Getting spooky at Valley Stream Kiwanis

“Normally, when I leave a graveyard, I always say thank you,” paranormal investigator Diane Hill told the crowd gathered in the darkened basement of the Valley Stream American Legion Hall on Oct. 17, as she and her partner, Joseph Flammer, recounted their adventures hunting ghosts in cemeteries across Long Island and beyond.

But after wishing the potential spirits at the site farewell, Hill said, “Off to my right I heard a very muffled, ‘You’re welcome.’”

The pair — the Paranormal Adventurers, as they call themselves — were the chief attraction at a Halloween-themed fundraiser for the newly reformed Valley Stream Kiwanis Club, a local subsidiary of the international nonprofit organization dedicated to helping children across the globe.

“We want to put together events that are kind of a little bit different,” said Rich Ramos, the club’s president. “We want to find that little niche so people can come out, enjoy a night at a meeting as well as participate in a good cause.”

“We wanted to organize something inclusive,” chimed in Carol Basdeo, a board member for the club, adding that she had hoped the presentation would draw visitors of all ages.

The event had roughly 40 attendees, ranging from teenagers to older adults, who listened as Hill and Flammer presented photo, audio and video evidence of paranormal phenomena from their adventures, to gasps and the occasional exclamation of “oh my gosh” from the crowd.

“When we use the term supernatural, we say natural but super, like superheated,” Flammer said. “So it’s all within nature.”

The unexplainable imagery they displayed, such as “orbs,” “paranormal mist” and “rods,” often have solid science-based explanations, they said.

The orbs could be motes of dust, pollen or raindrops, the mist is likely moisture and the rods, which display as multicolored stripes in flash photography, well, “We don’t know what they are,” Flammer said. He noted that in Gettysburg, Pa., where roughly 50,000 Americans died in the bloodiest chapter of the Civil War, “we often get these on the battlefield. We don’t know why.”

While the happenings might have natural elements, Flammer maintained, “Outside of nature, there might be another dimension, as far as we know.”

The pair’s adventures have led them to graveyards ranging from Queens to Bethpage to Potter’s Field in Yaphank, where they have heard strange noises and unexplained crying, and, most commonly, seen the paranormal mist.

“My belief is that most cemeteries are haunted,” Hill said casually.

The traveling duo frequently give lectures, and during one in Levittown, where the focus was the Bell Witch ghost — “The only ghost acknowledged by the state of Tennessee to have killed a human being,” Hill said — a recording of what she believed was the ghost’s voice played over the speaker they used for the presentation, without their prompting.

Even after unplugging the speaker and the attached computer, Hill said, the Bell Witch ghost’s voice could still be heard.

The story elicited nervous murmurs.

They also told of local urban myths, such as that of “sasquatch” in Ocean-side, an entity that was known to have wandered the site of a creek near the center of the hamlet, making stomping noises and producing dust.

Oceanside native Michael Graham, who was in the crowd, confirmed that he had heard of strange happenings at the creek, although he had not observed any.

Hill and Flammer offered tips for those wishing to go on their own ghost hunts, such as the best time to visit a graveyard — it’s 2 a.m., or the “witching hour,” Hill said — and what kind of equipment to bring. An audio recorder and infrared camera might yield results, but a simple camera equipped with a flash will often capture images.

The process, Flammer said, is “like fishing, or watching grass grow,” involving hours of boredom interrupted by quick bouts of excitement when something unexplainable is observed.

Most crucially, Hill advised prospective ghost hunters never to visit a cemetery alone, and not to break trespassing laws. “We never do anything illegal,” she assured them, “ever.”

Their stories prompted a number of questions and anecdotes from the crowd. Some, related their own supernatural experiences, often involving children, animals, strange smells and deceased loved ones.

Ultimately, the paranormal happenings that Flammer, Hill and others had observed and recorded can be chalked up to interpretation, the two said.

Hill recalled an instance in which she found a Lucky Strikes cigarette box on the ground next to her car at work.

When she returned the next day to find the box in the same place despite a cleaning crew that had moved through the area, Hill decided to take it with her. Lucky Strikes were her late father’s favorite brand.

“I thought it was something he might want me to have,” she said. “. . . People will tell me I’m crazy, and that’s fine. If it brings me joy or brings me comfort, I’m taking it with me.”

The point elicited nods from the crowd.

After the presentation, the Herald spoke to a handful of attendees to see what they thought.

“I don’t want to bother it if it doesn’t bother me,” said 15-year-old Anthony Ameneolare. “We shouldn’t mess with it.”

“I think if I see it, I would believe it,” said Thomas Colgan, also 15.

Shane Castelluzzo, 17, said that Hill and Flammer’s evidence “could be proof of the paranormal,” and that he was interested in going on a ghost hunt of his own.

Before the end of their presentation, Hill and Flammer provided a handful of audio findings, or “electronic voice phenomena,” as they are known in the ghost-hunting world. The recordings all originated in different places, Flammer said.

Hidden within the loud, warbling noises of the recordings was the subtle sound of voices: “It’s always been cold,” one said softly. “Let me help you,” another one mumbled.

Finally, a voice exclaiming, “We must leave” crackled over the speaker, “And with that,” Flammer concluded, “we’re going to say thank you, because we must leave as well.”