha described seeing a ghostly figure of a woman in the house where she grew up. Her mother believed it to be a previous owner of the house, who had died of a broken neck after a car accident.
- Matt showed a digital photograph with a blurry figure in it, and talked about taking the photo in a house in Richmond, Indiana. He talked about “feeling a presence” in the house, and having poltergeist-like experiences, “like a movie”.
- John described a cemetery visit where he “felt a presence” behind him. Marsha snapped a photo that showed a mist or fog-like image. He said that a “negative energy”, or “shadow person”, followed him home, and attached itself to Matt. A person in the audience asked him if he considered this a demonic being, and he said he couldn’t call it that “because they were in a public library and separation of church and state”. What?
- Marsha talked about commanding the “negative energy” to leave her son alone, but that it ignored her. She said that Matt eventually took authority over it and it left. She also described a visit to the Wright Patterson Air Force Museum as a child, where she had a vision of a young man chained to a uniform in a glass case. She said she believes the young man’s family had an emotional attachment to the uniform that blocked him from moving on. She also said that she was able to free him. She also mentioned these abilities running in families, and her grandfather having abilities similar to hers. (She also mentioned him using a dowsing rod to help neighbors find water.)
- Matt described his abilities increasing over time, and professed a belief that all people have at least some ability.
But, it wasn’t just ghosts!
- John talked about the family living in southern Ohio for a time, in an area with dense woodland, and believing there were Sasquatch in the area. He talked about hearing knocking sounds in the woods, knocking on his own in hopes of getting a response, then hearing twigs and branches snapping in the woods nearby. Afterwards, they found what they believed to be a footprint.
- Marsha described many possible origins for the Sasquatch, including alien, metaphysical/cross dimensional beings, and elementals. She also talked a bit about Native American legends that seem to describe a similar creature. Then, she talked about a childhood incident where the family livestock became agitated, and she believes she saw a Sasquatch in the woods at that time.
Wait, there’s more!
- John described seeing a light in the sky in Piketon, Ohio, that he initially believed to be an airplane. But, the light then split into three, and all three lights allegedly accelerated away at great speed.
- Marsha claimed to be an alien abductee. She described being at a church camp in Germantown, Ohio when she was three years old, and describing being there previously, and seeing a “silver round building with a ramp”. She also told of, when she was sixteen years old, a friend seeing strange lights over her house.
- Matt claimed to have visions of strange beings, rooms, and metal exam tables. He ascribed this to his mother being pregnant with him during one of her abductions.
After all of these stories, they talked a bit about some of the items that they use:
- They use sage, because “spirits hate it”, and also because it emits negative ions to supposedly help keep you healthy. They believe it will protect against possession and negative energy attacks. They also use blessed salt, and put olive oil on doors and window sills to repel spirits.
- They have a wealth of the standard ghost hunting electronics, including K2 EMF detectors, EMF/temperature scanners, a “talk box” (Frank Sumption’s infamous invention) that cycles through FM/AM frequencies (allegedly allowing you to hear voices in the white noise), and a laser grid projector.
The meeting wrapped up with lots of stories of ghosts and hauntings from audience members.
In summary:
- The gullibility and self-perpetuating delusions were amazing. It truly seemed there wasn’t anything they don’t believe in. We had ghosts, Sasquatch/cryptids, UFOs, alien abductions, magic, alternative medicine, you name it.
- Constant theme of helping spirits and people, commanding negative energy to leave, and taking authority over spirits. They seem to enjoy this feeling of superiority, special ability, and power.
- All of their evidence consists of anecdotal stories and unconvincing pictures. As far as the pictures are concerned, they are succumbing to a lot of pareidolia.
- No critical thought whatsoever. They seem to feel that every ambiguous event must have a supernatural explanation.
- Ignoring the power of mass delusion: “all of those people must have seen something”.
- As part of his UFO story, John also mentioned well-debunked ancient astronaut theories.
- Plenty of talk of “faith”, “intent”, “invisible energies”, “gut feelings”, “sensing”, etc. (Plenty of products of fevered imaginations.)
I didn’t hear anything I’d consider compelling or convincing. And, sadly, the room ate it up.