Not-for-profit ghost hunters track myths

Footsteps falling in an empty attic or pots flying off the wall in a deserted kitchen would send most people running, but Jonathan Ness -- usually armed only with a camera -- stands his ground.

Ness, 30, is a ghost hunter. The Brandywine resident has been seeking explanations for the seemingly inexplicable at historic sites around the world for most of his life.

"You're so amazed when it happens. You don't have time to react with fear," said Ness, a law enforcement officer with Prince George's County. He declined to name his department at the request of his employer.

Ness and fellow ghost hunter Frank J. Polievka Jr. of Waldorf founded their paranormal investigation group, AdventureMyths, in 2006 and have traveled to about 10 international locations, from castles in Ireland to caves in Puerto Rico, searching for evidence of paranormal activity.

Ness defines paranormal activity as anything that can't be easily explained, ranging from stairs that creak when no one is there to reports of disembodied voices. AdventureMyths tends to investigate sites in which someone died tragically, looking for evidence that the ghost stayed behind, Ness said.

When an investigation is complete, Ness, Polievka and other members of their team turn their findings into documentary films. The team signs over the rights to those films to the historic sites they investigate, so staff at the sites can use the films for fundraising.

At the 19th-century Dr. Samuel A. Mudd House in Waldorf, for instance, they learned that several children in the family died at a young age, Ness said. The team recorded what they contend are children's voices or laughter at the house.

Daniel Fluhart, president of the Mudd House, said that although he is "not really a full-blooded convert" when it comes to believing in paranormal activity, he plans to sell the documentary AdventureMyths produced to raise money for the house's preservation.

"That was nice of them to do that," he said. "We are a self-supporting museum, so every penny counts."

The entire enterprise -- including eight high-tech video cameras, which are worth about $6,000 -- is financed by team members, donations and sales of their DVDs through a Web site, http://www.adventuremyths.com.

"It's more about the research and documenting these legends" than making a profit, said Polievka, 38, who is the director of training for a private security firm.

The investigators capture their best evidence on film or tape, they said. Ness and Polievka pointed to the new movie "Paranormal Activity," a fictional account of a couple trying to document eerie goings-on in their home, as an example of what they do, although they said the events portrayed in the movie are more dramatic than what they usually experience.

The team traveled in July to Shenandoah National Park in Virginia to investigate the historic Corbin Cabin. According to legend, Nee Corbin died in childbirth and was buried nearby in the early 1900s. The team set up cameras and attempted to contact her.

Team members asked questions directed at Corbin's spirit, such as, "Is anyone here with us?" or "What year is it for you?" Polievka said.

They heard what sounded like a blunt object rolling across the floor from the deserted attic, Ness said. His first instinct in such situations is to come up with possible natural explanations, such as a mouse running across the floor, but further investigation yielded no answers, he added.

"It was cool -- I was telling everybody to hush," said team member Michelle Burnette, 24, of Bowie, who was filming at the time.

The team members say they face skepticism from their friends, relatives and the public. But the fact that they question their own evidence, along with the team's not-for-profit status, are reasons to trust them, Ness said.

"We don't ask people to believe us," he added. "We just ask that people have an open mind."