Tracking the supernatural in NE Oklahoma

HEATHER HOLEMAN reports

Updated: February 12, 2003 11:40 AM

Halloween night we introduced you to the ghost hunter -- a man who claims many areas of our state are haunted. The response was overwhelming, with several Oklahomans believing they too have a ghost in their home.

Now, the ghost hunter is not alone in his quest for the supernatural. Indeed, Oklahoma is home to several ghost clubs, all in search of the lost souls they say surround us.

An Oklahoma woman has found an old, abandoned church deep in Okmulgee County. But she says even though the pastor and his congregation are long gone, the church is by no means vacant.

"Breathe in and out very slowly, relaxing with every breath," said Mary Franklin, who begins every ghost hunt with meditation, seeking relaxation and wisdom from the other side. "This person is your spirit guide, there may be many of them."
 
The investigation begins.
 
"I would like for you to wake up and come visit with us," she implores the spirit.
 
Inside the old Baptist church, built about a century ago, Franklin says lost souls linger.
 
"We've had knocking, we've had children running, you can hear children running. We've had horses. We've actually had the floor to bleed," she said.
 
The wooden slats are still stained with what appears to be blood that could've been left by recent intruders. But Franklin, a self-proclaimed psychic believes the blood was brought by the souls she summons, including children she says she's seen.
 
"And he's about this tall, and he had his little arm up here, and this is right where he was standing," she said.

"Will you bring that horse back for me?" asks Justin Faulk with the Stillwater Paranormal Research Group. Faulk says, along with Mary, he's also heard voices here, words that are too vulgar to air.

"We call it 'the church of the potty mouth," Franklin said.
 
Carmen Moffitt and Tracie Kroenert with the Ghost Club of Oklahoma have come to investigate the old sanctuary.
 
They, too, say they have felt a presence.
 
"I don't know if it was a child or just one of the other entities wanting me to know it was here, but just a pressure of leaning against my leg," Moffitt said.

"I want you to be real nice, okay?" Franklin says to the spirit. Franklin says during one session something evil smashed her camera.
 
"When my camera shattered, it flashed, she said. There's two red images standing in front of me."
 
Franklin begins to speak to the spirits.

"Can you make a noise for me? I'm going to knock three times, and I would sure like for you to knock back for me, she said, beginning to knock.
 
Just a few minutes later, that's exactly what we heard.
 
"Something back here is starting," Franklin said.
 
"I heard that. I heard that."
 
"Something is bouncing on the seat next to me."
 
"There's a tapping."
 
"Weird noise, hello."
 
Strange sounds might not seem special to anyone else coming from a rickety building where the wind blows through broken windows. But Franklin says she's not here to prove or disprove anything, simply to study whatever, if anything, is here.
 
"Sometimes there are those that are troubled or have trouble crossing over, and a lot of times you can help them," she said.
 
Franklin says the current owner of the church had planned to tear it down. That's why she says she's in the process of buying it for $1,000 and plans to restore the church as a paranormal research site.