Messenger - Vol. 2, No. 1, Page it. Fall 1992 Ghost Chasers on the lookout in Delaware Helping find the answer to one of the Earth's ultimate mysteries-the existence of ghosts-is the avocation of Rudolph Anthony, Delaware '67, '79M. Since late in 1991, this retired secondary school social studies teacher has been a member of the Ghost Chasers Society, headquartered in Little Creek, Del. Anthony currently is vice president of the seven-member organization, which has as its mission to capture on audio- and videotape the images, sounds and effects of actions caused by supernatural beings. He and his fellow ghost hunters have witnessed some strange phenomena and spent some eerie evenings in some creepy places: * Like a farmhouse-the site of a murder-where an invisible presence physically moved Anthony's hat and gloves; * Like the Kent County restaurant where a disenchanted spirit rearranges table settings each evening after closing; * Like the middle of a desolate cemetery, where he spent an autumn night with his associates to record an unexplainable whistle. Anthony says the Ghost Chasers Society members are not exorcists. Instead, their objective is purely scientific, to gather and document information concerning supernatural phenomena and make their reports and findings available, upon request, to institutions throughout the world. Everything the organization does is free, stresses Anthony. Members pay monthly dues to purchase sophisticated electronic equipment, which is used during their field research investigations. Upon request, a society member will pay a personal visit to a concerned person, to verify the circumstances and ensure that the contact is serious and that the situation has scientific potential. After the group approves of a project, a field research team of several members settles in for the night, setting up a headquarters station, with several video monitors. These screens help keep watch on the area covered by the video camera; tape recorders are placed in other rooms. Team members communicate by walkie-talkie throughout the observation. It's a very boring process, according to Anthony. That's why the society is very selective when it interviews new members. Too often, interested individuals think they'll get a view of a ghost on their first evening of field research. "When we go into a house," Anthony says, "Casper the Ghost isn't waiting to say 'hello!' We may go for years and nothing will happen, but we can go into another place and all hell can break loose. We just don't know." Anthony says ghost hunting can be a dangerous business. That's why the members have been advised by their consulting psychic, Dr. Jean Wingate of Cape May, N. J., to never enter a situation or questionable site alone. Ghosts can be mischievous or destructive, says Anthony, and the intensity of the threat depends upon the aims or circumstances surrounding the unfinished business of the unsettled spirit. The ghostly manifestations may be subtle or overt, like the haunted farmhouse spirit, which was swinging a garden hoe at an artist in her studio. Tracking the supernatural in the last decade before the 21st century can be a lonely and, at times, difficult undertaking, Anthony concedes, "but our attitude is positive." "They laughed at Columbus when he said the world was round, and at Ben Franklin when he tied that key to his kite. As you enter the frontier of any discipline, there is always someone who will laugh at you. But we're not upset. People call us quacks. They may laugh and chuckle. It's nothing new to us. We know to expect it. But it has no negative effect upon our mission or our attitudes." -Ed Okonowicz, Delaware '69 '84M