This photo, from a basement room in an Illinois home, shows a spirit in the form of a rod drawing energy from an electrical source. The bar of light also appears to have a circular orb nearby. Other corroborating evidence at the site indicated that paranormal activity had been taking place at the site. (Photo courtesy of McHenry County Paranormal Research Group)

Tony Olszewski had pretty much seen everything during his law enforcement career, including a 22-year stint with the McHenry County Sheriff’s Department, and six years as deputy chief in Holiday Hills. However some of his more memorable experiences seemed beyond the normal realm of physical evidence and veered into uncharted areas.

“Some of the incidents just defied a rational explanation,” he said. “For instance, I responded to a call in the rural Richmond area, where the complaint indicated a person was seen by the homeowners, repeatedly staring into the front residential windows. They thought it was a nurse because this person was always dressed in white. It had snowed, and sure enough, there were a ladies’ size shoeprints by the window.

“We followed the prints away to the back yard, where they vanished … no sign, and we searched in a 40-foot circumference. I then realized there were no footprints leading up to the window. Everybody laughed at our report, since it didn’t make sense. Officers are normally very analytical, so none of it added up.”

Inklings that some cases involved paranormal activity were rooted in a 1974 county incident where a driver had hit a utility pole, and Olszewski was first responder on the scene.

“The power lines were on the car, the driver was grounded and you could see the arcs of electricity like out of Frankenstein’s laboratory, every few seconds. I tried to time it, to grab the guy through the window, and I almost made it.”

Managing to pull the driver to safety, the arc came back with a full jolt. Olszewski awoke in a ditch and radioed for help. According to paramedics and doctors, his heart had stopped and his survival was a miracle.

“I didn’t see the bright light at the end of a tunnel, so I feel cheated there. But I noticed an increase in my empathic abilities.”

By 2006, what had become a “selfish” search for answers led to the formation of the McHenry County Paranormal Research Group, and a sincere desire to help others, on this plane or the next one. Their mission statement is to identify paranormal issues, and attempt a resolution between spirits and living persons, while helping those spirits cross over to the light.

Their focus is a distinct departure from the “television-ambush” style of agitating spirits

): The photo was taken in aWalworth county living room, when activity was detected. It shows rods, as light streaks caused by entities moving in front of the lens. (Photo courtesy of McHenry County Paranormal Research Group)

for entertainment and personal gain. When contacted and invited to a site, the group employs multiple forms of data gathering for empirical evidence involving meters for electronic detection and temperature readings, personal experiences, digital sound and video recorders, as well as handwritten documentation logs, coinciding with time of occurrences.

“It’s a layering effect for a specific point in the investigation, and a single-blind approach, where only the lead investigator is aware of the facts. Members are paired off and independent at the site,” he said. “We also have spirit guides and spirit protectors that help us when confronting negative energy, or spirits hesitant to cross over into the white light.”

When the correlated data indicates the presence of an entity, or entities, the mediums will attempt communication.

Olszewski noted, “Spirits are all around us, everywhere, and it becomes a haunting when they interact or bother the client, hence the ‘ghost’ term by connecting with a person, place, or thing. Most spirits want to go undetected and unnoticed.”

The vernacular is specific, and lists three types of contact: Intelligent (active interaction), Poltergeist (noisy and purposely disruptive), and Residual (a repeating imprint, similar to a tape loop). Spirits also require energy, he said, to “feed” on, in order to interact, whether from electrical sources or individuals.”

Those forms of energy include orbs (luminous with their own energy source, and non-luminous), ectoplasm (a visible mist, or fluid form), shadow people, partial or full-body apparitions, rods (streaks of light), and psychic blur (when the energy comes between an object and a camera), the latter being the most common form.

Another term, “crossing over,” has been explained by various mediums as the act of crossing into the light for a departed spirit, to be with God and their loved ones. Olszewski said the team’s mediums witness the act occurring, and relay it to those unable to “see or feel it.” A difficulty in convincing a spirit to cross stems from the spirit’s belief that once the action is completed, they cannot come back.

“They can,” he said. “One immutable fact is that spirits know a person’s heart and intent.”

Resolution to “hauntings” for the team is dependent on circumstances, with some requiring a field investigation, although the many can be assisted through telephone readings. The group serves clients in the northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin regions through their website — www.paranormalassist.com.

“There is no fee, and nothing that we do … nothing would be considered extraordinary that others could not do,” Olszewski said. “It’s a matter of acquiring the knowledge and proceeding with a clear intent of service and helping.”

–Local paranormal group seeks only to aid clients, spirits–