John Wachter - Vice President / Lead Investigator:

Early in my childhood I developed a fascination with monsters when I saw Godzilla, Mothra and the original Frankenstein, Dracula and the Wolfman.

In my teen years I was interested in UFO`s, ghosts and the opposite sex! All my life I have been intrigued by spooky stuff. I took a night school class in the 80`s taught by a local psychic that proved to me there is more out there. First day of class she did readings of people based on objects of theirs that she held and got images and feelings from. I learned to do it to an extent. I also tried Transcendental Meditation, which was very interesting if you separated the gimmick aspects of it. When it came to the paranormal I had no clue that folks actually investigated this stuff, and when I first saw ``Ghost Hunters`` on the Sci Fi Channel, that REALLY piqued my interest. I spent a lot of time on the Internet learning all I could about the topic. (You may have seen me on the ``Ghoststudy`` message boards - I picked up lots of useful info there and elsewhere).

Around this time last year I decided to look for a local group that did this type of thing, and hooked up with HPI. To my knowledge, I have not had a bona fide paranormal experience, although when I was a kid I often heard a voice call my name that did not seem to come from anywhere. I thought it was my parents calling for me, but that wasn`t the case. Anyway, I tend to be skeptical and try to find a natural reason for anything that appears to be out of the ordinary before I accept it is paranormal. I see so many pictures of dust orbs, hair/lint/camera straps that people really want to believe is a ghost. So, I want to get evidence of the REAL deal, and that`s why I`m here....aside from the free beer I was promised!