Looking for a few good ghosts

Cliff Braun and his wife, Shirley, are dying to meet local ghosts, and they need your help.

Well, not quite, but they are looking for new apparitions to explore, and want to let people with paranormal problems know they do ghost busting on the side.

During the day, Cliff drives a medical transportation van. Shirley is a Realtor.

By all accounts they are normal, everyday people with an unusual hobby and weekend destination spots most people avoid.

The Brauns' interest in specters and spooks all started with the Sci-Fi TV show, "Ghost Hunters," featuring TAPS (The Atlantic Paranormal Society.)

In the show, the TAPS ghost hunters explore supernatural stories and try to re-create them.

The clincher is that TAPS doesn't take ghost tales at face value and doesn't consider people's experiences evidence unless it can capture it on audio or video.

Neither do Cliff and Shirley.

A good ghost hunter first gathers evidence to prove that a rumored visitor from the spirit world is not a hoax or a false alarm, Cliff explained. Just spooky tales and goose bumps don't cut it for them.

Since ghosts can't be seen with the naked eye, a ghost hunter uses paraphernalia to explain their presence, he said.

Ghosts emit a cold spot so a temperature reader can tell if a drop in temperature means a spirit is in the vicinity.

Digital cameras, recorders and night vision video cameras capture the spirits on video and audio. It's really the footage that best indicates the presence of spirits, Cliff said.

In one photo, Shirley is sitting in a mock outhouse in St. Augustine and a noticeable blob or haze is visible on one side. Cliff believes it's an apparition. What separates spirits from just specks of dust is a nucleus or a dark middle spot, which Cliff points out.

Then there is something called a K2 Electronic Magnetic Force or EMF ghost meter, invaluable to ghost hunters.

These meters detect the electromagnetic force that ghosts supposedly emit. When a spirit is present, the five LEDs on an EMF start buzzing.

Once contact is established, communication can start.

One of the places the Brauns like to visit is the town of Monticello near Tallahassee, an older settlement that prides on its haunted spots, including a bed & breakfast where you can sleep with a ghost.

It was in this bed & breakfast that the two remember having an extended conversation with what appeared to be a male and female ghost.

Here's Cliff's version of the story:

When he heard the K2 meter going off "like crazy" he knew they were not alone, Cliff said.

In order to start a conversation, he asked the ghost if he had died a tragic death. A raspy, male voice replied, "No."

Then the meter starting backing off and Cliff decided to get aggressive with the ghost to keep his interest.

Cliff then asked the raspy, male voice if the meter scared him. He got a random reply, "Do you want to go out?"

Then, what sounded like a female voice, said it was cold.

The conversation ended when the raspy, male voice told the Brauns: "If you want me, find me."

They never did but have the conversation recorded on tape.

In another instance, also in Monticello, the two took extensive photos of an antique store that once served as a mortuary for the local doctor and was rumored to be teeming with spirits that hadn't had full closure.

While trolling outside with their camera, the house looked like any other older home.

It was only when the images were downloaded that the two saw a yellowish object with what appeared to be a left hand holding something. Cliff thinks it was a ghost.

He showed Highlands Today several photos of that image, which was bound with his other photos in one big, binder folder.

Some of the couple's spirit hunting trips, like in Monticello and St. Augustine, have been productive.

Others turned out to be nothing more than wild ghost chases but gave them plenty to chuckle about later, like that one cemetery in Fort Lauderdale with a rumored hippie ghost.

Apparently, this bell-bottom-clad spirit was in the habit of tapping people on the shoulder, asking for a smoke. Complementing him was a pink lady ghost.

At least that's what this one Web site said, and the Brauns couldn't wait.

After three hours of wandering around the graveyards, they gave up. They figured if somebody knew anything, it had to be the groundskeeper.

Shirley remembers the groundskeeper's humored response: "You've been stumbling around for hours. You are not going to find a hippie ghost but here's a boxer (who is buried here.)"

In at least one incident, Shirley remembers being really spooked.

It was a cemetery and she was walking around with her dousing rods, trying to talk to the ghosts, when she said she felt an invisible force trying to move her arm.

Cliff wanted her to follow the force, but Shirley fled for the car. They called it quits that day and Shirley still shakes a bit when she recalls the incident.

In Highlands County, the two hope to attract more members and the general public to go on ghost hunts with them. Right now, Highlands Ghost Hunters has six members.

Sometime in October, Shirley also hopes to have a fun ghost hunt with children and teens as a way to raise money for local food pantries.

They also will do free ghost investigations for those who feel a paranormal presence in their home, they said.

"Don't be shy," said Cliff. "Call us."

Someday, they also hope to meet Harder Hall's Spooner Sisters, a ghostly duo rumored to be floating around in the old, vacant hotel.

The biggest obstacle for them right now is getting access to the hotel, which the city now owns and is barred to the general public.

The two have heard of people breaking into Harder Hall for the ghostly kicks, but that's out of the question for them.

"We want to go into Harder Hall," Shirley said. "But we don't want to get arrested."

To call Cliff and Shirley Braun or join Highlands Ghost Hunters, call 863-991-5711.