Not everyone believes in ghosts, but according to a CBS News poll, almost half of Americans do.

For the Paranormal Research Team (PRT) at NMU, dealing with skeptics hasn’t put a damper on recruiting new members.

“We welcome skeptics to come to our meetings to check us out,” said PRT president Brooke Linn. “We even have some skeptics on the team. The only thing we ask is that you have an open mind.”

The PRT has been an active student organization at NMU since 2003; according to the description on NMU’s student organization website, “the Paranormal Research Team serves to educate themselves as well as the community on the paranormal by gathering and collecting data.”

Despite being around for nearly a decade, only recently have they grown to the size that they are today.

According to Linn, PRT started to grow last year and now has between 18 and 20 active members.

Membership isn’t limited to only NMU students, Linn said, and some members commute from as far as Escanaba. The only requirements to join the PRT are to come to three consecutive meetings, pay the $20 per semester dues for a T-shirt and gas to and from investigation sites and to complete the training to use their equipment.

Each member of the team must receive training if they want to participate in any scientific research that they conduct, Linn said.

This is because PRT uses actual scientific data when either confirming or denying any paranormal activity. If the paranormal activity that is confirmed by PRT requires further investigation, Linn said, they will make sure that the clients receives the attention that is necessary for them.

PRT works with the community and will do investigations for private homes as well as businesses. Although Linn cannot disclose exactly where the group has confirmed activity, Linn said they have had some confirmed significant temperature changes, spirit interaction and electronic voice phenomena, otherwise known as EVP, which is the capture of spirit voices on magnetic tape as audio recordings.

Throughout the year, PRT puts on two large, campus-wide events. In the fall, PRT presents Haunted Tours of Marquette, in which the members take groups of people who are interested in the paranormal activity to all of the supposedly haunted locations around town.

The Presque Isle breakwall, various residence halls and the abandoned Holy Family Orphanage are all considered frequent stops for the spirits that like to wander around the area.

The abandoned orphanage is something of a legend among both new students and old, said senior English major Dane Branson.

“[The orphanage] definitely has the reputation of where to go when you want to get spooked,” Branson said. “Especially when students are new here, there’s a lot of rumors about it and kids want to check it out.”

While Branson said he has never ventured inside of the building, the outside can be just as spine-tingling.

“Even just driving by or looking at it, you get the idea that it’s definitely haunted,” Branson said.

Linn said some people have said that they have heard some eerie, rickety and suspicious noises around the residence halls, as well.

This spring, PRT will be presenting a guest speaker for the entire campus. Linn said details have not been revealed just yet as to whom it is actually going to be, but the speaker will be a psychic medium who will give a lecture for a portion of the presentation and then open it up to a gallery reading at the end.

The Paranormal Research Team meets every Sunday in New Science 1205 from 5 to 7 p.m.

For more information about the PRT or upcoming events, email Linn at [email protected].