Ghosts got you down? The Springfield Ghost Society can help

October 29, 2008
By Drew Thomason
Staff Writer

Courtesy of the Springfield Ghost Society

When Debbie Lowery was a child, she awoke one night to a hooded figure looming over her bed. Lowery’s parents assured her what she saw was a nightmare, but over the course of the night, the specter reappeared twice more.

Her parents’ explanation for that night’s happenings was not enough for Lowery, a Rochester resident. The feeling of a presence in her childhood bedroom has stayed with her.

“I never got any answers for it, so that piqued my curiosity,” Lowery said.
Lowery joined a now defunct ghost hunting society in Decatur to feed her inquisitiveness about the afterlife. After the Decatur group dissolved, wanted to find another outlet to explore the paranormal.

Unable to find another group around Springfield, she decided to create the Springfield Ghost Society. Since its inception in 2001, the society has added 60 members.

The main purpose of the group is to find proof of ghost through investigations of supposedly haunted locations according to Lowery.
“People call me and they are not sure what is going on. They might hear noises or see things,” she said.

Following the initial contact, Lowery gathers however many people from the society as she needs and travel to the location. In looking for ghost, the team employees a plethora of equipment, including digital and film cameras, audio recorders and an electromagnetic sensor (EMS).

“The EMS detects changes in electromagnetic fields that most things and people give off. If you pick up something where normally there won’t be anything that’s a indication (of paranormal activity),” Lowery said.

Investigations take approximately two hours but results take much longer. The team takes the information back must examine it before discovering signs of ghost activity. However, there are instances when the ghost make themselves known Lowery said.

“We’ve heard growls while we’re there... and feelings, like it just doesn’t feel right,” She added.

Studying the visual and audio allows the members of the society to determine whether the person’s house has specters or simply raccoons in the attic, but the Springfield Ghost Society aren’t the Ghostbusters.

“They know up front our mission is to prove ghost exists, we don’t get rid of ghost,” Lowery said.

However, she added that usually after the week after the investigation paranormal activity increases then either retreats or completely stops. The Ghost Society has performed up to 37 of these investigations in one year, a fairly high number considering the inquiries only happen on the weekends.

The Springfield Ghost Society is a registered not-for-profit and is comprised completely of volunteers. All work is done pro bono.

If anyone thinks their domicile is haunted and wants to use the society’s services, they can call Debbie Lowery at 217/498-9440 or email her at djlowerly@sbcglobal.net