Probing the Darkness for Answers: Experiences of a Ghost Hunting Team.

By Darla Vasilas

From the sense of being touched on the arm, to having your name called on an EVP, to catching an unexpected figure in a photothese are some of the experiences we are going to tell you about.
We will tell you about our equipment, how we work and our thoughts about the whole ghost hunting experience. But, most important, we will tell you about our investigations and what we found.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Sep 26, 2013
• ISBN: 9781483694634

Darla Vasilas

"I was raised in a small West Virginia town. After working part-time for a couple of years, then a couple of years in college, I joined the military serving as a US Navy Corpsman. Afterwards, I worked as an administrative assistant for a Government contractor, then in the construction industry. Now, at 70 years old, I am retired and enjoy doing things for which I have a passion...writing, artwork and ghost hunting. I may not be able to get around as fast as my younger teammates, but I love what I do, and that's what counts."

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Copyright © 2013 by Darla Vasilas.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This book was printed in the United States of America.

Rev. date: 9/19/2013

To order additional copies of this book, contact:

Xlibris LLC

1-888-795-4274

www.Xlibris.com

[e-mail]

140489

CONTENTS

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Foreword

The PROBE Team

What We Do!

What We Have Learned

Paranormal Activity Ratings

Buckland House #1

Buckland House #2

The Doctor Brown House

Buckland Tavern

Battle Of Buckland Steeplechase

Sharon Springs, NY

Doswell, VA

Mechanicsville, VA

Alexandria, VA

The Lamplighter

Evans Fort

Polka Dot Divas

The Occoquan Inn

Miscellaneous Investigations

Lighter Moments

Equipment

Investigator Guidelines

Miscellaneous Photos

In Conclusion

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Before we get started, we would like to extend a special thank you to all of our clients that have so graciously opened their homes and businesses to us, and have trusted us enough to, at times, go out of town and let us have the run of the buildings for the night, or even the weekend. Your faith in us is greatly appreciated.

We would also like to thank our fellow investigators who have made our investigations so much fun. And a special thanks to Norman Gagnon who got us started on our adventures.

Darla & Steve Vasilas

INTRODUCTION

Virginia is at the intersection of political scandals and where technological breakthroughs are born. Where history converges with mystifying events that seems to rear its head when you least expect them.

I met the Vasilas’s in the early 80’s when I moved to the Old Dominion and we became very good friends. During that time, I was also developing an interest in paranormal investigation and religious studies. In 2006, I went over to their house and seeing what they were watching on TV, and I asked them if they would be interested in joining me in my field research and got an overwhelming yes. A few days later, Steve, Darla and I got together for lunch and we were already planning our next potential case while waiting for our dessert and coffee. About a year later, I came to a fork in the road pertaining to my research, and I chose to focus in the field of ufology as Steve and Darla continued on the path of ghost hunting and soon they established a group called ,Paranormal Research Organization for Bothersome Entities.

PROBING INTO the DARKNESS for ANSWERS is not a book about popcorn munching tourists waiting in line for the historically dressed tour guide to finally unhook the velvet cord and to be led to a secondary course of customary ghost stories, but it is rather about a special unit of ghost hunters that will first clear the entrance’s cobwebs and cautiously push open for you a century old screeching door so you can experience first hand what this team is all about, the tools that we use and the formidable activity with which we all confronted.

The PROBE team will also take you beyond the Chesapeake Bay and the Blue Ridge Mountains and further out into neighboring states where you will also encounter strange phenomena that will make you rub your arms from goose bumps.

Norman Gagnon 2013

FOREWORD

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What is PROBE? PROBE stands for "Paranormal Research Organization for Bothersome Entities". When we first started investigating paranormal reports, we were a little skeptical. Okay, we were a lot skeptical. Since then our minds have been changed dramatically. The whole team has had personal experiences in some form; from being touched, to hearing disembodied voices or voices that no one else hears, to seeing shadows slowly move across a room, to the smell of cigar smoke strong enough to almost make your eyes water. These are just samples of some of the stories we will tell you about in the following pages. First we will introduce you to the PROBE team, and then we will take you on a tour of our investigations.

Although most of our investigations have been centered in Northern Virginia, we have also had cases in the Richmond, VA area; Martinsburg, WV; and Sharon Springs, NY (at the request of one of our Northern Virginia clients).

PROBE has recently formed an additional unit in the Sacramento, CA area, under the capable direction of close friend Phillip Shade. We are anxiously awaiting the results of their first cases.

So, come along with us as we tell you about our experiences.

Darla Vasilas

Lead Investigator/Case Manager

PROBE

THE PROBE TEAM

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PROBE—EAST COAST

Darla Vasilas

Lead Investigator / Case Manager

Raised in a small town in West Virginia, I always had an interest in the paranormal. I joined the US Navy in 1975 as a Hospital Corpsman. I spent most of my time at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, MD and at the Navy Annex Clinic, in Arlington, VA. Near the end of my Navy career tour I ‘found’ science fiction conventions and many soon-to-be friends with similar interests. It was at one of these conventions that I started to date my future husband, Steve. Over the years we kept ourselves busy with work (I am currently working as a project administrator) and watching science fiction, including a lot of ‘Haunted Hotels’, and ‘Haunted Places’ shows on television. It was during one of these shows in late 2007 when a friend of ours came to our house, saw what