2 Nov 2007
http://www.chroniclet.com/2007/10/30/paranormal-investigators-discover-that-ghosts-speak-and-listen
The Chronicle-Telegram Staff
BROWNHELM TWP. — Pete Bertulies and his wife came by their jobs honestly.
They bought a haunted house.
The couple, who formed the nonprofit Lake Erie Ghost Hunters Society, said things got a bit bizarre after they bought their home on Baumhart Road. And despite their initial disbelief, they soon became believers that that there’s more to this world than what we see.
Their introduction to their home’s other occupants started as simple as unusual smells, such as the scent of apple pie baking at 4 a.m.
And there were Bertulies’ keys. Each day, he’s place them in the same spot only to wake up the next morning to find them in the toaster oven, he said.
Their dogs also were affected.
Their two blood hounds would act very strange, as if they were interacting with someone. Sometimes, they would roll on their back and seem to be enjoying a good scratch. Other times they would aggressively snarl and bite into the air.
The couple said despite what they were experiencing, they tried to look at everything rationally. Only it didn’t work.
One night, when the couple was enjoying a night without the kids and the house was empty, they heard footsteps and people talking. That validated the situation for them: They both experienced the same thing, at the same time, so it seemed silly to continue denying that paranormal activity was taking place in their home.
“When you see and hear things you can’t explain you question your sanity,” said Pete Bertulies, who has started a separate gig, Ohio Ghost Hunters and no longer is involved in Lake Erie Ghost Hunters Society since he and his wife separated.
So the couple enlisted the help of paranormal investigators. They became so interested in the subject, they decided to study it themselves and help others. After all, what better laboratory then your very own haunted house, Bertulies said.
And now, the pair helps others wondering about the odd or unexplainable things going on in their own homes.
He helps clients verify paranormal activity by using both sophisticated and ordinary equipment.
He said one of the more memorable experiences came in their garage. They asked a ghost: “Did you live here?” but didn’t hear a response. That is until they played back a tape of the exchange, in which they clearly heard her answer: “No, I worked here.”
Research on the home found that the garage where the woman spoke was an old blacksmith shop. And the blacksmith himself isn’t shy about making appearances, either – Bertulies contends he once showed his face to a busload of school children.
Bertulies said that as he and his family have learned, humans can co-exist with spirits. The key? Realizing that their personalities stay constant to what they were in human form, he said.
Hence, a grumpy old man becomes a grumpy old ghost. A playful child stays a playful child.
Some, he said, don’t know they are dead, and in most cases they will refuse to leave if you try and force them out.
The Bertulies said they learned that from experience.
At their own home, they tried everything from having the house cleansed to enlisting the help of a Baptist preacher who, like so many other visitors, decided to get out the door as quickly as possible.
So they simply gave up and tried to gain control of their home. Each night, they’d announce to what they call the “living impaired” occupants of the house that it’s time to settle down and go to sleep. And surprisingly, it worked, Bertulies said.
Contact Amy McLysaght at 329-7155 or metro@chroniclet.com.
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