“Ghost Hunters” team pays visit to Brentsville

BRENTSVILLE -- Rob Orrison said he was skeptical when he got a call from the "Ghost Hunters" about the Brentsville Courthouse Historic Centre.

"They called me randomly out of the blue, and I didn't believe the guy at first," said Orrison, site manager at the center on Bristow Road in Brentsville, a community in Prince William County.

The people from the show "Ghost Hunters," seen on the SyFy channel, had heard about the ghosts that supposedly haunt the complex, which includes an 1822 courthouse and jail, an 1830 farmhouse, an 1875 Union Church, a 1928 one-room school house and the Brentsville Tavern archeological site.

"I guess they Googled 'Ghost Stories in Virginia' and we popped up," Orrison said. "They came out and it was the real deal. They were there for about two weeks."

Apparently, the Trans Atlantic Paranormal Society, which "Ghost Hunters" fans will know as T.A.P.S., found some things, mostly at the jail and on its grounds.

Orrison said the team of ghost hunters heard some knocking and got some electromagnetic field readings inside the jail, which has no electricity.

"They thought that was unusual," he said.

The knocking might have been communication from the beyond. "They would ask questions and get answers from knocks on the wall and things like that in the jail," Orrison said.

The team also got a thermal image of a body on the grounds outside the jail, he said.

"It'll be interesting to see how they portray all that information on the show," Orrison said.

Most of the haunting stories revolve around the jail and come from people in the community, who have the most experience with the buildings, he said.

"There are a couple of stories about the jail. People see apparitions or ghosts walking around the building," Orrison said. "Voices have been heard in the jail -- people seen in the windows of the courthouse."

Other paranormal researchers have visited the site, and some got voice recordings, according to Orrison.

The visit from the television crew could benefit the jail, which needs restoring.

"We saw it as a good way to get some decent publicity on the site and the buildings," Orrison said of the attention the television show could bring.

The show resulting from the television crew's visit will air on the SyFy channel at 9 p.m. Wednesday.

"The first half hour is about a house in Massachusetts, and the second half hour is about Brentsville," Orrison said.

Keith Walker is Manassas bureau chief for the News & Messenger.