Who ya gonna call?

“Can you tell us how old you are?” asked Alan Cohn, loudly and clearly, speaking to the potential ghost in the dark room. “What state are you from?”

An apprehensive silence blanketed the space as three certified members of the Maryland Society of Ghost Hunters and two observers crammed into a Rossborough Inn office on a Sunday night last month for an Electronic Voice Phenomena session.

The group was searching for evidence of a ghost some believe haunts the historic inn, much of which now serves as office space. Rumors abound of flickering lights in a supposedly empty room, a window opening on its own — and visits from Betty, who managed the inn during the Civil War era.

The hunters ultimately pronounced the building “not haunted” in a report released over the weekend. But they were on edge in Rossborough’s Room 304 on June 27, where a few computers sharing a desk with antique-style lamps are a small nod to modernity among the high-backed chairs and regal benches that sit on the original circa-1812 hardwood floor.

“Can you give us some sign of your presence? Can you knock?” Cohn continued to ask the ghost. Seconds later, there was a ticking noise and the room dimmed. Silence.

“Was that you?” Cohn asked a moment later.

“No, it was the motion sensor light,” said Duane Oden, a fellow ghost hunter. A nervous laugh broke the tense air.

When the questions ran out, the ghost hunters switched tactics, moving to a more ndirect way of getting a response from the presumed spirit: Civil War-era banjo music. Crackly sounds cut through the still silence.

“If you recognize this music, maybe you can give us a sign,” Cohn said. No response.

A few more unanswered questions later, the hunters moved to the next tiny room, hoping to catch some sign of paranormal activity.

They came prepared with seven members and six silver suitcases packed with equipment, ready to investigate one of the university’s historic sites.

After a quick tour of the former hotel, the group mapped out the location, set up cameras on all floors and formed a command center on the ground floor where all the video fed onto one screen. Eight small, infrared cameras hid in the corners of the different rooms, capturing as much of the space as they could.

Cohn set up small tripods, unraveled numerous cords and broke open cases of audio equipment at the foot of the narrow, creaking stairs.

“The theory is that they need some kind of sound to work with,” he said. “So they can use this equipment to make their own sound because they don’t have voices.”

The hunters also used a Mel meter, a hand-held device that detects changes in ambient temperature and electromagnetic waves — both signs of ghosts, Cohn said.

The hunters then spent two weeks poring over hours of video and audio, examining the evidence taken in each room from each camera and picking out pieces that seemed suspicious.

Rodney Whittaker, founder and president of the Maryland Society of Ghost Hunters, said his group’s equipment has captured occurrences as obviously ghostly as an unknown voice and as strange as ropes of light draped over tombstones.

But there was nothing so colorful on display at Rossborough on June 27, which he said isn’t too unusual; the group observes activities that are peculiar enough to be considered paranormal only about 30 percent of the time.

There are still more opportunities on the campus, however; the ghost hunters will be back on the campus July 15 to check for hauntings in Hornbake Library, July 23 to investigate Morrill Hall and July 25 to scour Cole Field House.

While the idea that paranormal activity is primarily demonic and terrifying may be one propagated by movies and television, Whittaker finds ghost hunting to be anything but scary.

The last time he was touched by a ghost, he described the experience as exciting.

During a ghost hunt in a bed and breakfast, something pushed his arm straight up in the air, thentook Whittaker’s camera bag and pushed it into his side.

“I was thrilled,” he said. “Most people think that you’ll freak out and run away, but you’re usually so stunned it doesn’t sink in until after.”

Cohn agrees that ghost hunting is not nearly as spooky as it is exhilarating.

“If something happens, I’m excited,” Cohn said. “But I try to stay clear-headed. I’ve had some interesting experiences but I remain objective in that way and I try not to get too caught up in everything.”

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