Have you ever heard strange noises in the dark or felt a chilling presence in Lucille Clement dorm?
That may be because it is the most haunted building on ETSU’s campus, according to Robert Rushing, the president of the newly established ghost walking club at ETSU.
Rushing has been hunting ghosts with the group for a few years now. Ghost Walkers became officially recognized as a university organization two weeks ago. There are 13 members who travel to haunted sites around the area in search of ghosts.
“We search for tangible evidence to help the science evolve,” said Rushing.
Rushing, along with two other members in the club, are metaphysical practitioners. They go to sites and search with equipment such as digital audio recorders and night shot cameras to detect evidence of the paranormal. One way of detecting entities or ghosts is to look and feel for “cold spots.”
“Entities absorb energy from gases to manifest, making the air cold,” Rushing said.
The club searches for signs of the paranormal all around the area, but some don’t have to look too far. Hailey Wix and Bethany Eldrige are roommates in Lucille Clement. They claim to have a ghost haunting their room.
“I have a magnifying mirror in the room that the ghost turns off and on, once when I had it unplugged it was rapping on the mirror,” Wix said. “After I plugged it back up, the rapping stopped.”
The haunting goes farther than flashing lights.
“I had a plate of lasagna on my bed ready to be eaten, and nothing was touching it and the plate just flipped upside down and hit the floor,” Eldrige said.
Rumors similar to these have circulated for years. Now, thanks to the Ghost Walkers, these rumors can be documented and tested for authenticity.
The club recently went on an introductory investigation to the Sensabau Tunnel in Bristol, Tenn.
“We took the new members to wet their appetite,” Rushing said. “You could feel a magnetic pull in the tunnel, as if the ghost did not want us there. We also heard whimpering and laughing that was all recorded on our audio recorder.”
After the club investigates, they also conduct dub-proofing experiments that try to recreate what was seen or heard. If it cannot be recreated and there is no way that it could have been a hoax, it is documented.
“There was no one around when we heard the voices, no one could have been making those noises,” said Wix.
Rushing explained the different kinds of ghosts, and even described one of his own experiences.
“There are several different types of entities,” said Rushing. “There are human interactive entities, that if asked questions, will respond, human residual entities, that are similar to a recorder in that that do or say the same thing over and over as if in a loop. There are also inhuman and man-made entities.
“I was attacked by a man-made entity in a church where I was working as a security guard. People come to church and leave their negative thoughts at the door, this negative energy builds and manifests. I could feel it hovering over me jumping from rafter to rafter and then, it attacked me. It swooped down on me. I felt it through my back, arms and heart. I was tingling all over. I quit that job shortly after.”
The Ghost Walk members’ next excursion will happen within the next two weeks and will be conducted in both Burleson and Gilbreath halls. Both buildings are thought to be haunted. It is a closed investigation and only members are allowed to participate for safety reasons.
The club is open to anyone who is interested in the paranormal.
They examine evidence collected from previous investigations and documentaries of ghost hunts.
The Ghost Walkers will investigate West Virginia State Penitentiary over spring break. MTV did a documentary entitled “Fear” at this maximum security prison as did the Ghost Hunters.
Next Halloween the club hopes to run a haunted house for next Halloween or take students on a hoax ghost hunt.
The Ghost Walkers meet at 3 p.m. every first and third Saturday of the month in Room 355 of the Sherrod Library.

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