Submitted Photo Paranormal Investigators of North Dakota includes (top, left to right) Britton Kimble, Jon Coleman, Brian Huntzinger, (lower, left to right) Stephanie Pinkey, Wendy Kimble and Leilani Coleman.

In bringing science to study that which is beyond understanding, the team with Paranormal Investigators of North Dakota has come to some haunting conclusions. 

The team has found there is more than meets the eye in downtown Minot and numerous other buildings in the city as well as in locations across the state. But they say that shouldn’t be a scary thought.

Just ahead of Halloween, the investigators held a panel presentation Sunday in Oak Park Theater, sharing their stories and experiences. 

Paranormal Investigators of North Dakota (PIND) has been investigating for more than six years. The seven-member team includes lead investigators Stephanie Pinkey and Wendy Kimble, investigators Brian Huntzinger, Leilani Coleman, Jon Coleman, tech Britton Kimble and evidential medium Michael Christopher.

PIND has investigated numerous local locations, including several residences, and has traveled to other parts of North Dakota as well as Deadwood, South Dakota. PIND will be traveling to Fairview, Montana, in November for an investigation.

“We do contact some locations that allegedly are haunted or have potential things going on. So we have contacted a few, like the former governor’s mansion in Bismarck, Fort Totten,” Wendy Kimble said. “But a majority of the time, people are contacting us.”

PIND charges no fees, although members will take tips or donations if offered.

Minot has many active locations, but at the top of the list are the Taube Museum of Art, Original Comics and Collectibles and Urban Winery, Kimble said.

Books flying off shelves or hearing footsteps are the types of unusual activities commonly reported in downtown buildings. 

“There’s definitely both intelligent and residual energy down there,” Kimble said of the two types of energies PIND largely works with.

Intelligent hauntings involve communication with investigators, whether it’s through a spirit box or other piece of equipment that may sense energy. It may come with a sense of being watched or touched. Residual energy is more like a recording, Kimble explained. For instance, walking the same stairs every day leaves residual energy that can continue playing over and over, she said.

“We’ve been down at Medora several times, and the Billings County Museum and Courthouse has both residual and intelligent haunting,” Kimble said. “It’s intensely active there. Anything and everything from all of our equipment always goes off.”

She said they have seen items flying off shelves and bouncing chains on display separators, heard rumblings, heavy breathing, footsteps, arguing voices and felt a sense of being watched or touched.

Britton Kimble said while it is not unusual for him to feel nudged or shoved in investigating an active site, it hasn’t been dangerous work, despite the occasional aggressiveness from grumpier spirits. In one instance, a deceased individual temporarily assumed control of a team member’s appearance, demeanor and personality.

The investigators do not provoke, Wendy Kimble said.

“We’re very respectful when we encounter anything,” she said. 

“We are not ghostbusters,” Britton Kimble added. “We’re there very scientifically to try to just help them validate or debunk anything.”

One memorable encounter occurred at the James Memorial Art Center in Williston. The team set up a special camera system using a type of video game technology to see if it would pick up stick images of spirits. As the team member was being filmed dancing on stage to an Elvis Presley song, a tall, dancing stick figure showed up to dance along with her. At one point, he kneels onto a knee and snaps his fingers.

“So, a very, very, very cool piece of evidence that we caught there,” Wendy Kimble said.

For people who live or work in buildings with active energies, the spirits generally co-existent comfortably. If residents are uncomfortable with a spirit being there, Wendy Kimble said, she will use her Reiki training to gently help the spirits move on. Sometimes removing an object in which the energy has concentrated also is effective at eliminating an unwanted presence, she said.

Britton Kimble said team members individually have always felt connected in some way to the facets of the work they now do with PIND. It might be an ancestor who was a healer or who had premonitions or dreams. There often has been a personal experience with the paranormal.

“We just feel the need to help,” Wendy Kimball said. “That’s kind of our mission statement  – helping those living and those that have passed.”