A team of devoted Nottinghamshire ghost hunters believe they've found their 'best evidence yet' of life beyond the grave. Rachel Parsons, the head investigator and managing director of Retford Ghost Hunters, says the team caught proof of an apparition they "cannot debunk" while in an abandoned mill near Stoke-on-Trent.
Late on Monday, January 30, the paranormal hunters attempted a modern twist on the old candle and smoke parlour trick by beaming lasers into the dark while investigator Gary Brumby puffed vape smoke - rather than cigarette smoke - into the room. Ms Parsons said: "It created this spooky atmosphere, and then we asked the spirit to enter and to use the smoke to form, reports Lincolnshire Live.
"But what we captured wasn't in the smoke, it was just there." The event was live-streamed, as many of the team's expeditions are, and the ghostly face was caught and screenshot by an eagle-eyed viewer from the US state of North Carolina named Carolyn Hill.
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As Mr Brumby started billowing vapour into the room, a fellow investigator beckoned one of the spirits by name. Ms Parsons continued: "Chris asked if one of the brothers who ran the mill could come forward after the count of three.
"He counted to three and then this face started to form." She added: "I really do think this is some of the best evidence we've got.
"And we caught it using something so simple and old-school. We spent hundreds of pounds on all of this equipment, but when we use just a simple vape and a laser, we get this.
"We call it 'raw ghost-hunting'. It's nice to listen and see what you feel."
The team has become one of the most popular ghost-hunting groups in the country, regularly bringing in about 800 live viewers and garnering 10,000 views on their videos. She added: "It puts Retford on the map, doesn't it?"
Though she was hesitant to say the specific location of the mill, to deter any would-be vandals, Ms Parsons said she had thoroughly researched the mill before going and believed it could even date as far back as the 1400s. She said there was a great fire at the mill in the 1890s, which took three days to be extinguished and damaged the nearby house, although it is not believed anyone was injured as a result.
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