Fleshing Out The Ghosts

(From The Hartford Courant -- By Roger Catlin)

It's spooky enough to see the three-story square house sitting out in LONG ISLAND SOUND like an AMITYVILLE HORROR gone to sea. So, it's no surprise that the stately NEW LONDON (CONNECTICUT) LEDGE LIGHT, unmanned since 1986, has been a beacon for ghost stories.

On a recent chilly weekend, the 1909 lighthouse was investigated by a Rhode Island duo who are quickly becoming the nation's best-known ghost hunters.

ROTO-ROOTER men by day, GRANT WILSON and JASON HAWES root out the paranormal by night. As stars of the sci-fi series GHOST HUNTERS, they have seen steady growth in investigations by the ATLANTIC PARANORMAL SOCIETY, based in Warwick, Rhode Island.

THE LEDGE LIGHTHOUSE, with its ornate edifice in the FRENCH SECOND EMPIRE style, looks like the perfect place for ghosts -- amid its peeling paint, high ceilings and 360-degree water views.

"This place is incredible," says Hawes, 33, whose no-nonsense delivery and shaved head recalls another cable star, MICHAEL CHIKLIS of THE SHIELD.

"It's like a house, except it's in the middle of the ocean," says his buddy Wilson, 30, whose affable looks more resemble a character from SCOOBY DOO. "I'd stay here a couple nights."

And so they will -- along with a crew of volunteers -- to set up cameras, audio recorders and devices that measure electromagnetic activity.

JERRY OLSON, the treasurer of the NEW LONDON LEDGE LIGHT FOUNDATION who is on hand to dispense lore, says other ghost-hunting teams have investigated the lighthouse and its tales.

Fleshing Out The Ghosts