An EMF meter rests on a machine that once made carbonated water for Rae’s Drug Store. (Photo by Tamara French)
Five women stayed overnight in Weatherford Downtown Cafe.
They even ventured into the dirt-floored cellar, where it’s believed the building’s original owner, pharmacist Howard Rae, shot and killed himself.
Present owner Britton Schweitzer let the women in about 9:30 p.m. Dec. 13 for an investigation that lasted eight hours. Though the members of Paranormal Seekers of North Texas were reluctant to discuss details of their discoveries prior to conducting a "reveal" for Schweitzer, they told Weatherford Telegram enough to lend some credence to claims that the place is haunted.
"We are still going over hours and hours of audio and video evidence, but I can tell you that we did capture a few EVPs, and most of the team members had personal experiences; such as being touched, etc.," said Tamara French, PSONT co-founder. "We will be asking for a follow-up investigation and we hope to do more research into the building and its past occupants."
French and her associates became curious about the cafe after reading an Oct. 29 WT story. Servers spoke of creepy experiences like finding items mysteriously moved, hearing noises that had no obvious sources and seeing doors close on their own.
Even Linda White at Texas Butane, the shop next door, talked about bizarre sounds and incidents.
During its investigation, the PSONT team set up electromagnetic field (EMF) meters, video cameras, and recorders designed to capture electronic voice phenomena (EVP).
The EMF meters measure electromagnetic radiation, and French said that it’s believed that high EMF spikes sometimes are linked to paranormal activity.
Throughout the night, the team conducted EVP sessions, hoping to record voices that can’t be heard by human ears. If successful, the recordings would allow analysts to hear the sounds and interpret whether they are merely noises, or the voices of spirits.
Their equipment isn’t as sophisticated as that used by The Atlantic Paranormal Society (TAPS) on the Sci-Fi Channel show Ghost Hunters; but the women are confident that it’s good enough to help confirm or disprove many hauntings.
French, who shares lead investigator duties with co-founder Ladean Snodgrass, said the two started PSONT after Ghost Hunters became popular. However, both have reasons for being interested in the paranormal that far predate TAPS.
Tracing her interest from an event 25 years ago, French said her first experience was with a full-body apparition.
"I saw [the ghost of] a nun in a circa-1800 community just outside of Coleman," she said. "That’s what got me interested in the paranormal. I started reading books. This was before the Internet and before TAPS."
Some other PSONT members have had similar experiences, French said.
"On our cards we put that we work to understand the unexplained," she said. "We are debunkers. Sometimes we go in when people say they have feelings of being watched and we’ll use EMF meters. If we can’t find explanations, we’ll tell them."
Despite the promising real-time experiences the team members had during the eight hours of data gathering, the analysis could take a couple of weeks. Like TAPS’ Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson, who are plumbers by day and ghost hunters during off hours, French and Snodgrass have jobs and family obligations. What they lack is the considerable resources of a group backed by a successful TV show.
So, they won’t be ready for the reveal for a while. Both women invited WT to be present when they again meet with Schweitzer to show him what they found.
They also said they hope to do more investigations around town.
"We are really looking forward to doing more investigations in the Weatherford area," French said. "The team can be contacted several ways. One is via our Web site at www.psont.com and leaving a message for the team in the guestbook. We can also be contacted via e-mail at
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, or through our Myspace page at www.Myspace/psont.
French said a case manager will call or e-mail anyone who wants to discuss any paranormal activity that they’ve experienced.
Terry Evans, 
817-594-5969
