Ghost hunt at Moonshine Hollow

Date: Friday, June 10. Location: roadside picnic area on Route 9 in Morgan County between Hedgesville and Berkeley Springs. Weather: Warm and humid. Dry conditions. Other: Receptive group of about 25. Susan Crites of the West Virginia Society of Ghost Hunters conducted her basic paranormal class for about 25 students at a public picnic area off WV 9 known as Moonshine Hollow. (Photo link. Is that an apparition forming in the upper left hand corner?) During prohibition, moonshiners operated their stills in the thickly wooded area. The area is isolated. Bushwhackers often would ambush the moonshiners in order to steal their illicit alcohol to sell themselves. This resulted in quite a few violent deaths, many unreported. Crites also believes that the area is also haunted by the ghosts of Civil War soldiers since they traveled along the road on various campaigns. Crites explained the differences in apparitions. She went over her precaution instructions at length on how to conduct a safe ghost hunt, from carrying a whistle to alert others if you're lost or injured to being aware of the ill effects caused by dark entities. She also explained proper photography of ghosts and the ethics of not "photoshop-ping" the images. She also explained the use of dowsing rods in the detection of ghosts and in communicating with the images. Holding a rod in each hand, we practiced asking questions. Crossed rods meant yes. Uncrossed, no. Night had fallen as she spoke and a lone owl cried out. The setting was similar to the woods in The Blair Witch Project. Before setting off on the ghost hunt, we experimented with the rods. I asked if there were ghosts next to me. Yes. I asked if the ghosts wanted to harm us. Yes. I asked if the ghosts could harm us. No. I confess, as irrational as it is on every conceivable level, I felt a twinge of disappointment at the last response. We divided into teams led by senior paranormal investigators. Our guide led us to an area where she had experienced a terrible dark energy before. I snapped a few photos (here's one I shot with multiple orbs) where she directed (she has psychic abilities) that she sensed ghostly presences. The three others -- a couple and a woman from Philadelphia I'll call Janet -- followed with their rods also in hand. Holding one rod in hand helped guide us like a dowsing rod to water. Flashes of light from the other groups flickered like heat lightning in the distance. But our area was especially dark despite the light of the stars between the trees elsewhere. (Here's a solitary bright orb.) Janet's rod directed her to a ghost immediately behind her. I snapped a picture and to me it appears as if miasma is forming behind her. (photo unavailable.) I shot more photos where our guide directed and then we walked under an open picnic pavilion, possibly built over something else for the spirit rods held in Janet's hands began to whirl incredibly fast. I held mine with a similar result. Neither of us appeared to be moving our hands to spin them. I took a photo with my digital camera of Janet with her rods spinning. There was a thick miasma between her hands and her head in the view screen of my camera. Unfortunately, this photo was accidentally deleted from the memory card by my wife when she took shots of the girls flying in an airplane the next day. ( Paranormal Investigator Amy took some great photos she posted online of orbs and miasma.) Conclusion: Moonshine Hollow is haunted. P.S. You might be asking yourself: Why didn't he write this as a spooky story like his fiction? Because when it comes to writing ghost hunt reports, certified paranormal investigators just give the straight facts.