Ghost hunter gives mixed review to show Co-founder of Garden State Ghost Hunters wanted more air time BY PATRICIA A. MILLER Staff Writer Spend two torrid nights in a haunted Philadelphia prison and what do you get? Eleven minutes of fame. Brick resident Boni Bates and her fellow members of the Garden State Ghost Hunters Society were grateful for the exposure they got on the Travel Channel's "Mysterious Journeys" show that aired over the past week. They just wish there had been more of it. The group spent 10 hours each night for two nights at the 178-year-old Eastern State Penitentiary in June, searching for evidence of paranormal activity. "We all thought it would have been nice if we had a little bit more time," Bates said. "Eleven minutes when you bust your chops in grueling heat and humidity?" The first 40 minutes of the show was devoted to the history of the prison, which opened in 1829. The group didn't get any air time until 9:40 p.m. Subtract the commercials, and you end up with 11 minutes, Bates said. "We were sitting there, waiting and waiting," she said. "They kept showing we were coming up. By the time we did, we were half asleep. A lot of people I've run into who did watch said, 'You should have had more time.' " And Bates was not thrilled with some of what was shown. In one sequence, GSGHS co-founder Rob Reid decides to test the presence of spirits by numbering a baseball, then placing it on some stairs. Any movement could signal a paranormal occurrence, he said. Reid placed the ball at the back of the stairs. But the "Mysterious Journeys" crew shot it perched on the edge of the stairs. The ball eventually fell on the floor. "If you sneezed, it was going to fall," she said. Another sequence that showed some flickering in the infirmary was the shadow of an airplane, not a ghost or spirit, Bates said. The crew, which included Bates, her daughter Keri, Reid and cameraman David Goldstein, were joined by psychic Joseph Tittle, who walked the dark, dank hallways and cells with them. The group set up four night vision camera monitors in the rotunda of the prison, which allowed them to see several cell blocks rumored to be haunted. The crew used walkie-talkies to stay in contact with each other. At one point, dust and white circles swirled through the dark in Cell Block 7. "Something is kicking up the dust," Reid said. Just don't call the circles "orbs," as the narrator did. It's a word Bates can't stand. "I was livid," she said. "Ninety-nine percent of the time, it's dust or humidity in the air. The one thing I don't want to be connected with is orbs." But the group did have some paranormal moments during their nights in the prison. Prisoners in the early years were kept in solitary confinement. They were forced to wear eyeless hoods during the few times they came into contact with other prisoners. Total silence, which was supposed to force them to reflect on their misdeeds, was the law. It drove some to madness. The prison is an angry, sad place, Bates said. "You can feel it," she said. "You don't have to be sensitive. When you walk in, it's very oppressive. You feel as if a thousand eyes are on you." At one point, Bates said she felt a "real cold chill" in a hallway. "Come out, come out," she said on the broadcast. "It you want us to leave, do something." She has no doubt the prison is haunted. Goldstein became nauseated while he was setting up his equipment, and then he ran outside and vomited, she said. "He didn't want to go back in there," she said. But he did. And he had a feeling of "oppressive dread" and trouble breathing as he walked down a hallway with Reid and Tittle. The temperature dropped visibly on the thermometers they carried. Tittle also said he felt nauseated. "I'm feeling very ill right now," he said on the broadcast. And the dilapidated infirmary was full of moving shadows, Bates said. "We can't get it on camera, but you can see it with the eye," she said. Would she go back? Absolutely, Bates said. "I would love to do the prison again," she said. "In the blink of an eye, I'd be back there." For more information on the Garden State Ghost Hunters Society, visit its Web site at www.gsghs.com.