If you catch sight of a strange light near the Black Diamond Cemetery, it may not be from a streetlight.
Stephanie Davisson and her sister Patricia Davisson from the Puget Sound Ghost Hunters organization presented a report on ghost hunting in the city’s cemetery at the Feb. 3 City Council meeting.
Stephanie Davisson noted the cemetery is a hot spot on several paranormal websites and she said the ghost hunters organization wanted to “validate” the reports.
She noted the paranormal websites reported lights have been seen on foggy nights, which are believed to be the lanterns of miners, a white horse has been seen near headstones and there have been reports of whistling on dark, cloudless nights.
Other ghost hunter groups have asked to investigate the cemetery, but the Puget Sound Ghost Hunters is the first to come back to the City Council with a complete and detailed report. (The report can be viewed at the bottom of this story.)
The Puget Sound organization investigated the cemetery in November.
Stephanie Davisson said they brought video and audio equipment, but it was raining and the bad weather created problems.
While the audio and video recording did not work out, several members reported smelling baby powder in the cemetery.
“Several team members felt they were being watched,” Stephanie Davisson said. “One member, while sitting in the car warming up, saw streaks of light in the trees.”
The report noted the light was about 8 feet above the ground in the trees and 10 inches long and lasted several minutes.
Stephanie Davisson said she became interested in paranormal investigations after “growing up in a house with lot of paranormal activity.”
She said the family heard the voice of a small child and saw an apparition of woman.
Stephanie Davisson said they never discovered who was haunting the house.
In 2000 Stephanie Davisson said she joined Advanced Ghost Hunters of Seattle and Tacoma and in 2008 formed Puget Sound Ghost Hunters.
She said her organization usually conducts two types of investigations. The first is a report of a haunting in public site. The organization will ask permission from officials prior to investigating.
The second type of investigation is when a client calls asking for assistance because something is happening in a residence.
Stephanie Davission said more calls come in during the fall and winter because people are inside for longer periods of time.
She said currently the organization is getting a lot of calls, six in the last month.
“First we talk over the phone,” Stephanie Davisson said. “A lot of times they just want someone to believe them.”
Initially the organization rules out plumbing, loose floor nails and other construction explanations.
“Then if we think there is paranormal activity we decide to investigate,” she said.
The investigations includes audio and video recording and if possible communicating with the spirit to determine if it is a residual haunting or intelligent haunting.
Stephanie Davisson explained a residual haunting was like a recording loop – footsteps daily at 2 a.m.
She said an intelligent haunting means “there is an actual intelligence behind the spirit. We can ask it questions and get a response.”
Stephanie Davisson said the spirit may not be human and, “because it is not normal to us, it may not be abnormal to the universe. Folklore talks about many different spirits.”
She said if the spirit is human there are groups that believe communicating with the spirit will help it “crossover.”
Stephanie Davisson said the Puget Sound Ghost Hunters plans to return to the Black Diamond Cemetery when the weather improves, possibly in June or July.
