Community Corner

Exploring The Paranormal In New London And Beyond

Volunteers with the Thames Society of Paranormal Investigations look into strange happenings around the region

As Shamus Denniston tells it, he didn’t so much get interested in the paranormal as it got interested in him. Denniston says he is convinced his childhood home in Uncasville was haunted, with strange noises, whispered names, and unexplained broken objects plaguing the residence. He said he and his family also began to encounter “shadow people” apparitions and other unsettling visitors, to the point where they moved out.

“It seemed the older I got the more I saw this activity occurring,” said Denniston, who works in campus safety at .

Chad Saunders had more benign experiences growing up. Saunders, who works for Mohegan Tribal Public Safety, says he is a spiritual person who grew up amidst Native American traditions in Minnesota.

Find out what's happening in Grotonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“I’ve been to a lot of ceremonies growing up, seen a lot of strange things,” he said.

Denniston and Saunders are both members of the Thames Society of Paranormal Investigations. Denniston, along with Todd Radley, started the organization two years ago. Its mission is to investigate paranormal claims in the region and provide assistance to those experiencing it. Members hail mostly from New London, Norwich, Groton, and Waterford.

Find out what's happening in Grotonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“We’ve been growing fast,” said Dennison. “This last year has been a very productive year in terms of getting better clients and locations to conduct our investigations.”

Dennison said that investigations begin when someone believes they are experiencing paranormal activity in their home. The initial meeting is to determine how the person is being affected and whether the occurrence can be readily explained by natural causes. He said some cases are not applicable to the group due to personal matters.

“As a team, we can’t enter people’s lives if their lives are in chaos,” he said. “Sometimes they have to make life changes for an effective investigation to actually happen.”

If the group feels an investigation is warranted, they will set up a date to visit the site. They then look use a variety of equipment including digital cameras, temperature readings, electromagnetic field meters, laser grids, and voice recorders to seek evidence of the paranormal. Denniston said most evidence comes from audio recordings, although they have also seen manipulation of “trigger objects” and variations in electromagnetic fields. He said photography can capture vortexes and orbs—the latter sometimes dismissed as dust reflections—with the ever-present hope of catching an image of a full body apparition.

“They never pose for you,” joked Denniston. “That’s the hard part.”

Denniston said there is a high degree of scrutiny on paranormal investigations due to the proliferation of investigative groups and television shows such as Ghost Hunters. He said the group must be completely satisfied that they have observed paranormal activity before the client is told that is what they are experiencing.

“Everything’s analyzed three or four times before it’s presented to the client,” said Saunders.

Denniston said the team also determines whether a ghost is a benign spirit, poltergeist, or an “intelligent haunting,” which involves a human spirit communicating with the living. He said clients often go from being frightened to being more comfortable once the circumstances are explained, although the team will also recommend remedies for addressing a spirit. He said these range from setting up rules and religious blessings for a benign spirit to sacraments and exorcisms for more malevolent spirits.

“It varies greatly on your faith and beliefs,” said Denniston.

For well-known hauntings in the region, Denniston said the privately-owned Norwich State Hospital is a place every paranormal investigator hopes to check out before it is torn down. He said there have also been reports of ghosts in the former Seaside sanitarium in Waterford and Fort Griswold in Groton.

In New London, Denniston said Ledge Light and its reported haunting by a suicidal lighthouse keeper makes it one of the most well-known ghost stories in the area. However, he said his most memorable investigation was at the Tansill Theater at Connecticut College. He said the site has proven to be very spiritually active.

“On top of that, those ghosts are also intelligent,” he said. “They have a great ability to interact with the living.”

Saunders said one of the most active places he investigated was the Samuel Huntington house in the town of Scotland. He said he recorded a great deal of activity during the five to six hours spent in the 17th century mansion.

“I just liked that one because it was one of my first ones,” he said. “The whole group was there, I got to meet everyone.”

The group does the investigations as a “labor of love.” Members have jobs and family, and usually take part in about two or three investigations per month. There is no fee for an investigation and equipment is purchased by members, although donations are accepted.

Denniston said the group aims to be approachable, willing to look into any claims and make referrals as needed.

“We treat the problems like our own,” he said. 


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here