The Black Vault - Ghost Chicks Two women use paranormal talents, modern equipment to explain haunt

Ghost Chicks Two women use paranormal talents, modern equipment to explain hauntings Two upcoming investigations will be held in Ocean Springs

By MIMI BOSARGE

Got ghosts? Unexplained cold spots or noises? See shadows moving out of the corner of your eye?

If you do and are concerned about it, you might want to call for help.

And who are you going to call?

The Ghost Chicks.

Lorrie Jones of Ocean Springs and Tara Deters of Gulfport, also known as the Ghost Chicks, have been conducting paranormal investigations for the past two years.

Ironically, it was Hurricane Katrina in 2005 that changed the course of their business. They originally wanted to bring "haunted" tourism to the Mississippi Gulf Coast, but Katrina wiped that out.

"Our paperwork actually went through on Aug. 29, 2005," Jones said.

So, the Ghost Chicks, like everyone else on the Coast, had to alter their plans. They suffered losses as well, but didn't let it stop them.

In the aftermath of Katrina, rescue personnel who cleaned up after the storm reported seeing apparitions.

"They'd tell us because they thought we were the only ones who would understand," Jones said.

The Ghost Chicks did not actively pursue ghost hunting until they went on a girls' weekend trip to The Myrtles Plantation in St. Francisville, La., with two other women. The Myrtles, a bed and breakfast, is known as one of the most haunted places in America. It was here that their experiences changed everything for them.

"We couldn't stop searching for answers," Jones said.

At night, the staff at The Myrtles locks up the house and locks the gate, leaving the guests alone in the plantation. Jones, Deters and the two other women were the only people in the house, but soon after midnight, they started hearing sounds. The sounds were of cars driving up the drive, doors slamming, footsteps on the stairs, period music and people talking; they even smelled cigar smoke.

"It was like it was a holiday party," Deters said.

But, more happened.

"We heard flies buzzing at the windows. But it was December and very cold outside," Deters said.

A mist appeared in their room that was cold and wet to the touch. An orb played with them, moving around them and sat in a windowsill, pulsating. Suddenly there was a loud pop, everything went dark and the orb moved through Jones.

"Almost immediately afterward, I felt a metallic taste in my mouth and had an excruciating headache and then got sick," Jones said.

Jones remained sick the rest of the night. Soon the other women became sick, too.

Prior to that trip, Jones and Deters were not close friends. Deters was Jones' son's teacher. But after their experiences at the haunted plantation, they felt a connection and realized they were destined to be friends and paranormal investigators.

The Ghost Chicks have conducted about two dozen investigations. Among the places they have been to are the Mississippi Gulf Coast; Savannah, Ga.; St. Francisville; San Francisco; New Orleans; Gettysburg, Pa.; and Bardstown, Ky.

In the past several years, many ghost hunting groups have sprung up, but the Ghost Chicks said they have a different approach to investigating. The women are both sensitives and empaths, meaning they feel things around them, and this often helps them to determine whether a place is haunted.

They begin an investigation, Jones said, not to prove a haunting but to disprove it. The initial interview with a homeowner could determine whether there is a logical explanation, such as faulty wiring.

"Just because your lights are flickering, you shouldn't suspect you have a ghost," Jones said.

If the situation is not easily explained, Jones and Deters use a series of equipment to determine what is going on. This includes the use of an EMF detector that registers electromagnetic radiation; an electronic voice phenomena (EVP) detector that records voices that are inaudible during recording but detected on playback; digital recorders; and different types of cameras, from disposable to digital.

"And lots of batteries," Deters said. "We learned from The Myrtles that batteries are drained of power when there are entities around."

Jones and Deters received training in paranormal investigating at the HCH Institute in Lafayette, Calif., under their mentor, Professor Loyd Auerbach.

"Lorrie and Tara were excellent students, quite driven to expand their knowledge of parapsychology and apply it to their own interests in investigations. Unlike the vast majority of people calling themselves ghost hunters,' they have a real curiosity about what might and might not be going on in the cases folks investigate and a concern for both the client's well-being and doing justice to the experiences and phenomena by broadening their knowledge to the greater world of psychic phenomena and research, in which ghosts and such fit. They also continue to ask questions, as anyone with even a little interest in doing science should. That's pretty rare in the growing mass of ghost hunter groups," Auerbach said.

According to Auerbach, who is a nationally renowned parapsychologist, "Parapsychology is the study of paranormal psychological phenomena, including extra-sensory perception (ESP), psychokinesis and the survival of consciousness after death."

Auerbach, who is a professional mentalist and psychic performer, is the author of several books on the paranormal, such as "ESP, Hauntings and Poltergeists: A Parapsychologist's Handbook," his first and best-known book.

The Ghost Chicks plan to eventually bring haunted tourism to the Mississippi Coast, but for now will stick with residential and business investigations locally and across the country. They do not charge for the investigations, but will charge for their tours.

The Ghost Chicks have two upcoming investigations in Ocean Springs. One is at a house with doors and closets opening on its own and voices are heard. The other site is now a vacant lot and where lives were lost because of Hurricane Katrina. Here, crying babies and women's voices are heard. Neither the property owner's dog nor the Realtor's dog will go near the property.

The women will return to The Myrtles Plantation in December.

When not investigating the paranormal, Jones works for a local school district. She co-hosts with SuzyBoo Rushing a new Internet radio show called "The Peace, Love and Lipgloss Hour" on BlogTalk Radio. She lives in Ocean Springs with her husband, Dan, and two sons. Dan Jones is a Hurricane Hunter, and the couple often jokes that he hunts hurricanes and she hunts ghosts.

Deters works in a local casino and lives in Gulfport with her husband, Scott, and two daughters.

The Ghost Chicks' Web site is currently down, but to contact them, visit www.myspace.com/justlorrie, for Lorrie, and www.myspace.com/nicolechick74 for Tara.

For more details on Professor Loyd Auerbach, or his institute, visit his Web site at www.mindreader.com.

For more details on Jones' radio show, visit www.blogtalkradio.com/peaceloveandlipglosshour.

Correspondent Mimi Bosarge can be reached at mi2bos@aol.com.

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