The Monitor
Tomas Perez doesn’t believe in ghosts — but he wants to.
So does Rick Perez, the founder of Ghost Hunters of South Texas. Both men had experiences in childhood that inspired them to look beyond the inexplicable bumps in the night and find out exactly what was going on.
The members of G.H.O.S.T. conduct paranormal investigations anywhere they’re needed, especially homes where children are scared – those cases take priority.
“Our mission is to put people at ease,” said Tomas, 42. “If people are having problems, we want to tell them, ‘No, this is what’s happening.’”
When hunting ghosts, Tomas and Rick are actually using very specialized equipment – including extremely sensitive microphones, several cameras and recording devices, and electromagnetic field detectors – to find logical explanations for whatever sound, image or feeling that is experienced.
The two are serious about their hobby. Equipment and time spent can get costly – they’ve spent almost $9,000 so far. For nearly two years, Tomas and Rick, along with a couple of other investigators, have conducted about 20 investigations – and they’ve never charged for their services.
Spending hours at a residence, public building or cemetery is only the first part of the investigation. There will be many more hours spent poring over video, audio and photographic evidence. And if they think they’ve found something that can’t be explained, they go over it again. And again.
“When in doubt, throw it out,” Tomas said. “We have to be 100 percent positive. Ninety-five percent of the evidence we get is thrown out. So if it might be something, it gets thrown out.”
That five percent is what G.H.O.S.T. really wants to find.
Tomas and Rick, along with a few other investigators, agreed to take Festiva along to a few recent cases, and ended up finding some of the most convincing evidence they’ve seen yet.
(Editor’s note: The identity of the family will not be revealed to respect their privacy.)
McAllen residence – Oct. 3, 2009
A family of four has lived in this north McAllen home for the past 17 years, and none of its members can remember a time when there wasn’t something strange going on. Each family member has had several paranormal experiences at the house.
The daughter, who contacted Festiva to have her house investigated by G.H.O.S.T., recalled seeing an apparition of a little girl and hearing knocks on her door. Sometimes doors or cabinets would open and shut seemingly on their own, and pets acted erratically, she said.
The ghost hunting team, which included four people, grew to eight when Festiva joined the investigation. Nearly an hour after we arrived, cameras and other equipment were finally set up.
Groups of two to three people chose a room to investigate. There are many different methods in getting a ghost or spirit to interact. Sometimes the ghost hunters will knock and ask for a knock back in response. Other times they will try to instigate a fight with a ghost, hoping an entity will strike out while video cameras were recording. Often times though, they get nothing, which is what it seemed we were going to get at the McAllen house.
Then it happened. A small clinking sound came from the empty office. Then another. When it was confirmed no one bumped or dropped anything, Rick asked the ghost to do it again. Another small object is thrown.
It all seems promising, but they can’t be sure of anything until they go over the video and audio footage. There’s always the possibility that someone is bored and is trying to spice things up a bit.
Two weeks later, Tomas calls with the news that the small batteries that were thrown in the hallway were not thrown by anyone in the house. Video and audio footage proves that all pets and people were accounted for. Also, a microphone in one of the bedroom’s picked up more than the object being thrown: a sound that cannot be attributed to anyone in the room – a giggle.
Watch the footage online at .
Alamo City Library
A last-minute investigation conducted by G.H.O.S.T. at the Alamo City Library didn’t produce a lot of material, but it did glean some evidence that something unusual is going on there.
While sitting in the children’s section of the library, Tomas tries to coax ghosts into talking to him by offering to read a book. In the audio, you can hear Tomas joke about how the book needs to be third-grade level, because he dropped out of school in the third grade. After a few laughs from the three members of the ghost hunting team, a fourth laugh from an unknown source is heard.
Also, a photograph they snapped shows a dark image at the doorway. The bright flash confirms it isn’t a shadow, but the darkness stops just at the door jam. So what is it?
Check out the audio of the laugh, and photos from the library at .
Stillman House – Oct. 9, 2009
Ask some of the volunteers at the 159-year-old Stillman House, a museum in the Heritage Complex in downtown Brownsville, if it is haunted and you’ll hear stories of an unplugged radio playing, sounds of a child crying and pots and pans clanging in the former kitchen.
When G.H.O.S.T. took on the task of finding ghosts at the old museum, they were a bit disappointed … at first.
“Nothing really happened,” Tomas said. “As an investigation; it was boring.”
But when the team sifted through the footage a week later, they discovered a lot more going on than was perceptible the night of the hunt.
The loud noises that are often reported heard in the kitchen are audible in a few tracks G.H.O.S.T. recorded. Also, in empty rooms something falling onto the ground is clearly heard. At one point, when two female investigators are in the kitchen, a man’s voice can be heard, then a car from outside driving by, and then a voice. All of the microphones set up picking up the sound of the car, but only one recorded the man’s voice. There was no man in the room where the voice was recorded.
Hear the voice and decide for yourself at .
Galeria 409 – Oct. 17, 2009
Built in 1852, the building that now serves as an art gallery and music venue played host to many different types of businesses – from drugstore to bar and brothel to the Molson & Son Cotton Company.
Mark Clark purchased the building in 2005, and instead of renovating it, he chose to restore it to its original form. He removed stucco and exposed the original brick underneath, along with placing windows and doors where they used to be. He also may have uncovered more than history and the natural beauty of the building.
Clark said he’s experienced only slight paranormal activity himself, but he can’t explain why a digital camera, CD player and flashlights with new batteries and bulbs would stop working suddenly.
On a late Saturday night, G.H.O.S.T. took a small team of investigators to hunt ghosts at the gallery. Once again, the noises and voices that were captured were not perceptible until the footage was reviewed. At one point, a very distinct disembodied voice is heard responding to a question. In another track, when only one female was present, a second female voice can be heard.
What do you think the voices are saying?
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A lot of preparation goes into an investigation for G.H.O.S.T. Here’s how they do it.
-Interview with those who are experiencing unexplained phenomena to determine the hot spots for the investigation.
-Cameras and microphones are set up in various parts of a room to pick up any activity.
-Air conditioners and fans are turned off; windows and doors are shut.
-EMF (electromagnetic field) detectors are used throughout the building – if the readings are high, it’s possible that it could be from paranormal activity, or simply an abundance of energy created by wiring.
-Each investigative session lasts about 45 minutes, and the team will perform several sessions in one night if time allows.
-The team constantly asks questions, knocks on walls and floors or yells at ghosts to try to provoke them.
-After the night of research is over, the hours of footage will be reviewed many times over for visual evidence or electronic voice phenomena.
-If they have evidence of a ghost or haunting, G.H.O.S.T. will present the results to the family, and their options for getting rid of the presence, but they do not do house cleansings themselves.
-Whether they get anything or not, G.H.O.S.T. will often go back to the same residence for another investigation.
For more information on G.H.O.S.T., check our their Web site at
