HOPPS Ghost Hunters

Heart of Pennsylvania Paranormal Society

About the Team:

Currently, a team of 7 individuals from the Williamsport, Muncy, Hughesville, and Watsontown area of Central Pennsylvania (Lycoming County) who began operating officially in October 2008 under the name Heart of Pennsylvania Paranormal Society (HOPPS).

Laura, and John met after finding they had a mutual interest in joining a local paranormal or “ghost hunting” group. After many months of both searching to no avail, it was decided they would to start their own group. Many people have been involved with their efforts since the beginning, but other interests and obligations preclude them from being full time active members. The list of active team members fluctuates but at this time include: Melinda, John’s daughter and the one who pushed him to look for a group, Crystal and Chris, a husband an wife team, who have been on most of the investigations with them (Crystal is a former member of a group called CASPER from Northumberland), and Erica who was asked to join later after attending some of the group’s public hunts and demonstrating the attributes the team desires. For more information about each of the members, please see their personal biographies listed under Bios on the website.

New Team Member. Miranda has joined our team as a research specialist. I say this as she truly is a specialist and does this for a living. See the resulting article done on Nov 18, 2009 on NorthCentralPa.com http://www.northcentralpa.com/article/allisons-grave-search-truth

Her research, in conjunction with a recent HOPPS investigation and the writing skills of Joan Blank have yielded information that until now has not been available for scrutiny in conjunction with the "Allison's Grave" story. We're truly impressed with her tenacity and knowledge and welcome her to our team!

How Active Investigation Members Are Chosen:

Membership on the permanent active investigation team is limited to invitation only. The process to become an active member begins in one of two ways:

1. Prospective members are chosen from website members, or visitors who attend public “ghost hunts” which are offered at various locations and times as posted on the website. This is used by the team as an observation session for candidates to see how they react to situations in a real environment, see how they interact with others, determine their strengths and weaknesses, assess communication skills, and determine their ability to follow instructions and follow team rules. Sometimes it takes many of these trips to discern who is and who is not qualified. Be patient!

2. Anyone may submit investigation area recommendations, especially client based. Persons who submit client based suggestions can accompany the team as part of the investigation team. Yes, for the investigation, you are a team member. The evaluation begins before the actual investigation. Included (but not all inclusive) in the evaluation is preparation, actions at the site, personal interaction with others, communication skills and follow up actions. This is the easiest way to become an active member, if you’re found to be qualified.

See "Becoming a Team Member" link to the left for more information.

What We Do:

We look for areas to investigate either by word of mouth, request, or after reading about another team's experiences at a location. We only go to areas already investigated to either validate/refute the findings or to train. Our presentations and investigations are free of cost to the requester/client. We will use our IR cameras, digital recorders, and other equipment to check out claims of paranormal activity, and then get back to you with the results. We make no claims to be able to rid you of your problem, but we can help identify the possible cause and make referrals to people who may be able to. Primarily, we investigate and try to either prove activity is something other than paranormal using scientific methods similar to those of a police investigator. Or, we will attempt to capture the activity on video or audio devices in combination that could be "paranormal" (above the normal understanding we have today) and present it on this website for scrutiny or further analysis. We document everything we do. We give you, the client, audio/video copies of any evidence we find and try to help you understand the meaning of the activity to the best of our ability. There are no experts in this field, but we belong to a network of other paranormal groups and often use each others’ areas of expertise to eliminate the plausible and extract that which is not.

"A true investigator is armed with knowledge, skill, training and just as importantly; the proper equipment. Without the background and mentoring in observational skills and an awareness of human psychology, the outcome of an investigation will always be guided by the individual and their preconceptions, not the circumstances or evidence."

-John

What we don't do:

1. First, we don't trespass! Every place we investigate, we have gotten permission to be there beforehand!

2. We do not investigate claims made by illegal substance abusers, so please don't ask.

3. We don't perform Exorcisms, use Tarot Cards, tea leaves, or Ouija boards. We don’t do spells, conduct séances, or have anything to do with the black arts (we're all Christians).

4. We don't operate alone; someone outside of our group always knows where we are for safety reasons.

5. We don't take risks that might involve injury to ourselves or others and we will attempt not to damage your property intentionally, although accidents can and do happen.

6. We don't get involved with your personal business unless we find illegal activity, which we are obligated to report.

7. We don't divulge your personal information to anyone but our team members without your consent.

8. We don't try to prove anything --we only document, record, analyze and refer as needed. We offer our best educated and researched results on our findings, but not guarantee they're always the only answer.

9. We don't ask for money to investigate, but donations for travel expenses or towards our efforts are appreciated.

How to Reach Us: Email us at:

mailto:J1963Herr@aol.com(John)

mailto:Sasqwatch58@comcast.net(Laura)

mailto:Coolmommie11@yahoo.com(Crystal)

Service area: As there are so many good teams across the State, we will primarily service areas within the map range shown below. We can travel outside this area if need be, but since we network with others, we may first suggest a group more local to you. We do this out of respect and not treading on others' areas. If we're invited, we will come. Or, if you feel a local team is not as qualified, we will come as well, and assist them in learning as a joint investigation.

Our Card:

About the Videos: You can download the videos and enhance their brightness/contrast with a program called GOM Player, which is on this site and is freeware. Go to the Download Videos sidebar for more information.

Our Official Logo*: ( Black T-Shirts available for $12.00 plus shipping)