Feature
Local ghost hunters may be on small screen someday By CRISTINA HERRERA LareDOS Staff
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| L a r e DO S | AU G U S T 2011
Courtesy of the Paranormal Scene
M
aybe that cold brush of air on the back of your neck you felt while watching TV was something more. Or maybe you saw a pale white figure out of the corner of your eye while browsing through the newspaper, and you’re dying to explain it. If you believe ghosts are haunting your home or business, a new crew of Laredo ghost hunters is offering to help. Aaron Elekes, DeLorean Reese-Aceves, and Stefani Alvarez make up the cast of Paranormal Scene, a reality television project based in Laredo that mirrors popular shows such as Syfy’s Ghost Hunters. The show is still in the production phase, but Elekes, who has worked in the film industry making high-end commercials and short films, said he is talking to executives in Los Angeles about picking up the show. “Do we have experience? No,” said Elekes, who is the biggest skeptic of the crew. “There are no ghost-hunting universities that you go to. I’m sure there’s something online for somebody scamming you out of money, but not much else.” Reese-Aceves and Alvarez, both in their early 20s, joined the project near the beginning of this year. Reese-Aceves considers herself more spiritual, and is the one true believer in the group. Alvarez, who specifically likes to study UFOs, is also a skeptic but is “waiting” to confirm her suspicions about the paranormal. “I don’t believe and I don’t disbelieve. I just haven’t proven it to myself yet,” Alvarez said. Though Elekes works in the film industry, he said creating his own show has been difficult. Hours and hours of research, production, and editing have gone into the project so far, he said. The crew just started filming this summer. The show format goes like this: The crew receives contact from home and office owners who suspect that their location is haunted. The crew sets up a night to spend at the location, which can usually last up to eight hours. The owners must then leave the premises — so that they do not interfere with the investigation — while the crew brings their ghost-hunting equipment and painstakingly investigates each room. “You have to have a lot of patience,” Alvarez said. “The first place we went to was small, and it was a lot of walking back and forth, a lot of sitting, and asking questions over and over again to see if you got some-
From left to right, the Paranormal Scene crew is Stefani Alvarez, Aaron Elekes, and DeLorean Reese-Aceves thing in different rooms.” Elekes said nothing is told to the crew about the history of the location or whether there’s been a history of hauntings. He said this is done to better ensure an objective observation. Only the producer, Aaron’s wife Raquel, knows the history behind the location. Laredoan Virginia García serves as a local historian for the crew. Once the night is done, the crew submits their findings to the owners, who can provide some background information and confirm or deny facts so that the crew can better piece together who or what is haunting the location. “On other shows, they are going in with the knowledge that ghosts are there,” Elekes said. “So they’re already speculating, and if they get something, they’ll quickly say, ‘Well this sounds like so-and-so.’” When the crew first started, they had to figure out what equipment they’d be using to contact “the other side.” “There’s a lot of hokey equipment out there, so we had to figure out what is more scientific than what isn’t,” Elekes said. Elekes gave the example of a KII meter, a portable instrument that measures EMFs, or electromagnetic fields. According to the Association for the Scientific Study of Anomaly Phenomena’s website, “there is a widespread idea among paranormal researchers that ghosts emit an electromagnetic field and that their presence can, thus, be detected by EMF
meters. However, there seem to be no formal studies to support this idea.” The Paranormal Scene crew said it has picked up readings of high EMFs, but their story is just another to add to the list of anecdotal claims, which have never been traced back to their original sources, the association website goes on to say. “But you can actually take this [meter] in front of a microwave and see that it works. We’re trying to incorporate more of the science and technology into it,” Elekes said. The crew has consulted many paranormal investigators, some who have appeared on the popular ghost-hunting reality shows. In early July, the crew sent off an EVP, or Electronic Voice Phenomenon, to EVP specialists Mark and Debby Constantino, a husbandand-wife team who has appeared on SyFy’s Ghost Hunters, the Travel Channel’s Ghost Adventurers, and others. EVPs are recorded sounds that sound like speech, but cannot be substantiated. Elekes said the crew heard the word “devil” in the EVP, and the Constantinos came up with the same conclusion. Of course, Elekes said, the Constantinos were not there with the crew, meaning the evidence is still shaky. That continuing search for more solid proof keeps the Paranormal Scene going. Each crewmember has his or her own goal for the project. For Elekes, it’s finding tangible evidence and solving his own spiritual
dilemmas — what forces could cause the appearance of ghosts, if they indeed exist? “And if there’s something to debunk, we’re going to find it, too,” he said. For Alvarez, who is toeing the line between belief and skepticism, she hopes to also get confirmation — or lack thereof — from her own investigation. And for Reese-Aceves, who believes the crew is really communicating with ghosts, she loves exploring the buildings themselves. “I like going to places that most of the time you’d overlook, or places that you’ve seen and not been able to see the inside,” she said. “You’re terrified, but my producer made a good point to me the other day: Once you take a deep breath and realize you are more scared of the living than the dead, then you realize there’s really nothing to be scared of.” In the spirit of Ghostbusters, Elekes invites Laredoans to give the Paranormal Scene a call. “If they’ve had an experience, give us a call. We’re willing to lock ourselves down for eight hours,” he said. “We have dedicated people who really want to help.” To get in contact with the Paranormal Scene crew, call Raquel Elekes at (956) 489-9903. If you are interested in the crew coming out to check your home or office, there is a form online at paranormalscene. tv/?page_id=85 or call (956) 489-9991. u WWW.LAREDOSNEWS.COM