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Ghosts Archive 1981

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First Published October 15 1981

IF you've got a poltergeist clog-dancing in the attic or a headless nun worshipping on the stairs, don't worry. Help is at hand.

Call in the Wiltshire Paranormal Research Group and they'll give your spook a going-over! Armed with tape recorders, cameras and thermometers, the group's 25 intrepid ghosthunters are ever ready to tackle the mysteries of the supernatural.

They'll spend a night in any haunted house and tell you whether you've got a spook or a spoof. Leader of the adventurous band is 25-year-old Arne Bryant, of Staverton Way, Penhill.

He told me: 'We'll record any sounds that occur and take pictures if anything strange happens or the temperature falls. 'And we'll write down any feelings we get from the atmosphere of the building. If nothing happens we'll ask if we can try again another night.'

The result of their ghostly vigil will be published in the group's newsletter and perhaps later be included in a book of their investigations, says Arne.

Anyone worried about publicity can be assured that if they want name and address kept secret, only the group and the ghosts need know. Although the group has not actually investigated any haunted houses yet, says Arne they're keen to come face to face with an apparition. They're at present seeking permission to keep vigil in two derelict cottages reputed to be haunted.

The group, started six months ago, meets on the first Sunday in the month at the Valley Social Centre, Penhill. They're interested in researching ghosts, UFOs, extra-sensory perception, clairvoyance or telekenesis - anything out of the ordinary, in other words.

Members whose ages range from 16 to 65, conduct experiments into ESP in their meeting hall, trying to reconstruct laboratory conditions. 'We started the group for people who have had paranormal experiences or will understand experiences,' said Arne. 'The group is a place where people will be sympathetic and won't laugh at someone who says he's seen a ghost or UFO, the way their neighbours might.'

All the members have open minds, says Arne, and are eager to face the challenge of the unknown. They won't be spooked or frightened by things that go bump in the night.

Arne isn't frightened of ghosts because, he says, he grew up in a haunted house. The ghosts were quite friendly and both 'families' co-existed happily. We used to find little things had been moved about at night - like my mum's figurines on the mantlepiece,' he said.

'And my older brother had a friend who would tuck him in at night. She had a young, female voice and would sit and hum Greensleeves.' Arne says he used to sleep in a bedroom where a ghost used to walk up and down. He never saw the ghost but sensed a presence.

The atmosphere of the room changed when the ghost was about. Atmosphere is a good pointer to whether a place is haunted, he said. His parents still live in the house, near Swindon's Railway Village, and he says it's still haunted.

The ghosts actually took an interest in the family's welfare. 'We had a ghost called Fred who reeked of oranges,' said Arne. 'When my sister was having her second baby, all the relatives were in the hospital waiting room and there was a stink of oranges.

'There wasn't an orange to be found but the smell was there. It must have been Fred.' Arne's mother did get to see one of their supernatural lodgers.

Arne and his brother, Robert, were going out to school dressed in black duffle coats. 'We were just out the door when mum saw this figure on the stairs wearing a black duffle coat,' he said. 'she was about to tell whoever it was they'd be late for school when it disappeared.

'Mum didn't see a face or a shape - just a duffle coat. A friend who came to stay was able to identify a couple of the ghosts as monks. Arne told me.

Ghosts split into two categories the same as people do - there are friendly ones and the not-so-friendly ones. Sometimes you hardly notice friendly ghosts are there but poltergeists like to make their presence known by slamming doors and making a noise.

Arne said the group planned to carry thermometers with them on their expeditions to note the drop in temperature that is always associated with ghosts. No one knows for sure what a ghost is, although it's generally believed it is the spirit or soul of a dead person, However, some think apparitions are images of the past recorded on the stones of an old building. The right sort of person triggers off a reply.

Or that when you look at a ghost you're looking into a time-warp - a peephole into the past. Arne is unsure which is the true explanation.

'Personally I don't subscribe to any one theory,'he said. 'My mind is open until such time as I can prove which it is.' Children are more likely to see ghosts than adults he believes.

Adults have been conditioned to believe only what scientists tell them is true. 'A child's mind hasn't been closed off,' he said. To be able to see ghosts and accept their existence people have to start to open their minds again.'

He thinks that often when a child talks about an imaginary playfriend that friend is a real-life ghost. Arne accepts that people find it difficult to believe in ghosts and will laugh at the spook-hunters' activities. Those people are entitled to their opinions, but ridicule won't put them off, he says.

Clairvoyance is another area attracting scepticism, says Arne, who claims to have had experience of this, too. He had a premonition at the Ideal Home exhibition at Olympia a few years go. Suddenly I grabbed my mum's arm and dragged her across the hall,' he said.

'Later we discovered there had been a bomb where we had been originally standing.' The ghost-hunters always aim to go about their investigations in a scientific manner, determined to gather solid evidence to back up their researches.

'All our members take paranormal research very seriously and genuinely want to find out what these things are and where they come from,' said Arne. 'I don't believe any of us sees it as a cheap way of getting thrills.'

The group are itching to get their teeth into a case and will respond immediately to any call for help. They're ready to grapple with the paranormal - unless they disappear into the Thamesdown Triangle on the way, that is. Iain Pattison.

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