Investigated ghosts disappear

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Investigated ghosts disappear
December 5, 2009
by David Hutter
The Register Citizen

BARKHAMSTED — The horses do not mysteriously switch stalls at the Santos farm anymore.

Nor does the cat’s bowl move from one step to another step to another.

Donna Santos believed spirits were at work inside her house and inside her barn on West Hill Road. According to her, the horses moving from one stall to another and the cat’s bowl moving are the work of spirits.

“There are no more ghosts. They’re all gone,” Donna Santos said. “My horses are very happy now that the paranormal society has finished its work. They’re not scared anymore. Since they came to investigate, everything has been fine.”

Besides the horses switching stables on their own and the cat bowl moving on its own, the family’s dog growled at apparently invisible beings, Donna said in an interview this week.

Her husband Bob, son Danny, daughter Cari, and Donna became uncomfortable living in their house. Unable to find a rational explanation for these occurrences, the family began considering the notion that they lived among spirits.

“I did not move the horses. My husband did not move the horses,” Donna said. “Our children did not move the horses.”

“The horses could not unlock themselves and move on their own,” she said. “Something had to move them.”

Eventually, she heard about a group called the Northwest Connecticut Paranormal Society. Comprised of people who believe they have experienced a paranormal activity, the society scrutinizes instances in which people report suspected supernatural activities.

Donna Santos initially suspected someone broke into her barn, unlocked the horses from their stalls and then moved them around. Eventually, she called the state police and had state troopers stay outside her barn on at least one night; even then, in the morning she found the horses were in different stalls, Donna said.

John Zontok, the founder of this paranormal society, describes himself as a skeptic and a critical thinker. With its goal being to educate people, the society includes a college professor, a professional photographer, a paralegal, a business executive, a Marine, a Reiki master, college students and a dog, according to the organization.

“Something in the barn was threatening her animals,” Zontok said. “We captured several unexplainable voices.”

The team uses an array of devices in an effort to determine the source of suspected paranormal activities. Seeking an answer to people who have many questions, the paranormal society does not charge any money for its services.

“Our main goal is to find something to show that paranormal activity exists,” Zontok said. “I am a sceptic regarding the paranormal.”

As the paranormal society people investigated activities in the barn, they were filmed by Picture Shack Productions. The production company interviewed the Santos family at their farm in January and June. Picture Shack Productions documented the paranormal society’s investigation at the Santos house.

Picture Shack sold its work to Animal Planet. The television network will broadcast the piece on Sunday, Dec. 13, at 10 p.m. as part of a series called The Haunted.

Ever since the paranormal society people investigated, the unexplained phenomenon have stopped, according to Donna Santos.

Toward this end, she praised the paranormal society people for giving their time and skills.