North-Eastern Alabama Paranormal Society

DEBORAH COLLARD

FOUNDER, NORTH-EASTERN ALABAMA PARANORMAL SOCIETY

Lead Investigator, Psychic, Remote Viewer, Cold Case Files

A Modern-Day Ghost Hunter

Local Woman takes on life after death in DeKalb

By Greg Purvis
gpurvis@times-journal.com

Shirley Jackson once said, “Everybody loves a ghost story.” Alabama has
a rich historical heritage and storytelling tradition that make a
perfect setting for family legends involving ghosts. But more and more
people share a belief that these stories may be more than just spooky
entertainment for campfires and Halloween parties.
North Alabama has its own paranormal investigator who is gaining
popularity and making a name for herself by taking accounts of haunting
seriously. Deborah Collard considers northeast Alabama her personal
ghost hunting preserve, and says she respects the history and lives
that have been lived in the region.
“It’s a hobby, but it’s a passion as well,” Collard said. “A passion to
learn, to explore. People will call and say there’s something happening
in their home, and they’re scared. You look for the ‘whys’ and try to
come up with a logical answer.”
Collard founded the Northeast Alabama Paranormal Society to fuel her
passion for answering the questions that any paranormal researcher must
ask. The society maintains an active Web site where you can access news
about ghost hunts, links to other research, and photographs that
attempt to document spiritual evidence.
“It’s really becoming a full-time job,” Collard said.
Of course, for every person who is searching for spiritual evidence
there are skeptics who will try to debunk the photographs, sound
recordings, and “field notes” as mere hyperbole—the product of folks
with overactive imaginations.
Collard said she tries to be as unbiased as a person can, when they are
passionate about a particular field of study.
“Well over half the time, it turns out that its something explainable,”
Collard said.
Her beliefs—kept in check by her attention to detail and use of a more
or less scientific methodology—are reminiscent of “The X-Files”
fictional investigator, Fox Mulder, who was fond of saying, “I Want To
Believe.”
Another well-known saying can describe her methods as well: Trust, but
verify.
Collard says spirits often congregate in a place that may have been
important to them in life—while others may be drawn like moths to a
flame to an area that is well-known for being a spiritual “hot spot”
and can be diagnosed using the tools of a serious paranormal
investigator.
“How many people have lived and died in a given area?” she asks. “We
seek the truth, in an unbiased and professional way.”
Ghost hunting, the kind that is the source for several new television
shows on the subject, has become a hobby that many people take
seriously. Some have even built a prosperous career seeking
explanations from the unexplained.
Collard’s ghost hunts have grown in popularity over the past several
years.
“A lot of people hear about what I do and they get really excited. They
want to come on a ghost hunt,” Collard says.
Ghost hunts are meticulously planned and carried out professionally.
Ghost hunters use modern scientific equipment, including temperature
probes, electromagnetic field detectors, infrared motion detectors,
digital cameras, low-light or infrared video cameras, sensitive
microphones and recording equipment and, of course, flashlights.
Collard says she takes an initial report from people who may be
experiencing phenomena that they cannot explain. She makes a site
visit, and takes copious notes. Then she spends hours doing research on
the location—looking up public records and conducting interviews to try
to get as much background information as possible.
Then, armed with all this information, Collard schedules a “ghost hunt.”
This same interest in spirits and the mediums that claim to communicate
with the dearly departed has seen a recent surge in popularity in the
21st century.
Television shows like “Ghost Hunter,” “A Haunting” and “Medium” are
becoming increasingly popular. Network television as well as cable
channels such as A&E, the SciFi Channel and Discovery have added
similar shows to their repertoire as the genre gains a much more
mainstream following.
Many of these shows take the viewer on an actual ghost hunt, with the
investigators, mediums and skeptics all searching for some way to prove
that spirits are real, and there is life after death.
But the recent interest in spirits and hauntings is nothing new.
The bloody and divisive battles of the American Civil War helped usher
in a renewed interest in spiritualism during the late 19th century.
It has even been widely reported that Mary Todd Lincoln—wife of
President Abraham Lincoln—hosted séances in the White House.
During this period in our history, many families across the nation were
touched by the tragedies of war. Countless thousands of men and boys
simply failed to return from the horrors of Antietam and Gettysburg.
The lucky family had the cold comfort of an official letter from the
war department informing them that a loved one had been lost in battle
(or died from wounds received there) and had been buried in mass graves
on the same fields where they fell.
Many people became interested in the answers that spiritualists claimed
they could offer: a voice from beyond the grave, an answer to nagging
doubts about what fate had befallen a father, brother or husband.
This same need to know is the passion that drives Collard and her
associates. The mystery that ghosts pose to the living is a mystery
that Collard wants to understand. In a very real way, it is THE mystery
that we are all searching for the answer to.

RICCI GUESS

Assistant Case Manager

I'm Ricci as you can tell. I'm 23 years old and the daughter of our founder Deborah Collard. I have a beautiful 2 year old daughter Kaylee who fulfills my life. I'm fun loving and full of excitement when it comes to the paranormal. I stood at a crossroads when it came to the paranormal, but following several very interesting encounters and with my mom's support allowing me to develop my sensitivity to unknown activity I am deeply studying and following in her footsteps. I keep NAPS busy setting up cases for the team to investigate, but that doesn't take me off the hook. I actively work the dowsing rods and do EVP's and take hundreds of photographs. I'm currently focusing more on my psychic abilities and utilizing them while investigating. I'm very excited about our new pilot coming out, arent' you?

ROBERT ATCHLEY

Historian

Hey, I'm Robert. They caught me without a cap on, dang it! I'm from Albertville, Alabama. I've been into the paranormal most all my life related to personal experiences that I've had. Other than that I have one thing to say "ROLL TIDE"! If I'm not watching football then its Nascar my friends. I'm really into sports as you can tell. NAPS is really a great group to work with. We've really seen some awesome things. See ya soon on the tube!

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