Paranormal activity? Call local ghost busters
0 Comments | Yakima Herald – Republic, Oct 29, 2009 | by Adriana Janovich
Yakima’s ghost busters aren’t sucking up ectoplasmic residue in metal canisters that look suspiciously like backpack vacuum cleaners the way Bill Murray, Dan Akroyd and other paranormal scientists did in the 1984 movie.
Still, if you suspect telekinetic activity in your home or business, you can call The PAST is Present to conduct a paranormal investigation.
That’s just what the owners of The Depot Restaurant and Lounge did, long before Halloween, which is Saturday.
Instead of using “unlicensed nuclear accelerators” to bust ghosts, like the scientists used in “Ghost Busters,” this real-life investigative team uses camcorders, audio recorders, digital cameras and KII meters — which pick up fluctuations in electromagnetic fields — to record data at the site they are investigating.
The members of The PAST is Present — PAST is an acronym for Paranormal and Spirit Team — aren’t out-of-work professors from a nearby college, either, as the investigators are in the popular film.
Instead, they are a diverse group that includes an engineer and counselor, among others. And each says they’ve had an unusual personal experience with the unexplainable or have simply become interested in the subject.
For example, 28-year-old Jay Vowell of Yakima, a founding member of the group, remembers being 9 years old “and, in a fit of courage, I walked up to my bedroom with the lights out.
“I jumped up on my bed, then noticed the closet doors were open. I said, ‘I’m not afraid of you!’ to which I swear I heard ‘You’re not?’”
Ulises Zamora, 25, also of Yakima, says he had an unusual experience as a college student, waking in his dorm room to feel another presence that seemed to be touching him.
The group currently has seven members. But at one time, The PAST is Present numbered as many as 15, including a woman who’s a self- described clairvoyant.
“I have been involved in the paranormal — in one form or another — for almost 10 years,” says 42-year-old Ellen Allmendinger of Yakima.
Allmendinger was instrumental in bringing the group together
canister vacuum