For many, the possibility of a paranormal encounter would turn them white as a sheet — for others, contact with those on the other side invigorates them with life.
Berks Mont Project, a local paranormal investigation team, is made up of six members who love the thrill of the searching for an entity.
The team is made up of co-founders Joseph Vishio and Chris Strain, and team members Ryan Huber, Tim Myers, Sheri Myers and Jeff Hunsigner, all of whom have families, children and full-times jobs.
“We do it because we always wanted to,” Vishio said. Berks Mont Project embarks on paranormal investigations in their spare time, making their interests a priority.
It all started because co-founders, Vishio and Strain, have sons who are friends at school.
“One day we (Chris and I) sparked up a conversation… I don’t even know how it came up,” Vishio said, discovering they both had an interest in the possibility of paranormal experiences. After a year of discussions, they decided to follow through with their dream of becoming investigators and form a paranormal team.
“We came to the conclusion — let’s do this! We were like two little kids again,” he said. Once their decision was final, Strain brought on his friends, Ryan Huber and Tim Myers, who were also enthusiastic about the possibility of being real life ghost hunters. Pulling together the different skills and interests of each team member created a solid team who are out to disprove rumors of haunting.
“We’re not here to prove anything, we’re here to have fun,” Vishio said.
All local to the Pottsgrove area, the team decided on the Sunnybrook Ballroom as their “home base,” and held the first meeting of the Berks Mont Project at the historical location. Since they have established themselves, they meet together regularly at Sunnybrook the second Friday of every month.
“It all seemed to come together.” Since beginning four years ago, the team has about one dozen investigations under their belt.
Establishing their “home base” at Sunnybrook Ballroom is quite fitting for the group, referring to it as their “magical” place — where they make connections, get leads and even document paranormal activity.
Berks Mont Project’s second paranormal investigation was held at Sunnybrook, which was well-known throughout the region during the Big Band era.
Glenn Miller, Cab Calloway, Benny Goodman, Count Basie, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Stan Kenton, Lawrence Welk, Frank Sinatra, Tommy Dorsey, Chubby Checker, and Bill Haley and the Comets have all performed at Sunnybrook. The building was constructed in the 1920s; the ballroom even has the original dance floor.
At Sunnybrook, Berks Mont Project captured a light phenomena come out of the woman’s bathroom and fly down the corridor, heard the voices of two women talking, voices behind stage and loud noises and bangs.
Their first paranormal investigation took place in August 2011 at the Twin Tunnels, Downingtown. Berks Mont Project has a special interest in visiting historical sites that show activity.
“We like the relationship between historical and known activity,” Vishio said.
Sheri Myers, lead researcher for the group, does preliminary research on the location prior to the investigation.
“We live in an incredibly historic area,” he said, referring to Berks, Montgomery, Chester and Bucks counties. “We like to hit local places and tell their story.”
When the team receives a “bite” on a property, it is Myers who goes to work completing research online, gathers information and checks into the historical background of the location. Berks Mont Project is the perfect combination of history interests and paranormal passions.
“We like to sit and talk with the owners [before an investigation],” Vishio said. “We have a series of interview questions we ask to gather information.”
Before venturing through any location, each of the team members goes through the building to take base line readings to help eliminate the electricity throughout the house from the paranormal. All of their investigations are held at night.
“It’s easier to control the environment at night,” Huber said. An average investigation will last about two to four hours, but if the activity is strong, the team might be there, easily, for six hours.
“I can just sit quietly in a room, listening, for 45 minutes,” Strain said.
The gang focuses their search for actual evidence and takes a “scientific approach” to each search — always trying to disprove or debunk the activity.
“We want something tangible,” he said. “We’ve got to see, hear or smell it ourselves.”
With a history dating back to the 1700s, Brinton Lodge, Douglassville, it is almost logical that this is the first location where Berks Mont Project caught an entity on film. “That was Nov. 17, 2013,” Huber recalled.
During their investigation, Vishio was traveling around the building. He approached a room and got a feeling that he should not enter. As he was looking around, he saw the shadow of a person passing by him. Luckily, his handheld camera also captured the image.
After the investigation, owners of Briton Lodge told Berks Mont Project that both staff members and guests have witnessed this shadow on numerous occasions. Huber and Tim Myers went back to try and recreate the shadow using light, but were not able to manually recreate what Vishio captured.
“It knocked the wind out of me…that was the first time I’ve ever experienced anything like that,” Vishio said. “That was our most electrifying investigation.”
Investing their own money in their hobby, Berks Mont Project has a full eight camera setup, handheld cameras, digital recorders, K-II meter, Electromagnetic Field detector, spirit box, Rem Pod and more ready to go for any paranormal hot spot. The most activity Berks Mont Project gathers comes through Electronic voice phenomenon, where their recorders will pick up paranormal voices and sounds through the static on the devices.
“We’ve captured voices that are clear as day,” Vishio said. To date, Berks Mont Project has numerous accounts of activity from video footage to audio recordings to first hand experiences. They have captured voices, footsteps, shadows and even voices that say the investigators’ names.
Last week, the group visited Woodside Lodge at Spring Mountain, Schwenksville, which was used as a meeting place for the Minutemen during the American Revolution.
Berks Mont Project are distinct from other ghost hunter groups in the fact that they do not charge a fee and also invite the owner or manager of the property along during the investigation. “We like to create relationships,” he said. “Sometimes we go back two or three times… some nights are dead, while other nights we don’t want to leave.”
The gang of the Berks Mont Project solely want to investigate, learn and have fun. “That’s why we do it — to have fun.”
Berks Mont Project is currently booked up with investigations through April, and even have a weekend trip planned for Gettysburg.
To find more about the team, visit them online at berksmontproject.org.
For Berks Mont Project, they will never “give up the ghost” on paranormal investigations.
