Smackover

Ghost hunters examine claims spirits make 4 buildings home

BY JAMIE DAVIS EL DORADO NEWS-TIMES

Saturday, January 3, 2009

SMACKOVER - Smackover’s plans for a ghost tour are off to a solid start, thanks to the conclusions drawn by Spirit Seekers, a nonprofit paranormal investigation team that examined four allegedly haunted downtown buildings.

The small town has been working to create a walking ghost tour, and because the four Main Street businesses - Lisa’s Family Hair Care, The Smackover Journal, The Flower Smith and the Burns Building - have long been rumored to be haunted, the Smackover Chamber of Commerce invited the Spirit Seekers to investigate the buildings in early December.

Alan Lowe, director of Spirit Seekers, announced this week that the final reports of the investigations have been released.

At Lisa’s Family Hair Care, where patrons have reported seeing “shadow people” and things that move on their own accord, the investigation team determined that “if this structure is haunted, it would be considered a low-grade, benevolent haunting.

“We did not gather enough evidence to conclusively say the shop is haunted,” the report concluded.

Evidence gathered at the salon included 295 digital photos, some of which revealed unexplained orbs of light and possibly even “ecto mist.” Only one of those photos qualified as positive evidence, however, according to the report.

Other evidence gathered at Lisa’s included 15 minutes of audio recordings.

The Smackover Journal, which adjoins Lisa’s Family Hair Care, was investigated at the same time as the salon. The building, built in the early 1900s, was once a pool hall.

According to the final report, the office “netted us a good portion of evidence” indicating thatpsychic energy was present.

“This energy can be labeled as active and demanding. More than one investigator said they did not feel welcome in this building. One even felt as if she were being told to leave,” the report said.

Photos taken in the Journal’s office revealed an energy orb and an unexplained “bright reddish light” and “glitter” that “could have been a spirit manifesting,” the report said. Also captured was an electronic voice phenomenon that “sounded like something being drug across the floor.”

The five investigators that examined the Journal’s office agreed that “they felt the presence of a short, older, white male that smoked cigars” and that the man was a past owner of the business that was in the building before the newspaper. The report noted that city officials verified that a previous owner fit that description.

“The grading system of all evidence gathered tells us that there is some sort of paranormal activity happening in the dark recesses of the Smackover Journal,” the report concluded.

The Burns Building, just down Main Street from the Journal and Lisa’s, houses the town’s old well. Town legend maintains that in the 1920s, a group of bank robbers gathered in the building and dropped their loot down the well when a gunbattle claimed one of their number. The report on the Burns Building indicated that several pieces of evidence gathered at the location suggest the presence of a “residual energy ... that was weak and hard to pin down.”

Several “orbs of interest” were photographed in the Burns Building, though only three fit the criteria of being energy orbs.

More than 400 digital photos were taken in the building, and 180 minutes of video and 15 minutes of audio were recorded.

The report concluded that “there is some sort of paranormal activity happening in the dark recesses of the Burns Building.”

But of all the buildings examined by the Spirit Seekers, only one was fully confirmed to be haunted: The Flower Smith.

The flower shop was once a doctor’s office, and community legend has it that a very ill little boy, “Jimmy,” was left there by his mother while she took her other children to a neighbor’s home. Jimmy reportedly died during her absence and has spent the subsequent years searching for her.

Numerous residents, including a former mayor, claim to have seen and even spoken with Jimmy over the years.

The report said that attempts to gather recordings of electronic voice phenomenon yielded “a voice [that] could be heard faintly answering questions.”

More than 540 digital photos were taken in the building, with several revealing unexplained orbs, shadows and distortions.

The investigation also netted 60 minutes of video and 30 minutes of audio.

According to the report, “We found enough scientific signs of a haunting to say The Flower Smith is haunted.

“The grading system of all evidence gathered tells us that there is a strong possibility that there is paranormal activity happening in the dark recesses of The Flower Smith in Smackover.”

The Spirit Seekers are expected to return to Smackover this month to investigate other locations, including a private residence and the campsite where Confederate soldiers spent the night before the Battle of Poison Springs.

Photographs taken during the Smackover investigations and the full reports may be accessed at the Spirit Seekers Web site at www.thespiritseekers.org.

Arkansas, Pages 13 on 01/03/2009