Former Swindonian is a US ghost hunter (From Swindon Advertiser)

Former Swindonian is a US ghost hunter

2:29pm Friday 31st October 2008 in Ex-pats News

Ex-pat Ellis Byrd moved to the USA back in 1986 with hopes of a bright future, but ended up in the dark streets of Columbus, Ohio.

It wasn’t because of any bad mistakes in life, more by choice as Byrd is a paranormal investigator. Gussethunters Paranormal is one of the most active paranormal groups in Ohio, with investigations including prisons, historical buildings and abandoned sites.

The interest in the paranormal field for Byrd started back in Swindon where he witnessed images of a ghostly young man walking up a back road near Purton. When Byrd’s father put on the full beams, the person disappeared. There was also the time at Longleat where strange things happened, all of these things combined helped to fuel Byrd’s interest in the world of the paranormal.

From that time forward, there was always an interest in the paranormal, but Byrd never followed up on it. Byrd would always ask, "Is this place haunted?" and enjoyed the stories that came from the locations he visited.

Byrd was visiting the Moundsville Penitentiary in West Virginia with his girlfriend Nicole Wallace when she witnessed the famous “shadow man” . Wallace was a non believer and a sceptic prior to this time.

Byrd also caught a few strange photos that the prison employees said were some of their spirits. At this point, the group Gussethunters Paranormal was formed. The name Gussethunters came from a group of football friends that went to the games back in the 80's. It was taken from a song by Splodenessabounds. "You can thank Lorne Kitchen for that name," Byrd said.

The group does private home investigations, guided tours and speaking engagements. Gussethunters Paranormal started out as a fun thing, but has grown to a full time job, that both Byrd and Wallace feel very lucky to have.

With the popularity of TV shows like Ghost Hunters, Ghost Adventures and Paranormal State, the interest in the field of the paranormal has blossomed in the past few years.

Some of the more famous places Byrd and Wallace have investigated are Thomas Edison's home, Milan Ohio. Bissman Building (as featured in the Shawshank Redemption), Mansfield, Ohio. The Wiley House (most haunted house in the USA) San Diego, California and The Queen Mary, Long Beach California and many, many more.

Gussethunters Paranormal is in the planning stage for many more investigations in Ohio and surrounding States.