The Northeast Texas Paranormal Society has investigated things that go bump in the night for more than 12 years, including Paris and its surrounding area.
Sheila Gay, a paranormal investigator with NETPS, said the organization works on both, private and public investigations.
They have investigated numerous locations in Paris – Paris Community Theatre, The Wise House and many other locations around Paris’ downtown square.
The NETPS typically does private investigations to help others “who believe they have a true haunting.”
“We enjoy helping people who believe they have frightening hauntings understand more about paranormal activity, and that it is often a very friendly spirit trying to get a message across,” Gay said.
Though the organization helps people understand more about paranormal activity, the group has investigated its fair share of strange cases. One of which was conducted in Clarksville and Gay said it was one of their strangest investigations.
“We had one of our team members at the time not able to open the door when she was in the house alone,” Gay said. “We experienced an awful smell, like sulfur, and had several members feel very agitated. We had K2 (EMF) meters going off on the floor and outdoors from a small well. The house had no electricity at the time.”
Gay said one of the organization’s members, Jason – also considered the skeptic on the team – saw a full-body apparition in his room at the Jefferson Hotel in Jefferson, Texas.
“One of the funniest stories was at a private investigation when our team member Kerby was sitting on the floor of a bedroom and saw something along the floor,” She said. “He was so startled that he climbed backward, up the bed.”
Gay said Northeast Texas Paranormal Society has investigated “some of the most haunted locations,” including the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado with TAPS, the Villisca Axe Murder House in Iowa, the Galenas Murder Bordello in Kansas and Waverly Hills Sanatorium in Louisville, Kentucky. The organization has also been featured in two episodes of Adventures and Romance on Amazon Prime.
How did Sheila Gay get involved?
Gay said a few years ago, she and about 50 others interested in the paranormal showed up to an interview to be a part of a team at a hotel in Paris. She said herself and Buffy Ruckman were chosen to be a part of the paranormal team at the time.
“We studied paranormal over a six-month period,” she said. “We investigated places that we paid to attend before ever doing a private investigation.”
Over the years, she said, some members left and now the team consists of herself, Ruckman, Jason Justice, Lynn Brown, Lisa and Randy Mayes, Kerby Dewbre, and standby members.
What’s next?
The Northeast Texas Paranormal Society has scheduled to investigate The Haywood House in Jefferson on the first Saturday in November. Built in 1868, The Haywood House is an old-time Jefferson hotel. Some reports state The Haywood House as the second-most haunted building in Jefferson, next to Jefferson author Mitchel Whitington’s 1861 home, The Grove.
NETPS is a part of History Haunts and Legends in Jefferson, Texas, where they investigate with groups of people at “known-haunted locations.” In doing so, the organization shows people how investigations are done, “and hopefully get some unusual activity.”
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