By John Watson
A bunch of Wellingtonians have set up a special paranormal investigation unit.
Paranormal investigator James Gilberd is looking for something most people want to avoid, ghosts.
“The basement we are curious about because we have a little bit of a hunch something may be going on down there in a paranormal sense,” he says.
He leads a paranormal investigation unit called 'Strange Occurrences'.
For the past four years Mr Gilberd and his crew have used a variety of equipment to hunt ghosts.
“EFM meters here, electromagnetic field meters, walkie talkies, lots of torches and a little infrared torch,” he says.
Helen Jones is another member of the Strange Occurrences team and says she caught footage of a ghost.
“I was taking a few pictures of the room and I saw like a black shape dart across me, so I quickly took a picture and what we got was sort of an array of lights,” she says.
Exactly what classifies as a ghost is a topic of interest in the group.
Mr Gilberd says ghosts may not necessarily be dead people.
“What we perceive as a ghost could be a person who is living in a different time and we're somehow brushing alongside that,” he says.
The paranormal team are aware that there are sceptics to their beliefs.
Vicki Hyde does not believe in ghosts and says it is all in the mind.
“I think it can be very easy to go in with a preset mindset,” she says.
“If you think you're going to see a ghost you probably will see a ghost.”
Ms Hyde says it is not only the human mind that can play tricks.
“Digital photographs are not a good way to photograph ghosts because they are prone to reflections of dust mites and all sorts of things, this is generally recognised in the industry,” she says.
Mr Gilberd says he tries to keep an open mind.
“Do I think ghosts are real? I think that people experience them. I think that I may have experienced them but I’m not prepared to say that with any certainty,” he says.
He does say he is keen to keep investigating the phenomenon and is welcoming any calls from people who think they may have a ghost.
3 News