Paranormal Group Opens New Public Library

(June 30) -- "Ghostbusters 3" is in the works, but if you're gonna make a call in the meantime, forget Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray and company. Try the new Smoking Gun Research Agency's (SGRA) Library and Research Center in Orange, Conn.

The paranormal group, in existence since 1997, will finally have a place of its own for ghosts to potentially haunt. The center features more than 3,000 new and out-of-print books, magazine archives, a wide-ranging DVD collection and an expert staff on hand to aid research on ghosts, UFOs, government conspiracies, and everything else spooky, unexplained or fringe.

It's the kind of stuff you just can't find in your local library.
"The group started to give people who are questioning a place to come without worrying about anyone looking at them thinking they're crazy," founder and director Jon Nowinski told AOL News.

"One of the first experiences I really remember was seeing a UFO when I was 8, growing up in Greenwich. Two weeks later, there was an article in the paper about the Hudson Valley sighting with a sketch of exactly what I saw. I wasn't the only one. Other people were out there."

The SGRA center will also host author events, guest lectures by experts in the paranormal field and various workshops designed to help visitors connect with their own psychic intuition and conduct proper investigations.

Tracey Owen, an SGRA board member and a consultant in energy medicine and clairvoyance, will be among the experts running the workshops, such as "Developing Your Intuition and Relational Energy."

"I believe that we all have some latent talents," Owen said. "The key is being open enough in the mind and heart to explore the potential. My relational energy workshop teaches people to be aware of their own energy and that of others and how it causes them to react and interact with others and our environment."
Aside from being a group that shares knowledge and experiences, the SGRA investigates about eight cases a month in both private residences and historical sites, including the Mark Twain House & Museum in Hartford, Conn.

Research at the famed writer's home has been ongoing since August.

"We met with Jon and his team and they seemed dedicated and serious," said Jacques Lamarre, communications director of the Mark Twain House & Museum. "They were willing to work within our limitations, knowing that the entire house is a historic artifact and that the security of our collection was paramount."

The SGRA approached the Mark Twain House after receiving numerous accounts of unexplained phenomena guests had experienced during tours. Since members of the staff also reported similar stories, the house agreed to allow the investigation.

"They determined the house was energetically active, particularly certain rooms," Lamarre said. "To date, I still haven't experienced anything, but since we started our Graveyard Shift Ghost Tours, there have been increased occurrences in the house as there are more people in the house at night when it is quieter. Entire tour groups have heard voices, seen apparitions, and felt various phenomena."

According to Nowinski, investigations uncover paranormal evidence in various forms. Strange photos are often produced with bewildering blurs, or what looks like lens flares despite the fact that the photo was taken in a dark room. Occasionally they catch a "full-fledged apparition," though it's rare.

Video and audio are also captured. Like the photos, video often presents an unexplainable blur.

Nowinski described one example from a 19th-century private home: "We saw a blurry orb come out of a doorway, move down a hallway, and into another doorway. We tested airflow in the home, the possibility of dust or an insect, and other perceived explanations but were unable to find a reason for it."

Audio evidence is referred to as electronic voice phenomena (EVP). "Despite it being 'voice phenomena,' sometimes it's sounds -- but sounds recorded where those sounds weren't there while recording," Nowinski explained. "We usually get some EVPs on almost all investigations we do. That's quite common."

In addition to ghost hunting with electronics, the SGRA also works closely with psychics. They, along with the rest of the investigative team, aren't given details on the locations they're studying. They're also prohibited from talking to each other.

"If one person says they feel strange, it's no doubt someone else will say they feel the same way," Nowinski said. "So we go in as unbiased as possible, which is really important for these situations."

The SGRA's investigations have primarily been focused in Connecticut, but its paranormal studies have also stretched to New Jersey, New Hampshire, and as far west as Ohio.

The library and research center is open to the general public. An official grand opening will be held on July 10.