By Molly Lovell

Editor

I’ve always been curious about the paranormal. I attempt to satisfy that curiosity by reading about haunted places or watching television shows like “Ghost Hunters.” However, the extent of my own paranormal experiences have been limited to a few games played on the Ouija board – which have still been enough to make me pull the covers tighter when I hear something go bump in the night.

When I learned a few weeks ago a real ghost investigation was going to take place at the Landing Store in Kennebunk, I saw it as an opportunity to see what I was made of and immediately volunteered to cover the story. 

I arrived at the store Friday night shortly before 10 p.m. where I met long-time employee Steven Burr. Burr has dabbled in the paranormal through a handful of his own investigations and has had a lifelong belief in the paranormal and other things spiritual. 

While he never conducted his own investigation at the Landing Store, he told of circumstances that couldn’t be explained. While alone in the store one night he heard a man’s voice call his name.

“It was deep and staticky, like it was coming through a ham radio,” he said. 

On another occasion, again while alone in the store, soda bottles would appear on the counter after Burr repeatedly put them back in the cooler.

Some employees report baking sheets will fly off the shelf and on one occasion money in the store’s safe seemed to have disappeared only to reappear with no explanation. 

Despite this, Burr said he doesn’t feel frightened at the store.

That was good, because it calmed my fears that something might “get me” during my first ghost hunting experience. 

After getting some air and preparing myself for the uncertain, in pulls Justin Aiello, Jerry Chestnut and brother and sister, Brett and Sara Coffin (appropriate name, don’t you think?) – the foursome would be our ghost hunters for the night, some of them donning shirts with an emblem reading “Coffin and Aiello Paranormal Society – C.A.P.S.”

They all were just regular people – with a  really neat hobby – looking for answers. Brett is actually a social studies  and psychology teacher at Scarborough High School.

With swift professionalism, they asked Burr about his experiences in the store and also learned a bit of history about the place. Burr explained the store was built in 1872 and throughout the years, two of the primary owners had been Jesse Ham and a man known as “Mr. Z.” 

The team assessed the store and began setting up equipment while Aiello explained this was the team’s first investigation. 

“Some people are not open to an investigation,” he said.

The team came with an arsenal of “standard ghost hunting equipment” – video, digital and night vision cameras, an EMF (electro magnetic field) device, voice recorders and a device to measure electronic voice phenomena (EVP).

Most importantly, they all came with an open mind.

I had to ask what Aiello thought of the show “Ghost Hunters,” and he called it “inspirational.” 

“It made us realize it’s not difficult [ghost hunting]. It’s more difficult finding a venue,” he said. 

Interesting to me, because I asked Burr the same question earlier in the night, who said investigators on the show seemed unprofessional and were quick to denounce things such as orbs. He also said they talked too much, which he said would hinder a spirit wanting to come through.

Either way, it was just about time to start and before killing the lights, I talked to Sara about what she wanted to find. 

“It’s an opportunity to look for answers, or find more questions. Either way, it’s exciting,” she said. 

The group investigated two at a time and as soon as I heard Brett ask if there was anyone there who wanted to communicate with them, I thought, “OK, here we go.”

“I smell presence,” Brett said as he walked past me. I nervously laughed and figured he was trying to pull my chain.

As my eyes tried to adjust, I couldn’t decide if I even wanted to look around. At one point Brett asked if the alleged ghost could make the baking sheets come off the shelf. Realizing I was standing right in front of them, I thought it best to move.

I wasn’t as scared as I thought I would be, but still had that urge to look over my shoulder into the darkness, but not really wanting to at the same time.

Hours passed and I stood there silently observing their technique. They really wanted to hear or see something (so did I), but at the same time be professional and not jump to conclusions about anything that happened.

I could hear the excitement in Aiello’s voice when his camera shut off unexpectedly when there should have been plenty of recording time left on it. After turning it back on, it would shut off again, at what seemed like roughly five-minute intervals. A ghost or just a technical malfunction? 

He couldn’t really say.

The foursome at one time or another would address Jesse Ham or Mr. Z, coaxing them to make a noise, move an object or do anything. They would even challenge our potential ghost, like a paranormal reverse psychology of sorts.

The climax of the night was around midnight when Brett received massive interference on his radio. Shortly after, a loud cracking noise came from the kitchen.

“It made me jump, it felt like it was near us,” Brett said.

He said he went home that evening and found one of the batteries in the radio was corroded, which he thought strange because it was brand new and shouldn’t have expired until 2013. A paranormal occurrence? Again, he couldn’t really say.

At the end of three hours, the lights were flipped back on and everyone looked a little bleary eyed. 

All in all, after reviewing audio and video tape, Brett said they didn’t find anything that would lead them to conclude the store was haunted, but that’s not to say that it is not.

He said to keep in mind the situation was challenging in terms of noise contamination. In a commercial location such as the Landing Store it’s difficult to have complete silence because of coolers and other equipment. Headlights from vehicles driving by also made it difficult to gain complete darkness.

Brett summed up the experience by saying they appreciate any time they have an opportunity to conduct an investigation.

He said because they are novices, they hope each new experience will aid in future investigations.

The team welcomes inquiries and will be discreet in any investigation they conduct. For more information, call 632-5096.