Is an Aiken County restaurant haunted? 11/8/2008 12:09 AM
Staff photo by Rachel Johnson
By RACHEL JOHNSON Staff writer
The evidence has been reviewed and suspicions confirmed: Riley's Whitby Bull is haunted.
Will and Lorraine Riley suspected they might not be alone in their restaurant, and reported seeing fleeting glimpses of the unexplainable - such as hearing music and the presence of little people - since they have been the owners of the Pine Log Road location. They aren't alone in their reports, as previous owners have documented strange occurrences including the turning of a doorknob. Current employees report bizarre encounters, as well.
Curious to find out if they were not alone, the Graniteville Paranormal Society (GPS) was called in to conduct an investigation on Halloween night. The group is not your typical group of "ghost hunters": they are a family joined by close friends who share a common interest.
GPS founder Scott Sperringer and his friends began investigating suspected hauntings for fun a few years ago, visiting graveyards and abandoned buildings. During the early days the equipment was primitive; however, that has changed.
As Scott became more serious about expanding the group, Kim and Tim Sperringer, his parents, decided to get involved. With their addition came the rest of the family, Chelsea Sperringer, Scott's younger sister, and Scott's wife Amy Sperringer.
"I told Scotty if you are going to do this, you have to do it right," Kim said. SClBThe Sperringers conducted extensive research to find the proper equipment and finesse investigation techniques. As a starting point for the group, they researched places around the state with suspected hauntings and went out to collect their own evidence. In less than a year, GPS has investigated over 19 locations. At the conclusion of each investigation members of the team review evidence, and Kim creates episodes revealing the evidence and providing the history of a location. These videos are then made available to the public at www.granitevilleparanormal.com, as well as on YouTube.
"It's a history lesson in a new way," said Kim.
GPS's latest investigation occurred in Aiken County at Riley's Whitby Bull and, after pouring over video tapes, EVPs, temperature changes and photographs, evidence revealed an "intelligent haunting" is present at Riley's Whitby Bull. According to Kim Sperringer, case manager and investigator, an intelligent haunting means "an actual spirit or ghost that can communicate, move things, tap on a shoulder in order to be noticed."
The evidence used to arrive at the conclusion includes cold spots (drastic temperature drops), anomalies on video and EVP responses.
Tim explains, "An EVP is an electronic voice phenomenon: a sound, a noise, a voice not audibly heard at the time of the recording. It's picked up on an electronic device. It may sound malevolent or rough or bad but that's not the case - it's just using the energy around it in order to let you know it's there or to create the EVP."
During review of the EVPs, an audible response to direct questions is heard on several occasions. "EVP responses indicate a possible intelligent haunting. There is nothing to indicate that (the ghost or spirit) is nothing more than friendly and seems to enjoy the residence/restaurant and the owners," agreed GPS investigators Kim, Scott, Chelsea and Tim.
In addition to the EVPs, there were also two EMF spikes away from electrical sources, on registering on a KII meter and the other on a Gauss meter.
"Both occurred during the drastic temperature change in the yellow room during an EVP session," said Kim. "The video evidence is not strong, but the EVPs are fairly strong and what we consider Class B, meaning audible but faint."
All of the EVP and video recordings may be found on GPS's website for others to draw their own opinions.
GPS is currently seeking personal residences to investigate. "We are a nonprofit group; therefore investigation requests are always free of charge, nor do we accept donations," said Kim. "We do this because we enjoy it. If you suspect paranormal activity contact us at questions@granitevilleparanormal.com to complete an investigation. Everything is done with permission to gain access."
"We hunt what haunts us," said Scott.
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Comment Title: great job rachel
just wanted to say good job on the article rachel. if anyone reading this has a residence that ya think just might be haunted, i want to let ya know that we do try to "debunk" noises and happenings first. we are not a bunch of druggies and drunks tryin to make somethin haunted. we are actually investigating and pulling factual information from the evidence that we gather. if a faucet turns on by itself....we want to try to find the plumbing problem b4 we call it a ghost. so dont hesitate to call us. we would be glad to extend our services to anyone free of charge. thanks everyone.
Posted by: On: 11/9/2008
Comment Title: Allegation There
It sounds like another allegation in our safe haven. Call the GED educated sheriff and he will arrest the ghost before we all loose our safety and security in Aiken County. Also, if he sends a deputy in and they get in a fight, he will fire his deputy so you don't have to worry about your ghost getting hurt.
Posted by: Kim On: 11/8/2008
Comment Title: It is interesting, but can be boring also...
Hi all, I'm Kim from GPS. I just pulled this up. Got a few seconds before I have to paint my TV room, yuck. Anyway, it is interesting and can be fun, but it can be boring and time consuming as well. Investigations can be a long night of sitting, waiting, walking,(steps will kill you if you going up and down 50 times) etc. Then you have to take everything you have...all the videos, all the data, all the recordings and review all of it...every minute. Which is normally a 2-3 day process to find out what you have if anything. Then you have to pick it apart and come up with logical answers or reasons what caused it, if there is one. That may even mean going back a second time to disprove something. Paranormal investigations is much different than jumping in a car to ghost hunt at a bridge or a local alleged haunted spot. I have bumped Scott's arm on more than one occasion because he fell asleep and was snooring on the recorder. Also one other comment to add...thank you to whoever reminded the poster that we are a family, and comments in regards to drugs and beer is less than appealing nor worth commenting on. Paranormal investigating makes up maybe 4-5% of our time and lives. We are parents, GRANDPARENTS and a family first and foremost. Furthermore, we do not drink AT ALL(Tim and I), nor do we tolerate drug use and it was a rude comment. Some people golf, others do this...we do both. And to add to that...most groups do not take any money, it is considered unethical. We are not a business. This is all volunteers. Some do take donations, however we do not. We don't believe in that either. Donations should be given to charity organizations, not paranormal groups. Also, thanks for all the great emails! They are a lot of fun:) Thanks!
Posted by: On: 11/8/2008
Comment Title:
This is interesting. I would love to go with them when they do a reading!
Posted by: TL On: 11/8/2008
Comment Title: I agree
If you cannot make an intelligent comment why bother.
Posted by: On: 11/8/2008
Comment Title: Let's Not Get Nuts
I want to make something perfectly clear. If you believe or do not believe in ghosts is your opinion, however the comment about the drugs and beer was not only ignorant but slandering. This is primarily a FAMILY you are referring to who does this. It is no different from watching Ghost Hunters on SciFi.
Posted by: E.S. On: 11/8/2008
Comment Title: neck deep
Neck deep in a crock of it!
Posted by: On: 11/7/2008
Comment Title:
Wow, they'll do anything for business. A week too late, though.
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