If there's something strange in your neighborhood, this Wausau-area ghost hunter will take your call
KRONENWETTER − When Jeff Syring was 7 years old he visited his grandparents' farm near Mosinee and had a terrifying experience he will never forget.
“It was starting to get dark out and we were in the middle of nowhere. My grandma and grandpa were inside and this black figure from the end of the house peeked around the corner and it had red glowing eyes,” Syring said. “It peeked its head around the corner above the window. It must have been 10 feet tall, and then it went back. I was really, really scared and I was very upset.”
Syring’s grandparents told him it was just his imagination, but he wouldn’t let it go.
“I know to this day what I saw,” he said. “It is still burned into my head.”
Experiences like this led Syring onto a pathway of the paranormal.
“We had a lot of stuff going on in the house I grew up in. My parents always told me it was the house settling. I thought I was crazy,” Syring said. “It kind of kept going on when I was older, and my sister had stuff happen to her too. So I said, ‘I’m going to try to get into this field and find a reason and explanation for this stuff.’”
Trying to understand the unexplainable
Syring has been hunting ghosts for 10 years both on his own and with various groups, including the Wausau Paranormal Research Society. He’s been on hundreds of investigations in homes, cemeteries and well-known haunted locations. He seeks to comprehend unexplainable shadows, sounds and strange events.
He has captured video and recordings of cupboards opening and closing on their own, suspicious shadows moving in hallways, haunting messages declaring “we are watching you,” orbs of light moving through the air and other spine-tingling occurrences.
“I had a closet door slam on me one time and it scared me,” Syring said. “I jumped. I swore. I had only been in the house for two minutes.”
When Syring launches a paranormal investigation, his steps mimic the scientific method.
He starts with research. He gets the location and residents' histories and tries to understand the situation. Sometimes it can just be something related to a health issue, he said.
Next, he and his crew investigate on-site using electronic equipment. It starts with an initial reading of the electromagnetic field to set a baseline for the location. This allows the investigators to determine when energy in the room changes.
“I believe ghosts and spirits to be energy,” Syring said. “ It’s energy, and they need energy to try and communicate with us. Most of the equipment has its own electromagnetic field that spirits can manipulate.”
Once a baseline is set, cameras are set up along with REM (radiating electromagnetism) pods and voice recorders. Then the crew waits, monitors the equipment and tries to engage.
“We kind of talk and ask questions,” Syring said. “Is there somebody here? Are you a male or a female? Can you knock on the wall for us? And sometimes you get an answer. Eighty-five percent of the time nothing happens,” Syring said. “Then the other 15% it’s like − wow, what is that? I don’t know what that is, you can’t explain it, but you can catch it on camera or a digital recorder.”
'Everyone’s into that spirit, that mode' at Halloween
There are many tools that have been created specifically for capturing evidence of paranormal activity. Ghost hunters believe REM pods create their own electromagnetic field. When it is disturbed by an unknown source, it sets off an alert. Full spectrum action cameras have the ability to record in a pitch black room. Digital recorders used for ghost hunting are said to record at a lower frequency than our ears can hear. This means capturing paranormal voices trying to communicate with the outside world.
Syring wants to bring these tools to anyone looking to investigate unexplained activity. He recently opened Midwest Paranormal Group at 100 Paper Place in Kronenwetter. It is Wisconsin’s only store offering this equipment, he said.
“I know there’s a lot of people interested in this,” he said. “If you think your house is haunted or it’s just a loved one trying to say hi, you can buy some equipment and try to communicate.”
When Syring first listed his store on Facebook, he got a lot of requests for ghost removal. But this is something he does not do. Instead, he tells people to calm down and relax because the ghosts will feed off of scared energy. He said you can also tell it to leave and to stop its behavior.
“Ignore it,” he said. “Let it know it’s your home. It might have been their home before, but now it’s your home.”
Syring said he is willing to investigate homes for people to help them determine what is going on. He said it may just be squeaky floor boards, drafty windows or an alarm clock putting out a high electromagnetic field. These services are free of charge.
But what he really wants to focus on is holding seminars and hosting getaways to known haunted locations around the Midwest. This will allow people to have the full ghost hunting experience and see the equipment in action.
There is plenty of ghost activity right here. Wausau is a hotbed of paranormal activity, Syring said. This is due to the high mineral content from the limestone and granite. Syring said there are two kinds of hauntings − residual and intelligent.
Residual hauntings come from stored energy, including minerals in the ground. Intelligent hauntings are those that react to you. Both can be found in Central Wisconsin, he said, especially at this time of the year.
“Everyone’s into that spirit, that mode,” he said. “Everyone’s watching ghost shows and telling scary stories, so everyone is more prone to experiencing something because they are more open to it.”
If you’re looking for a scare this Halloween, Syring recommends lighting some candles and telling spooky stories. For an even creepier experience, bring some ghost hunting equipment along to see if it gets triggered.
“I like that scared feeling. I like to be scared,” Syring said. “It makes me feel alive.”
To contact Syring for advice about paranormal activity or to purchase ghost hunting equipment, message him on Facebook or email him at midwestparanormaljeff@gmail.com.
More:Halloween is almost here. Check out our 2022 trick-or-treat hours guide for the Wausau area
Contact USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin reporter Jennifer Poyer at jpoyer@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Wausau Daily Herald: Wausau-area ghost hunter explains paranormal activity, sells equipment
