While ghost hunting at LaFayette’s Marsh House I was determined to remain skeptical and objective while secretly wishing for some proof of the paranormal.

The experience was truly unique, but anyone who watches the ghost hunter shows on the Discovery Channel or A&E will have an idea of what went on.

After the crew from Ghosts and History of Southeast Tennessee (G.H.O.S.T.) set up their equipment, the ghost hunters split into two teams. The two teams go to different parts of the house and search for evidence. The groups were not allowed to talk afterward, so they wouldn’t influence each other.

Founders of the ghost group, Deborah and Rick Howard, stayed at the command center in the home’s dinning room, to watch the video monitors that were hooked to each room. Two members of the Marsh House Task Force also stayed in the dining room, munching on chips and dip as they waited for the groups to return.

The group I explored with, led by Jeff Holder, started on the first floor in an open room with a fireplace.

9:33 p.m. — Nancy Howard makes attempt at first contact with paranormal. I’m sitting in the middle the hardwood floor, not scared, but very curious, very alert. She asks if a spirit is in the room. She asks it to move the curtain to prove itself. Jeff senses something in the closet, but turns up nothing.

One of the hunters has a small device that is talking. I learn it is an “ovilus.” I’m informed that the handheld tool is reading the electromagnetic field of the room, using some sort of mathematical formula to convert the energy of the room into words that are supposed to represent a spirit’s speech.

The device says, “happy, remember, remember, remember, Larry, happy, rest,” in a creepy, monotone, mechanical voice. Throughout the night the device would speak more, sometimes saying words significant to the home, like “wound,” and “fall.”

Wound is significant because the home saw action during the Civil War and soldiers are thought to have died there. Fall is important because a woman who lived in the home fell at an early age and broke her hip. She was in a wheelchair the rest of her life.

The device also says, “Addy,” possibly as in Adaline Marsh Warthen, one-time resident of the home.

10:18 p.m. — We move to the front parlor. There is a huge mirror hanging on the wall, which is thought to be original to the home. Nancy Howard wonders aloud if a spirit would show itself through the mirror. It does not.

10:27 p.m. — We go to the next room, where Marsh House Task Force members found a mysterious right footprint. Still nothing happens. The first hour of investigation is over.

With 30 minutes between each hour-long search, I get to know the G.H.O.S.T. members more. We talked about ghost stories. They seem impressed that I wasn’t a wimp who spooked easily.

11:03 p.m. — We climb to the attic. It is pitch black, except for the occasional bright camera flash that temporary blinds us all. Of all the rooms, this one is the most intense. Again, by some miracle, I’m not scared. Maybe because five other people — at least two of whom are seasoned ghost hunters — are present. Nancy says she feels something touch her hand twice.

Nancy and Jeff think it was a woman’s spirit, I think. Someone else thinks they hear a woman humming.

11:42 p.m. — The video camera in the attic begins to blink and beep. For a moment, I’m convinced it is a ghost. Jeff informs me the camera is out of tape.

11:56 p.m. — We leave the attic.

12:35 a.m. — My group goes to the slaves’ quarters. Jeff says he saw a figure here when the ghost hunters first reviewed the house. Deborah has given me a pair of earphones that magnify every sound. I wonder if this will help me communicate with a ghost. I ask a few questions, feeling only slightly silly as if I’m talking to the air, but still nothing. There is a slight temperature drop in the corner of the room where Jeff is sitting.

12:55 a.m. — We check a bedroom. Jeff and Nancy feel nothing so we move on.

1:23 a.m. — We move to the children’s room. Still nothing.

2:09 a.m. — Determined to get me some ghost action, or in an effort to test my guts, Rick tells me that for the last part of the investigation I am going to the basement. Mary Smitherman with the Marsh House Task Force — who spent some of the night sleeping on the floor under the table in the command center — seems shocked that I’m going to venture down there. It is late, but there is still excitement in the air. I’m wondering if the last room rotation will produce any proof of the paranormal. It doesn’t. We find only beer cans and rusty nails.

2:54 p.m. — The investigation is ending. I can tell I’ve gained some credibility by taking on the basement. Rick said he expected me to come running out screaming, but the basement was the least scary place in that house. The investigators break down their equipment and Deborah begins entering evidence into the computer. It will be a couple weeks until all the video and audio is reviewed and results of the investigation are complete.

I did not see any proof of the paranormal, but there are some things that can’t be explained. And I enjoyed my search for a deeper truth, even if it didn’t produce immediate, concrete results.