Ghost hunters, psychics descend on Volcano

By Rachel Leibrock
Published 4:11 pm PDT Saturday, March 29, 2008

Dozens of paranormal enthusiasts, ghost-hunters, psychics and an ethereal fog descended upon the St. George Hotel in the tiny gold rush town of Volcano on Saturday for Ghost Rush 2008, the inaugural American Paranormal Investigations conference dedicated to all things otherworldly.

And the ghosts? Depending on whom you asked, they were hanging out, hiding in the shadows or otherwise waiting for just the right moment to make their presence known.

"We've found some things here, but we haven't had time to review the evidence," said API founder Dave Bender.

It's not as simple as looking for wispy apparitions," Bender, 36, of Sacramento explained. Rather, ghost-hunting is something of an inprecise science that mergers hard, cold technology with good old-fashioned extra sensory perception.

"There's protocol to follow - we bring in equipment (but) also rely on impressions to find out if the spirits are trying to communicate with us," Bender said.

Volcano and the surrounding gold rush towns are the perfect place to make contact, he added. "Because of its history, this is an amazing area - the gold rush community is (also) a real ghost rush place."