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Union Editor

Ghosts, spirits, paranormal activity.

Call them what you want ... people typically have a healthy mix of curiosity and skepticism when it comes to believing in things most of us can’t see. But above all, many just want some proof they exist.

The team from Anoka Paranormal Investigations has taken that interest up a notch and has started doing official investigations for people who feel their houses, or their lives, might be haunted.

“I don’t know anybody on the planet who hasn’t had some sort of experience or heard something go bump in the night,” said Ross Beard of Ramsey, who founded Anoka Paranormal Investigations with co-worker Bryan Hayden of Maple Grove.

“We’re looking for a reason for it – some evidence.”

Also part of the Anoka Paranormal investigative team are Jeanne Stafki of Isanti and Hayden’s wife, Denise.

This group, although new to a business, shares a great enthusiasm for debunking theories and trying to find proof for what many is unexplainable.

Beard says they’re not experts, in fact the team believes it is not possible to be an expert in the supernatural.

Hayden said it is their drive and their interest that qualify them for the job.

Although Anoka Paranormal does not charge for services, it does accept donations. It also has a willingness to be judged – by their friends, families and communities – some of whom call them kooks or crazy.

They all have day jobs and spend their spare time, sometimes to the chagrin of their families, said Beard, on these investigations.

“This is something we do for fun, but our families are not always on board,” he said.

In fact, Stafki’s husband is one of the biggest skeptics out there.

“Those are our best debunkers,” said Beard. “Those are the people we want. Not to convince them, but because they might see something we don’t.”

And all four admit that at times they’ve been freaked out either during, or while reviewing, an investigation.

The team likes to give Hayden a hard time about rushing quickly down a hall after seeing what he called a “dark mass” coming at him from down the hallway of a home.

“It’s OK to be scared,” said Beard. “You’re dealing with something you don’t know.”

Field investigations

Anoka Paranormal’s investigation equipment includes two high-eight video camcorders that are able to record video with night vision, along with electromagnetic field (EFM) meters and digital voice recorders.

But Beard says the most important part of the investigation is the interview – where the team learns about the possible paranormal activity. It also does a complete check of the area being investigated to see if there is a reason behind noises or odd events.

“We try to find an explanation for what might be there,” said Beard.

They debunk noises that maybe can be attributed to a building settling or activity of the neighbors.

This is why, during the interview, baseline EFM readings are taken throughout the home. Their equipment is able to detect EFM transmitted by electricity in the home or appliances like the television.

“A spike on the EMF detects possible activity,” said Beard.

So at night when they return to do a recorded investigation, they’re looking for those upticks to show them where paranormal activity might be taking place.

If someone on the team suspects a presence, from an EMF reading, shadow or a noise, the next step is to ask the ghost a question.

“You ask a question like ‘Is anybody here?’ or ‘do you have something to say’,” said Stafki.

Sometimes there is an audible response.

In one local case the team was brought in by a woman whose mother had passed away and she felt there was some sort of a presence in her now vacant home.

Stafki said she got a lot of EMF spikes in an area where there were a lot of left-over preserves from the woman, who was an avid canner.

The team’s investigation, which included a voice recording of a woman that could not be seen, led them to believe the spirit was lingering in an effort to have her family take care of her personal possessions.

The business of ghosts

For the team, the work continues long after its fact finding mission in a possibly haunted building with a review of the gathered evidence. Members spend  more than a dozen hours watching tape and looking for shadows or movements, and listening to audio recordings.

They’re all looking for that Eureka moment, when the evidence reveals itself.

What is the ultimate goal for these local investigators?

“The Holy Grail – a full body apparition,” said Hayden.

They want to capture a ghost, visually, on tape.

So far, it hasn’t happened yet.

Anoka, with all of its famed haunted houses and ghost stories, is a great place for this team to launch its business, said Beard.

They would like to investigate some of the city’s spookier haunts and Beard says the team would someday like to be allowed to take readings and do recordings in the former state hospital, now the Anoka Metro Regional Treatment Center.

And what happens if there is an unwanted ghost in the building?

Hayden said it’s up to the homeowner to take charge and tell it to leave.

But the team is careful not to anger those spirits. Some people believe, said Denise Hayden, that the paranormal can attach themselves to another person or inanimate object like a purse or a piece of clothing, and follow you home.

Connected to the supernatural

Personal experiences have spurred all four of the investigators into this sideline. Beard and Stafki used to be neighbors in Ramsey. Around a backyard fire pit they got to talking about ghosts and found they had a shared interest in proving what they have both experienced is real.

At Jeanne’s home in Isanti, she says she saw the ghost of a small girl sitting on the end of her bed in the middle of the night. She has a friend who has seen the child as well.

She says it could be explained because she lives near an old Indian burial ground along the Sullivan Woods Trail, that has a grisly back story.

For Beard, it was what he believes to be the ghost of his grandfather that his mother saw in the hospital on her deathbed.

She asked Beard and his sister what the man in the white shirt and brown pants was doing in her room. The siblings could see nothing in the space where she looked between them.

Beard said the only color photograph that existed of his grandfather showed him wearing brown pants and a white shirt – the same clothes in which he was buried.

For days, struggling with speech because of medications, she had also been telling Beard and his sister to close the shades, because the “umbrella heads” were out there. He now believes his mother was seeing angels.

This team of believers is seeking to provide the same answers they’re looking for to qualify personal experiences with the unexplained.

“We want to help people, give them some answers,” said Stafki. “And maybe bring them some peace and understanding.”

For more information on launching a paranormal investigation contact Anoka Paranormal Investigations at 612-965-1243. They are willing to act quickly if someone feels they have an emergency situation that needs attention.

Mandy Moran Froemming is at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it