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Plumbers of the paranormal

Lighthearted TV duo educates, dazzles fans, debunks ghost myths

By Amy Woodward
awoodwa5@mscd.edu

Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson are not your typical paranormal researchers. They are, in fact, plumbers from Rhode Island.

Nevertheless, the Tivoli Turnhalle was crammed Oct. 15 with students and those just curious to catch a glimpse of Hawes and Wilson, made famous by the Sci-Fi channel’s The Ghost Hunters, and their paranormal presentation sponsored by the Metro State Crypto Science Society.

“We are not doctors or scientists,” Wilson said.

“Yeah, we’re plumbers,” Hawes said. “We’re not trying to prove that paranormal exists, or that it doesn’t exist.”

But after experiencing their own episodes with paranormal activity, the duo decided to form a “close-knit” group of paranormal researchers called The Atlantic Paranormal Society, or TAPS. The mission is to investigate and help those who believe there are unusual and unexplained occurrences in their homes. After gaining a reputation and running their small business out of Hawes’ apartment, the Sci-Fi channel heard about TAPS and decided to turn the investigative teams services into a television show.

“We try to help people who think their homes are haunted,” Hawes said. “And we try to solidify those claims,” he said.

TAPS also travels nationwide to the most notorious haunted places in America, from the Crescent Hotel in Arkansas to the Stanley Hotel in Colorado, which is one of their favorite places, Hawes and Wilson said.

The interactive multimedia presentation at Auraria invited the audience to become “ghost hunters,” enabling everyone to participate and investigate paranormal cases Hawes and Wilson explored and also gave curious onlookers a brief lesson in the different types of haunting.

Their scariest experiences, Hawes and Wilson said, involve the homeowners.

“We’ve been chased out of homes by an old schizophrenic woman holding a frying pan,” Hawes said.

TAPS usually spends most of their time debunking paranormal claims. After beginning with people who reported paranormal activities in their homes, TAPS later found out the homeowners were using drugs. There have been some cases in which people created their own haunting by placing two-way mirrors in homes or setting up speakers to emit haunting noises.

Through their numerous legitimate investigations though, Hawes and Wilson claim they still can’t explain if what they encounter are actually ghosts or spirits.

“When something comes and changes a logical thinker, you can’t dismiss that,” Wilson said. “(But) what is it? I don’t know. Is it a ghost? I don’t know.”

Still, through all of their unidentified investigations and evidence, Hawes and Wilson were able to solve a 60-yearold missing person’s case. But it turned out to be a murder case and they were unable to discuss the issue further.

Metro freshman Christy Trujillo said she is not sure if she believes in ghosts and the presentation didn’t help to formulate a stance on paranormal activity.

“I don’t think I really have an opinion either way,” Trujillo said. “It (the presentation) was good, it was interesting, entertaining.”

Bill Salani, who was one of the attendees for the Ghost Hunter presentation said he has had several dealings with paranormal activity. He has been working at a post office in Colorado Springs for 10 years and said he believes the establishment is haunted after experiencing constant “ghost” encounters there.

“There are lights flickering, or I will feel a tug on the back of my shirt and I turn around and there is no one there,” Salani said.

“I think it’s funny, I have a blast with them,” he added.

TAPS has recently crossed over from television to radio with their new show titled Beyond Realities, which they said would soon be broadcast nationwide. You can catch episodes of The Ghost Hunters on Wednesdays at 8 p.m. on the Sci-Fi channel.