They Keep Going and Going and Going...

Ghosts need energy to manifest and move, but cannot create their own energy sources. Their solution is to steal the energy needed. Unfortunately for our Ghost Hunters of Asheville guests, this oftentimes includes energy from camera batteries.

Such ghostly thefts appear to run in cycles on our tours. Cameras remain undisturbed for a few months, then run out of juice nightly for 2 - 3 weeks. We always tell guests to come touring with full camera power and perhaps extra batteries "just in case". We also sell batteries along the Ghost Hunters of Asheville tours.

To all those guests who have experienced the frustration, for those who have said, "I thought you were kidding about the batteries", to the gentleman who lost all energy on just one shot at our tour's most haunted location... The following article is of importance -- as it it to any ghost hunter, really. Failure of equipment guarantees a lack of results.

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What are the Longest-Lasting Batteries?
by Althea Chang
Sunday, February 21, 2010

Store brands may save you money on household necessities, but generic batteries might not be your best bet, according to recent tests comparing name brand and store brand batteries.


CVS AA Long Lasting alkaline batteries didn't actually last longer than other batteries tested under the same conditions by Consumer Reports. In fact, those generics had less than half the power as Panasonic Evolta alkaline batteries, Consumer Reports found.

Among the longest-lasting AA batteries overall were Energizer's Ultimate single-use lithium batteries, which took 678 pictures before dying, compared with 92 shots taken with a camera using the CVS batteries. As a group, lithium batteries lasted the longest, but budget-friendly rechargeable batteries performed nearly as well, Consumer Reports said.

And rechargeables like those made by Energizer and Duracell could be your best bet for use in digital cameras and favorite toys, Consumer Reports suggests.

For remote controls, flashlights and other devices, alkaline batteries might be your best bet since their charge could last you several years, while rechargeable ones can lose their charge over time, as MainStreet previously reported.

Consumers may not want to rule out store-brand batteries completely, however. Kirkland Signature AA batteries, sold at Costco only in packs of 48, lasted nearly as long as the Panasonic batteries, according to Consumer Reports.

The Ghost Tree Redux

A few posts ago, I'd featured a new hot spot that had appeared and gone within the matter of a few weeks in our Ghost Hunters of Asheville downtown tour. [See "The Ghost Tree" blog entry.]

The orbs in this spot were nearly always low to the ground and, since the orbs were always clustered around only the tree, I sensed that it may well be the spirit of a pet. I personally felt it was a dog buried there by a parishioner who wanted it laid to rest by the church.

A few days ago, I received this photo from a couple on the tour taken at the spot. Notice the figure of the dog on the left. This, despite there were no lone dogs around us that night. Not only are loose dogs against the law, but I keep a very watchful eye on the activity around us during the tour -- and there were no dogs. That the car's tire can be seen through the canine is added credence to it being a ghost. The glowing eyes are what give me the creeps!!

Chattanooga Choo Choo Chimera

The Chattannooga Choo Choo Holiday Inn celebrates that city's flirtations with trains by offering special accommodations aboard authentic Victorian railcars. John West and his wife stayed in these special accommodations in August 2004, only to find they weren't alone. In John West's words:

"Our evening there began with a TV which seemed to have a mind of its own. We had instances where channels would be changing without any input from ourselves. We also had items moved from locations where they had been placed to be discovered in other locations. The wife sensed the presence of a being passing behind her back."

John took the above photo outside their room around 11:00pm. It's a great example of ectoplasmic mist. He says he sees the shape of someone crawling although I see an elongated face on the right too.

Thanks to these former Ghost Hunters of Asheville guests for sharing this remarkable image.

The Ghost Tree

After nearly two years of downtown ghost-hunting, one would think we at Ghost Hunters of Asheville would know the area like the back of our hand. We do ... until it changes! And change it does: Energies come and go, previously haunted locations go fallow, new places arise. It keeps the hunting exciting; you never know what to expect.

One evening our group stumbled across a seemingly haunted tree. Alerted when the meters went wild, we were able to isolate the area of the energy source. Laura Gonzalez of Chicago took a photo, capturing an orb. There were no meter readings the next night and no paranormal entities captured on film. The yellow orb was there again the third night. And so it went -- on and off -- for two weeks. Excepting one evening, there was a positive correlation between meter activity and orbs -- or no meter activity, no orbs. And now? Nothing. Ever. Just like before.

Every night, you just never know.