Hunting for ghosts in Butler’s South Side Cemetery
A cemetery always has a creepy vibe, but the ghost hunter trekking through South Side Cemetery off South Main Street in Butler only added to the otherworldly atmosphere Thursday.
Ghost hunter Angel Deyarmin brought a load of equipment to the cemetery she say allows her to communicate with those who have breached the mortal veil.
Before Deyarmin even switched anything to the ‘on’ position, she stopped in her tracks near the entrance.
“I see dead people,” she said matter of factly. “There are three men here.”
Deyarmin, of Jefferson County, said while she has traveled all over the United States to investigate paranormal situations, Butler County has a very interesting history.
“There’s a lot of Native American history and a lot of old German beliefs,” Deyarmin said. “It makes for the perfect firestorm for spiritual activity.”
She set up what appeared to be a string of lights, but actually were meters that detect and measure electromagnetic energy.
The theory is, if a spirit is near, the meters, they will blink.
Deyarmin said while she is a ghost hunter, she also is a major skeptic who tries to explain the unexplained through natural reasons.
For example, she said old houses shift, causing their occupants to assume the creaking and other noises are paranormal.
Similarly, exposure to electromagnetic energy through poor wiring or electrical service can cause nausea, hallucinations and just a strange physical feeling.
“People think if you can’t explain something, it must be paranormal,” Deyarmin said.
She has debunked hauntings at about 20 locations to which she has been called to investigate.
“Some people’s imaginations are really, really active, or maybe they wanted their houses to be haunted,” Deyarmin said.
Conversely, Deyarmin said she was lifted 6 inches off the ground and thrown into the woods in Gettysburg, and was touched by a deceased Vietnam veteran at the Butler Veterans Affairs facility on New Castle Road in Butler Township.
“I could see Joey like he was standing right beside me,” she said of the spirit at the old VA building.
Deyarmin asked several questions in the cemetery, and correlated some of the noises that played on her spirit box application to potential answers.
She explained that not all hauntings are the same, and not all ghosts can interact with the living.
She said residual haunts are events that occur like they are on a continuous loop, and the ghosts involved are not aware of the presence of a living person.
Demonic haunts she does not deal with, and prefers passing those investigations off to a professional who can eradicate the demon.
An intelligent haunt can interact with a ghost hunter by touching them, tripping trigger objects, turning lights on and off, and speaking over special equipment used by ghost hunters.
“Those are the ones I hunt for,” Deyarmin said. “I love it when I knock, and they knock back.”
She used copper dowsing rods at the cemetery to ask questions of any spirits who may have been present, and the rods seemed to point in the directions requested by Deyarmin.
She said the veil between the living and dead is thin.
“I have to be careful,” she said.
Come along with community editor, Paula Grubbs, and Angel Deyarmin as they explore the South Side Cemetery over on YouTube.
