Tower Walk creeps through eight haunts

 Jackie Meador and Brian Rutherford don't claim their Haunted Tower Walk will raise the hair on the back of your neck. But for people who are curious about paranormal activity, they guarantee some raised eyebrows when Rutherford describes the unexplained happenings along Olive Avenue in the heart of Fresno's Tower District.

Meador, co-founder of the Central California Paranormal Investigators, got the blessing of the Tower District Marketing Committee last summer and went out and found eight buildings where strange things are thought to be going on.

Based on interviews with owners and workers, she says there is evidence of paranormal activity at seven of the locations and unconfirmed rumors of eerie events at the eighth.

Rutherford, who lives in a house he says is haunted by a male ghost, is owner of Nightfall Tours. He will lead after-dark sidewalk strolls past these Tower District buildings on Fridays and Saturdays through the end of October.

His goal is to acquaint people with Meador's findings and offer some historical perspective on the buildings and possible explanations for what is going on.

Meador has investigated reports of paranormal activity at many homes, hotels and cemeteries, and often uses sensitive electronic equipment to detect such things as sounds outside the range of human hearing, temperature fluctuations and electromagnetic field disruptions.

In selecting buildings for the Haunted Tower Walk, however, she relied on the observations of store owners and employees.

At one place, a woman told Meador about a vacuum that keeps coming on by itself.

"We were sitting about eight feet away from it during the interview, and while I was there, it came on," she says.

People at other locations told Meador about items tumbling off shelves for no apparent reason.

Some mentioned hearing unusual noises or encountering a mysterious presence, such as what happens when a person feels a tap on his shoulder and turns around to find no one nearby.

Another woman Meador interviewed was skeptical that ghosts exist, yet said the unexplained things happening in the place where she works remind her of the actions of a deceased former owner.

Meador says seeking explanations for such experiences is what makes studying the paranormal so fascinating.

"When I was younger, I'd hear ghost stories and wonder, 'Why are they still hanging around?' " she says. "We all know something is going on."

Orginal story can be found at: http://www.fresnobee.com/entertainment/story/167327.html