Personal experiences spur Henderson paranormal investigators

Ghost hunters in the Henderson area could give you the scoop on supposed haunted spots in Nevada, but many also could tell you a tale of their own encounters with the so-called spirit world.

"I was kind of skeptical about it, but I had an experience in my own house," said James Mulford, a member of the Henderson-based Sin City Paranormal Investigators.

Mulford said his encounter occurred on his birthday, Feb. 4, when he detected the presence of his grandfather, who died in 2008.

"I was sitting in my room one day, and then my grandfather's rocker just started rocking," he said. "I got this uplifting feeling; I got this loving feeling. It's happened multiple times since my birthday."

Mulford, 18, is now an investigator and audio-visual technician with his group, which formed in March. It has about 10 members, ranging in age from their late teens to their 30s, said Brian Williamson, the group's team leader.

Like Mulford, Williamson said he had what he believed to be a paranormal encounter before co-founding the group. The incident occurred inside the bathroom at his home when he was 18, he said.

"My grandmother passed away a week before my first experience," said Williamson, 25. "I saw this white light the size of a baseball, and I ran out, screaming to my mom what happened. She believed me because she had experiences before this happened."

Williamson and Mulford said their mothers had an interest in the paranormal, which also helped spur their involvement with it.

For John Cushman, it was his mother's love of history that helped lead to his exploration of the spirit world and his membership with a Henderson group called Ghost Town Operations, which investigates places in Nevada that are said to be haunted. His 19-year-old son Zachary also is a member.

"I was a history major, so I try to find out about locations so we can investigate accordingly," said Cushman, 60.

The Civil War buff said he also has visited places around the country such as Gettysburg due to their roles in history.

"You cannot go to these places and expect not to see things," he said. "If you're in tune with them, you're going to see it, and you're going to feel it."

Cushman said each of the five members of his group had an experience with the paranormal before joining. Williamson said the same holds true with his group.

Cushman recalled an encounter of his own when he was about 16.

"We had a house in Long Island," he said. "My sisters said they kept hearing something in the basement. I went down there, and sure enough, something was going on down there. Whatever it was, someone popped open a window."

Anna Prado-Frias, a member of Paranormal Research of Otherworldly Forms, said she experienced similar unexplainable incidents while living in California.

"I had experiences in each home that I moved to," she said. "It wasn't just me — my family and friends would have experiences, too. We would hear somebody walking down our hallway. My parents would think it was either myself or one of my sisters getting up to use the bathroom in the hallway."

Paranormal Research of Otherworldly Forms has 10 members, most of whom have had encounters with similar phenomena, Prado-Frias said.

"I think the majority of us all did," said Prado-Frias, whose daughter, Troi Frias, 23, also is a member. "That's how we became fascinated and wanted to learn more."

Visit sincityparanormalinvestigators.com, ghosttownoperations.com or proofnv.com.

— To reach Henderson View reporter Cassandra Keenan, email ckeenan@viewnews.com or call 702-383-0278. Find her on Twitter: @CassandraKNews.