Paranormal Probe 

Saturday, October 27, 2001 

Los Lunas — Have you ever felt like you're being watched and someone else is in the room with you? That feeling may be just in your imagination, or it could be an un-earthly phenomenon.
 

Clara Garcia/News-Bulletin Photo Ghost hunter Jerry Santoniello holds a thermal scanner designed to pick up cold spots within the restaurant.

Tracking down that sensation is the task of the Southwest Ghost Hunters Associ-ation, a group of paranormal re-searchers who have been chasing ghosts for more than 20 years. 

On a trip to Los Lunas last week, several members explored the Luna-Otero Mansion, looking for signs of ghostly forces. The crew came in cloaked in black with space-age equipment to measure any unexplainable occurrences. 

The Luna Man-sion is known for its history of hauntings. Owner-Manager David Scoville has experienced many first-hand encounters with the ghosts that reside in the big, white mansion on historic Route 66. Scoville believes four different ghosts roam the many rooms of what's now a fine-dining restaurant. 

The most famous ghost is that of Josefita "Pepé" Otero, who in the 1920s resided in the house as a master painter and gardener. Mimi, another spirit, is thought to have been a servant in the mansion years ago. Cruz, who has been known to play practical jokes on employees and patrons, may have worked as a groundskeeper for the Oteros. He has been spotted sitting in the dining room as if waiting to be served. 

People say a dark force also resides in the mansion. This unnamed ghost has never been witnessed, but has been felt. 

Cody Polston, president of Ghost Hunters, says the main focus of the organization is research and investigative work. "We're not like ghostbusters or anything, we're just trying to look for paranormal activity that we've documented in the past." 

Polston said if ghost-sightings are to be proven, it's going to be done through mathematics and physics. 

"Because what you're really looking at is energy," he said. "I think that's why no one has been able to figure it out before now. They've been treating these investigations like a crime scene. They go in and interview people and try to look at evidence. 

"Generally, there isn't a lot of evidence left," Polston said. "I think it was the method that was flawed. You need to look at it more from a scientific point of view, and that's what we're trying to do."
 

Josefita "Pepe" Otero is pictured as a young girl. Does she still roam through the Mansion?

As the ghost hunters walk through the darkened mansion, they find most of the activity upstairs. Armed with thermal scanners and electromagnetic-field detectors, they roam from room to room, looking for unnatural energy fields. 

A thermal scanner shoots out a long-range in-frared beam that takes temperatures up to 30 feet away. The hunters take notice of fluctuations in temperatures that differ by at least 10 from the surrounding areas. Polston said the ghost hunters who use these devices are searching for cold spots. The theory behind cold spots is that they're an absorption of energy by a ghost. 

"(A ghost) has the energy to manifest. When it has a cold spot, it's sucking in energy from around the environment. When there is a hot spot, there is too much, and it's trying to get rid of its energy," Polston said. 

The electromagnetic field detectors scan for unexplainable energy levels. One example in the Luna Mansion is a three-foot-thick adobe wall behind the downstairs service bar. In the past, Polston has detected very strong electromagnetic energy fields in it. There are no electrical wires inside the wall, which he believes is the epicenter of the mansion's paranormal activity. 

Throughout the night, two teams of ghost hunters split up and used their hand-held devices to try and detect ghostly activity. At 11:41 p.m., a full-scale spike was registered on a detector in the attic-storage room on the second floor. At the same time the spike had been detected, Polston aimed his digital infrared camera in the direction of the energy and captured an image of a single orb. 

Orbs are believed to represent the energy patterns of souls or spirits, he said. The orb is the most basic pattern, just as our cells are orbed-shaped. It appears, from photographic evidence, that when an orb disassociates or becomes unorganized, it becomes ectoplasmic vapor or mist. 

A few minutes later, the sound of someone walking was heard in the attic-storage area as the ghosthunters were leaving the room. The investigators tried to reproduce the same sound, but were unable. 

Several other orbs were photo-graphed throughout the mansion, but most of the activity came from the storage area. Another feeling the ghost hunters experienced was a strong smell of coffee filling the air of the second floor. It was confirmed that coffee was not being made anywhere in the mansion. Reporters present did not smell the coffee. 

As the night progressed, the ghosthunters tried to communicate with the ghosts during an experiment with Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP). Ghosthunter Dana Carter turned on her tape recorder and attempted a conversation with the ghosts. She asked a series of questions, leaving time for responses. 

EVP is used as a communication device between the spirits and the mortal world. The ghosthunters take the tape and analyze it with a computer, which reduces the noise level to below 300 hertz. Polston explained that human beings cannot speak below 300 hertz. To pick up the answers from the spirit world, they must lower the volume in order to hear responses. 

Carter first asked, "Who are you?" and "How old are you?" The tape was screened a few days after the ghost hunt. The response from the ghost to the first question was garbled and could not be distinguished. The second answer sounded like "76." 

"Can you tell me when you were born?" The answer sounded like "December 5th." 

The ghost seemed not to reply to the next three questions, but when Carter asked if it would like the ghost hunters to leave, the reply sounded like "yes," ac-cording to the group's web site. 

After other questions were posed to the ghost, the most in-depth answer turned out to be too difficult to decipher. 

During the questioning, several orbs were detected by ghosthunter cameras in Josefita's bedroom. As the ghosthunters wrapped up their investigation at about 1:40 a.m., Polston rated the hunt between low to medium. 

"The place is more active in the winter, and that may be because there is more static electricity in the air," he said. 

The ghosthunters said it was clear that some paranormal activity took place that night. Without a doubt, they said they will be back again for another look into the haunting secrets of the Luna Mansion.

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