WEEKEND investigates the existence of ghosts

For Greg Wilson, it started with an attic door. When he and his wife moved into their new house in the early '90s, they found that, despite the fact that the door could only be opened by pushing it upward into the ceiling, it would not stay closed. Even after changing the house's locks, they would find it open. \n"That's when I thought maybe something paranormal was going on in the house," Wilson said.\nHis experiences and a shared love for the paranormal-themed radio program "Coast to Coast AM" led Wilson and his brothers to found Hoosier Paranormal two years ago. Based in Columbus, Ind., Hoosier Paranormal is one of dozens of paranormal-investigation groups active throughout Indiana, most of which share a goal of gathering scientific evidence for the existence of ghosts.\n"We can only consider something evidence if it stands on its own," said Todd Phelps of the Indianapolis-based group Indiana Scientific Paranormal Investigators.\nThe groups simultaneously seek out mundane explanations for mysterious happenings (whether, say, a phantom moan is actually noisy plumbing) and attempt to record any ghost activity using infrared video cameras, electromagnetic-field detectors, audio recorders and other equipment. Wilson explained that elecromagnetic-field detectors and other electronic devices react to ghosts because, in attempting to communicate with the living, they draw energy from their surroundings. Out of these efforts, Phelps said that seemingly the most common source of evidence is electronic voice phenomena.\n"An EVP (electronic voice phenomenon) is a recording of some voice or sound that was not heard at the time of the recording and cannot be accounted for," he said. To capture EVPs, investigators ask the supposed entity a question, then later analyze the recording to see if they received a response.\nMike Weides of the Bloomington chapter of Indiana Ghost Trackers said, beyond the technology, an investigation can involve extensive research and interviews.\n"One looks into the history of events surrounding both location and occupants in an attempt to find the underlying cause of the haunted activity," he said.\nDriven by curiosity rather than profit, Hoosier Paranormal, IGT Bloomington and Indiana-SPI all perform free, confidential investigations and do not offer to rid a location of ghosts -- merely to help the living understand them.\n"Some people golf, some ride roller coasters," Weides said, "We like to spend our time in haunted locations, searching out things that go bump in the night"