What is PROBE?  PROBE stands for “Paranormal Research Organization for Bothersome Entities”.  When we first started investigating paranormal reports, we were a little skeptical.    Okay, we were a lot skeptical.  Since then our minds have been changed dramatically.   The whole team has had personal experiences in some form; from being touched, to hearing disembodied voices or  voices that no one else hears, to seeing shadows slowly move across a room, to the smell of cigar smoke strong enough to almost make your eyes water.  These are just samples of some of the stories we will tell you about in the following pages.   First we will introduce you to the PROBE team, and then we will take you on a tour of our investigations.

Although most of our investigations have been centered in Northern Virginia, we have also had cases in the Richmond, VA area; Martinsburg, WV; and Sharon Springs, NY (at the request of one of our Northern Virginia clients).

The PROBE founders have recently moved to Florida where we are building a new team of investigators. The Virginia team has been left in the capable hands of two of our investigators. We have also formed an additional unit in the Sacramento, CA area under the direction of close friend and investigator, Phillip Shade.

So, come along with us as we tell you about our experiences.

INTRODUCTION

Virginia is at the intersection of political scandals and where technological breakthroughs are born.  Where history converge with mystifying events that seems to rear its head when you least expect them. 

I met the Vasilas’s in the early 80’s and we became very good friends since I moved to the Old Dominion. During that time, I was also developing an interest in paranormal investigation and religious studies. In 2006, I went over to their house and seeing what they were watching on TV, and I asked them if they would be interested in joining me in my field research and with an overwhelming yes.  A few days later, Steve, Darla and I got together for lunch and we were already planning our next potential case while waiting for our dessert and coffee.  About a year later, I came to a fork in the road pertaining to my research, and I chose to focus in the field of ufology as Steve and Darla continued on the path of ghost hunting and soon they established a group called, “Paranormal Research Organization for Bothersome Entities”. 

PROBING INTO the DARKNESS for ANSWERS is not a book about popcorn munching tourists waiting in line for the historically dressed tour guide to finally unhook the velvet cord and to be led to a secondary course of customary ghost stories, but it is rather about a special unit of ghost hunters that will first clear the entrance’s cobwebs and cautiously push open for you a century old screeching door so you can experience firsthand what this team is all about, the tools that we use and the formidable activity with which we all confronted. 

The PROBE team will also take you beyond the Chesapeake Bay and the Blue Ridge Mountains and further out into neighboring states where you will also encounter strange phenomena that will make you rub your arms from goose bumps.

Norman Gagnon  2013