Inner Light Paranormal in the Forsyth County news on October 21, 2018
https://www.forsythnews.com/video/400-studio/400-studio-touring-forsyth-countys-haunted-spots-paranormal-investigators/?fbclid=IwAR3_LxD7atSh_-v6dAxZUTvFeQGMzK3tAGvWwlpGrQAyC_A4zSU_743GC9o
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Inner Light Paranormal was featured in the forsyth county news on October 2017
https://www.forsythnews.com/local/spiritual-sleuths-inner-light-paranormal-stakes-out-homes-north-georgia-beyond/
https://www.forsythnews.com/local/spiritual-sleuths-inner-light-paranormal-stakes-out-homes-north-georgia-beyond/
Dahlonega October 2015
http://onlineathens.com/stories/103108/new_350168788.shtml#.VjrhvberSM9
By Merritt Melancon
COMMERCE - Ghost hunters use special equipment to try to contact spirits from the great beyond. They have meters that measure electromagnetic fields, infrared video cameras and voice recorders for catching creepy voices on tape.
But the most important tool ghost hunters can bring to a paranormal investigation is patience.
"So, this is ghost hunting," said Scott Tolbert, a Cleveland landscaper who met with fellow ghost hunters one Saturday night this month to try to get a feel for a drafty child's play room they were called to investigate. "We basically just sit around and wait. Most of the time it feels like nothing's happening."
This night, five members of Tolbert's ghost hunting group, Cleveland-based Heritage Paranormal Society, sat cross-legged on the floor of a little boy's room. The boy's mother, Brandy Thompson, invited society members to her cedar-sided 1980s ranch-style home in Commerce because the 11 years that she, her husband and two children have lived there have been filled with strange experiences. Books have fallen from the table unprompted. Glasses full of water have flown off the counter. Strange things happen on a weekly basis, Thompson said.
Stories like Thompson's are told more often than four years ago, when Tolbert started to investigate paranormal phenomenon.
TV shows such as A&E's "Paranormal State" or the SciFi Channel's "Ghost Hunters" have made families question whether their houses may be haunted, he said.
"I think more people are coming out more because they're realizing that it's not just them," Tolbert said. "With all the shows on, people see that there are other people who are going through the same things and that there are people they can talk to about it."
At the same time, ghost-hunting groups have popped up around the state; Tolbert and a few others are hoping to form a standards board to regulate the practice.
"There're a lot of people out there who actually need help," Tolbert said. "This is supposed to be a service to people who need it. You don't charge people, and there are certain rules that you need to follow.
"We're trying to get a lot of the smaller groups to band together into a larger group where we all operate according to the same protocol and follow the same rules."
Ghost hunters want to codify proper procedures, Tolbert said, and set an ethical code, including rules such as: Don't charge; don't drink before the ghost hunt; agree beforehand to pay for anything you break; and don't go anywhere the group's not invited.
The Thompson family endured years of bizarre occurrences before they decided to call Tolbert. A friend recommended Heritage Paranormal Society and, while Brandy and her husband both were skeptical, they thought the investigation couldn't hurt, she said.
The society uses tools to detect changes in the physical environment that members believe can indicate ghost activity and a psychic medium who is sensitive to what she feels is the presence of spirits.
At the Thompson's house, Tolbert set up half a dozen infrared video cameras, and hooked up to recorders and monitors. He took baseline temperature and electromagnetic field readings from each room of the house, and then the hunt began.
Sitting in one darkened room after another the ghost hunters waited.
"If there are any human spirits present, would you please communicate with us any way that you're able to," Tolbert asked.
"If there are any human spirits present, would you please come close to this little device here," he said, a few minutes later. "If you can, just light up any of these little lights."
This continued for nearly hour, and then Tolbert felt something.
"Was that you?" he asked another member. "Something touched my foot."
The group repeated the process in each of the rooms. Temperature readings were taken periodically to see if the spirits created any cold or hot spots.
Meanwhile, the Thompsons were in the kitchen, watching a bank of infrared video monitors.
After reviewing the tape later in the week, Tolbert said he saw a few orbs of light on the recording, but he's really excited about the electromagnetic
field readings from the kitchen.
"The wife was having a lot of stuff going on around her when we checked the kitchen," Tolbert said. "This energy thing was moving around the kitchen while she was in there and, at one point, it was almost like sitting in one of the kitchen chairs."
That kind of phenomenon is very rare, he said.
"Most of the time when we go to these places, we don't capture anything at all," Tolbert said. "It's very rare that we get anything, so we're very excited about this."
Tolbert wants to do a second investigation in the house, but since the ghost-hunt, the Thompsons haven't seen or heard anything strange in the home.
By Merritt Melancon
COMMERCE - Ghost hunters use special equipment to try to contact spirits from the great beyond. They have meters that measure electromagnetic fields, infrared video cameras and voice recorders for catching creepy voices on tape.
But the most important tool ghost hunters can bring to a paranormal investigation is patience.
"So, this is ghost hunting," said Scott Tolbert, a Cleveland landscaper who met with fellow ghost hunters one Saturday night this month to try to get a feel for a drafty child's play room they were called to investigate. "We basically just sit around and wait. Most of the time it feels like nothing's happening."
This night, five members of Tolbert's ghost hunting group, Cleveland-based Heritage Paranormal Society, sat cross-legged on the floor of a little boy's room. The boy's mother, Brandy Thompson, invited society members to her cedar-sided 1980s ranch-style home in Commerce because the 11 years that she, her husband and two children have lived there have been filled with strange experiences. Books have fallen from the table unprompted. Glasses full of water have flown off the counter. Strange things happen on a weekly basis, Thompson said.
Stories like Thompson's are told more often than four years ago, when Tolbert started to investigate paranormal phenomenon.
TV shows such as A&E's "Paranormal State" or the SciFi Channel's "Ghost Hunters" have made families question whether their houses may be haunted, he said.
"I think more people are coming out more because they're realizing that it's not just them," Tolbert said. "With all the shows on, people see that there are other people who are going through the same things and that there are people they can talk to about it."
At the same time, ghost-hunting groups have popped up around the state; Tolbert and a few others are hoping to form a standards board to regulate the practice.
"There're a lot of people out there who actually need help," Tolbert said. "This is supposed to be a service to people who need it. You don't charge people, and there are certain rules that you need to follow.
"We're trying to get a lot of the smaller groups to band together into a larger group where we all operate according to the same protocol and follow the same rules."
Ghost hunters want to codify proper procedures, Tolbert said, and set an ethical code, including rules such as: Don't charge; don't drink before the ghost hunt; agree beforehand to pay for anything you break; and don't go anywhere the group's not invited.
The Thompson family endured years of bizarre occurrences before they decided to call Tolbert. A friend recommended Heritage Paranormal Society and, while Brandy and her husband both were skeptical, they thought the investigation couldn't hurt, she said.
The society uses tools to detect changes in the physical environment that members believe can indicate ghost activity and a psychic medium who is sensitive to what she feels is the presence of spirits.
At the Thompson's house, Tolbert set up half a dozen infrared video cameras, and hooked up to recorders and monitors. He took baseline temperature and electromagnetic field readings from each room of the house, and then the hunt began.
Sitting in one darkened room after another the ghost hunters waited.
"If there are any human spirits present, would you please communicate with us any way that you're able to," Tolbert asked.
"If there are any human spirits present, would you please come close to this little device here," he said, a few minutes later. "If you can, just light up any of these little lights."
This continued for nearly hour, and then Tolbert felt something.
"Was that you?" he asked another member. "Something touched my foot."
The group repeated the process in each of the rooms. Temperature readings were taken periodically to see if the spirits created any cold or hot spots.
Meanwhile, the Thompsons were in the kitchen, watching a bank of infrared video monitors.
After reviewing the tape later in the week, Tolbert said he saw a few orbs of light on the recording, but he's really excited about the electromagnetic
field readings from the kitchen.
"The wife was having a lot of stuff going on around her when we checked the kitchen," Tolbert said. "This energy thing was moving around the kitchen while she was in there and, at one point, it was almost like sitting in one of the kitchen chairs."
That kind of phenomenon is very rare, he said.
"Most of the time when we go to these places, we don't capture anything at all," Tolbert said. "It's very rare that we get anything, so we're very excited about this."
Tolbert wants to do a second investigation in the house, but since the ghost-hunt, the Thompsons haven't seen or heard anything strange in the home.