Alice Vol. 4 No. 2

By Sara Beth Bolin
Laura Lineberry has had a connection with the
supernatural for as long as she can remember.
It wasn’t until college that she realized that
not everyone had the same experiences that she
did. Not everyone felt the things that she felt when
she walked into a room. Not everyone could sense
when someone else was there.
Lineberry moved to Tuscaloosa to work at The
University of Alabama, first in communications
and then in the school’s art department. But when
she’s not mentoring future graphic designers or
doing freelance work for clients, she’s investigating
local hauntings with the Tuscaloosa Paranormal
Research Group.
The group offers free paranormal investigative
services throughout Alabama for both private
residences and businesses. They describe
themselves as an “ethically-minded” group of
people who are searching for the truth using
scientific methods. And by doing so, they hope
to bring balance to both our realm and the
paranormal realm.
Tuscaloosa Paranormal Research Group
investigates using a doubt-first method. When
they first walk into a client’s building, everyone is
a skeptic. They check the building for copper or
wiring problems that have been known to cause
environmental issues, weird feelings and even
hallucinations. But when every other possibility
has been ruled out, the team starts using their
training to find the root of the problem.
Paranormal investigators use video
surveillance, photography, and recordings known
as electronic voice phenomenons, or EVPs, to
find evidence of supernatural activity. Through
multiple visits to investigation locations, the team
procures hours of recordings to comb through.
Lineberry explained that, although it may sound
simple, these methods work more efficiently than
one might think.
Lineberry recalled one night when they
recorded an EVP of a man who wanted to stay
distant from them.
“What was interesting was we investigated
this place several times, and he was always very
friendly,” Lineberry said. “But that night, he just
wasn’t in the mood. His name’s John.”
Lineberry explained that the group investigates
both residual and intelligent hauntings. Residual
hauntings are like a recording of previous events
playing on a loop, like whispers or footprints.
Intelligent hauntings, unlike residual, can interact
with the environment around them.
“Energy can linger,” Lineberry said. “We all
know when somebody’s standing behind us, you
know, and a lot of times, it’s just you could feel the
energy of that person. So that energy, the residual
energy, can be found in furniture, can be found in
homes; pretty much anywhere. And an intelligent
haunting is one that will literally interact with you,
will answer questions, will move things when you
ask it to move things, that kind of thing.”
Lineberry herself has travelled all over the
Members of the Tuscaloosa Paranormal Research Group:
There are 9 active members of TPRG. Pictured are from left: Casey Lineberry, Laura Lineberry,
Heather Boothe and Founder David Higdon.
Alice Spring 2019 29