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Is an Aiken County restaurant haunted?

Will and Lorraine Riley suspected they might not be alone in their restaurant, and reported seeing fleeting glimpses of the unexplainable -- such as hearing music and the presence of little people -- since they have been the owners of the Pine Log Road location. They aren't alone in their reports, as previous owners have documented strange occurrences including the turning of a doorknob. Current employees report bizarre encounters, as well.

Curious to find out if they were not alone, the Graniteville Paranormal Society (GPS) was called in to conduct an investigation on Halloween night. The group is not your typical group of "ghost hunters": they are a family joined by close friends who share a common interest.

GPS founder Scott Sperringer and his friends began investigating suspected hauntings for fun a few years ago, visiting graveyards and abandoned buildings. During the early days the equipment was primitive; however, that has changed.

As Scott became more serious about expanding the group, Kim and Tim Sperringer, his parents, decided to get involved. With their addition came the rest of the family, Chelsea Sperringer, Scott's younger sister, and Scott's wife Amy Sperringer.

"I told Scotty if you are going to do this, you have to do it right," Kim said. SClBThe Sperringers conducted extensive research to find the proper equipment and finesse investigation techniques. As a starting point for the group, they researched places around the state with suspected hauntings and went out to collect their own evidence. In less than a year, GPS has investigated over 19 locations. At the conclusion of each investigation members of the team review evidence, and Kim creates episodes revealing the evidence and providing the history of a location. These videos are then made available to the public at www.granitevilleparanormal.com, as well as on YouTube.

"It's a history lesson in a new way," said Kim.

GPS's latest investigation occurred in Aiken County at Riley's Whitby Bull and, after pouring over video tapes, EVPs, temperature changes and photographs, evidence revealed an "intelligent haunting" is present at Riley's Whitby Bull. According to Kim Sperringer, case manager and investigator, an intelligent haunting means "an actual spirit or ghost that can communicate, move things, tap on a shoulder in order to be noticed."

The evidence used to arrive at the conclusion includes cold spots (drastic temperature drops), anomalies on video and EVP responses.

Tim explains, "An EVP is an electronic voice phenomenon: a sound, a noise, a voice not audibly heard at the time of the recording. It's picked up on an electronic device. It may sound malevolent or rough or bad but that's not the case -- it's just using the energy around it in order to let you know it's there or to create the EVP."

During review of the EVPs, an audible response to direct questions is heard on several occasions. "EVP responses indicate a possible intelligent haunting. There is nothing to indicate that (the ghost or spirit) is nothing more than friendly and seems to enjoy the residence/restaurant and the owners," agreed GPS investigators Kim, Scott, Chelsea and Tim.

In addition to the EVPs, there were also two EMF spikes away from electrical sources, on registering on a KII meter and the other on a Gauss meter.

"Both occurred during the drastic temperature change in the yellow room during an EVP session," said Kim. "The video evidence is not strong, but the EVPs are fairly strong and what we consider Class B, meaning audible but faint."

All of the EVP and video recordings may be found on GPS's website for others to draw their own opinions.

GPS is currently seeking personal residences to investigate. "We are a nonprofit group; therefore investigation requests are always free of charge, nor do we accept donations," said Kim. "We do this because we enjoy it. If you suspect paranormal activity contact us at questions@granitevilleparanormal.com to complete an investigation. Everything is done with permission to gain access."

"We hunt what haunts us," said Scott.

To see more of the Aiken Standard or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.aikenstandard.com/. Copyright (c) 2008, Aiken Standard, S.C. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.