California ghost hunters conference convenes

From The San Francisco Chronicle:

Mendocino -- The ocean is breaking thunderously against the cliffs just a hundred or so yards from the historic Mendocino Hotel, and a misty fog is starting to appear on the horizon, swallowing the setting sun. A cold wind begins to blow as the sky darkens. The scene is set for ghost hunting. This will be the setting for the culmination of the 2006 California Ghost Hunters Conference, held April 28-29. It's a chance to use both technology and spiritual gifts to try to coax sleeping ghosts into shaking hands with the living. Where better to start than a graveyard? A dozen or so cars caravan to the outskirts of town, to an ancient cemetery mostly overgrown with weeds. A sliver of moon hovers high overhead, and the horizon is orange and blue as we tumble out of our cars and start walking quietly through the tombstones. As was recommended in a seminar earlier in the day, respect is paramount when trying to contact the dead. You don't demand an interaction, you request it. Not like those guys in the very popular "Ghost Hunters" TV show, it was noted, who can be downright rude.