In September 1996, a psychic named Cleo Briggs and her trusty assistant, “Eshaya,” appeared at the Denver Press Club to investigate a spat of eerie disturbances.
Briggs, after taking in the environs, claimed to have “sensed” a gaggle of card-playing journalists, a woman who had been murdered in the alleyway 25 years ago and an unidentified person who had been hanged.
Briggs and Eshaya performed a “cleansing,” and these spirits were mercifully removed – except the four stubborn card-playing reporters. These holdouts even had a message for the here-and-now.
“‘Do whatever you want around us – but let us keep the table,”‘ Briggs, in a 1997 interview, claimed the paranormal poker players had told her. “They just said this is all they’ve ever wanted to do in life, continue to play poker.”
And really, who can blame them? They’re stuck in the afterlife. Everyone knows time flies playing cards.
Other reported occurrences in the Denver Press Club include: Bottles and chairs moving around on their own. Unexplained footsteps. Temperature changes and “bad feelings.”
You may not know any journalists personally, but you wouldn’t be totally off base suggesting that perhaps some of this paranormal activity was observed after copious consumption of alcohol.
As out-of-world experiences go, call me extremely cynical. I don’t believe in paranormality on any level – whether we’re talking haunted houses or the parting of the Red Sea.
Bryan Bonner, the founder of the Rocky Mountain Paranormal Research Society, though, has made it his business to investigate “incidents.”
“We’ve dedicated ourselves to helping people to deal with paranormal events going on in their homes or businesses,” Bonner says of the RMPRS, officially formed in 1999. “We’re here to find some sort of proof about what’s going on so that people will be able to seek help more legitimately than they can right now.”
Bonner explained that the RMPRS receives around 30 calls a year. It can range from “We’re hearing things in our house” to “Help! Something is attacking us in our house.” Bonner also says 90 percent of the events, if not more, can be naturally explained.
Really, 90 percent?
As far as the traditionally spooky spots – the local haunted mansion industry – Bonner tells me they have attained urban legend status and it’s become too difficult to separate myth from fact.
But he’s done the homework. The
RMPRS website is crammed with detailed histories of bloodcurdling spots like Cheesman Park – or I should say, the one-time Denver cemetery – Weld County Courthouse and Elitch Theatre.
Some cases come with pictures. Really.
“We use all kinds of equipment: audio, video, stills, infrared, temperature-sensing equipment. We have a lot of electromagnetic field meters,” Bonner explains. “We try to hit everything in the spectrum.”
I think – and, honestly, I don’t mean this antagonistically – they have every piece of equipment but reality.
Now, you might think you have a ghost problem. If so, the RMPRS will interview you and rule out any psychological problems. (Though some may contend that seeking out a real-life ghostbuster means psychiatric assistance is already in your future.)
If the RMPRS believes the disturbance has something to do with the location, a historical evaluation will be made. “Is there a trend of the house being sold for every six months for no reason? Has there been any kind of tragic event that’s taken place there?” Bonner will ask.
Then the group will bring in a crack team of investigators. A simple house might see three or four ghost hunters; a larger project, say the Weld County Courthouse, may mean a team of a dozen.
Me? If I find a couple of reporter ghosts playing cards in my house, I leave them be. There are worse fates.
But that’s just me.
(Haunted house? Visit rockymountainparanormal.com.)
David Harsanyi’s column appears Monday and Thursday. He can be reached at 303-954-1255 or dharsanyi@denverpost.com.
