Lakes Region Paranormal Society founded to explain the unexplainable

Asking people to admit they believe in ghosts, most of the time you'll get a look that asks them to admit that they're bonkers. But ask people if they've ever experienced anything... weird, and you'll get an answer.

For some people, they've sworn that they heard footsteps when there was no-one else around. Sometimes lights will switch on when someone could swear that they turned it off before they left the room, or that an item left on a table is gone a moment later.

Some people are happy to shrug and say that the human mind and eyes can play tricks at times. These people might say there's no reason to jump to ghosts as the cause of an unexplainable experience — they would say there's a reasonable explanation for everything.

But for others, such as a group of young men and women from Belmont, the paranormal is well within the realm of what they'd consider a reasonable explanation.

The Lakes Region Paranormal Society, still in its first year as an organization, was founded by Joe Osborne, 19, and Patrick Sweeney, 18, both of Belmont. Although their society is new, for years they've been looking for — and finding — what they consider to be spirits.

"The house I lived in growing up was really haunted," said Osborne.

"Every single house I've lived in has been haunted in one way or another," Sweeney said. His first ghost memory goes back to when he was 4-years-old, playing on his bedroom floor. His memory involves a glowing orb appearing right next to him, asking to play with his toys.

When Sweeney and Osborne met in sixth grade, they found they both had a wealth of experiences only explainable by paranormal events. They've been "ghost hunting" together since. For a while, they'd been searching for ghosts in cemeteries, until over the summer they were in one in Laconia and the police took notice.

"It was then we decided we were serious about this," said Osborne, and the pair started the paranormal society, which has since grown to seven members.

So far, they've done two investigations, and they hope to do many more.

At the request of a family, the society visited an historic home in Laconia, where each of the two young children reported seeing apparitions while the parents were skeptical. Using an arsenal of recording devices, including a digital audio recorder, digital cameras and camcorders and an electro-magnetic field detector, they were able to catch an unexplained shadow in one of the rooms, which was considered significant by the investigators but didn't sway the parents.

Their other investigation took place at the Laconia Public Library, where the team experienced some strange activity, and even recorded some things that they think supports the theory of some paranormal entity present in the building.

They're planning a second investigation into the library this weekend, where they hope to capture some evidence compelling enough to change the minds of some skeptics. "We're pretty eager to get back there," said Osborne.

After they've concluded their investigation into the library, they'll be presenting their experiences and their evidence at a public event there. The date for the presentation, which will include a question-and-answer period, has not yet been set.

Sweeney and Osborne are unequivocal in their belief in ghosts. And Sweeney claims that when there's a supernatural being around, its presence is palpable. "There's a difference in the air you're breathing when one's present," he said.

However, he acknowledges that his claim to have felt its presence won't cut it for the unconvinced. "It's the art of proving it that gets a little difficult," he said. "I've always had people tell me that I'm not telling the truth, I'm lying or crazy — this is not something made up for attention."

So why do it, if the work earns them disbelief or ridicule from others? "First thing is the adrenaline rush," said Sweeney. "Experiencing things first-hand more than worth it." Additionally, they hope that their work will help the people who call for their services. Services, incidentally, that are offered for no charge.

There's a third reason, too. The founders of the society, who are fans of reality television shows such as Ghost Hunters and Paranormal State, hope to challenge the prevailing wisdom that calls ghost stories nothing but the stuff of imaginations run wild.

As Sweeney said, "It's about proving there's more out there than what you see... There are things in this world that people refuse to believe exist and could very well be out there."

Osborne added, "we're trying to bring the evidence to help people see the wold around them."

The founders of the society hope that they could one day host a show such as those gaining in popularity on cable television, or find some other way to broadcast the results of their work.

In the meantime, they're looking for new places to investigate, and new members to help with the investigations. The society can be reached by sending an email to lrps_09@yahoo.com.