David Wargo remembered the morning his mother called him, telling him that his brother - a newly ordained minister - had arrived on her doorstep in a panic.

It wasn’t yet daybreak but Jeffrey Wargo had already spent a harrowing first night at his church’s parsonage in Riegelsville. He was convinced that the old Victorian home was haunted.

And he didn’t want to spend another second there.

“He said that about an hour after he laid down, he heard somebody walking around the attic. Then he heard somebody fall down the attic steps,” said Wargo, of Summit Hill.

But the house was empty.

“And then he realized that whatever made the noise wasn’t a person,” Wargo said.

Like most kids, Wargo grew up with an interest in ghosts. Hearing his brother’s account in 1996 turned his interest into more a passion.

Wargo has been investigating reports of hauntings and things that go bump in the night since then, and is one of the members of Paranormal Sightings of PA.

The group is based in Carbon County, and has traveled locally and around the tri-state area to help others understand what they’ve seen or heard.

“We want to help both the living and the dead,” explained member Todd Weaver of Lehighton. “(Ghosts) are there for a reason and we want to find out why. Often the living are freaked out. We know that if we can help the dead, eventually we can help the living.”

Since its inception, Paranormal Sightings of PA has gotten involved with the community through informative sessions and tours.

For its most recent event, it teamed with Within Harmony for the “Ghosts of Lehighton Walking Tour.”

David Miller, who owns Within Harmony with his wife, Aileen, said all three tours were sold out.

“There was a lot of interest. We saw many different people, many of them were from out of town,” Miller said.

And those who weren’t, he said, learned about things about the area’s history that they never knew.

The title of the walk - “Ghosts of Lehighton” - was a play on words, since it featured both history and a few mentions of ghostly experiences. Proceeds from the tours were turned over to the Carbon County Animal Shelter.

“The first half of the presentation consisted of the Paranormal Sightings of PA team sharing audio clips and photos of some of their findings on area investigations and then they took a guided tour along First Street and talked about Lehighton history,” Miller said.

At Within Harmony, which sells crystals, fossils, home décor, hand crafted and natural products, some upper floor tenants recounted stories of odd experiences they had.

“We have been here about five months,” and haven’t experienced anything, Miller said of the 182 S. Front St. property, which has also hosted events with the Carbon County Environmental Education Center. “If there are any ghosts in our building, I’m hoping they’ll come shopping.”

‘Not crazy’

Wargo’s brother’s experience - the first of many at the home - occurred long before Paranormal Sightings of PA was founded and before the popularity of “ghost hunting” television shows.

“I went back with him the first night to get him to move back in the house and the minister that had been at the church was still in the area and came over,” Wargo said. “His predecessor told him the house was haunted and that he had seen people in the house and stuff.”

The confirmation assured Jeffrey that he wasn’t “crazy,” Wargo said, and piqued the brothers’ interest in paranormal activities.

As the internet age dawned, the siblings researched tools to detect paranormal occurrences. They cobbled things together to make a basic EMF meter and were able to “talk to” the presence.

“And then one thing led to another,” Wargo said.

He continued his research, and as paranormal groups began to form, he joined them. He was learning from trial and error what to do and what not to do.

Like most budding ghost hunters, his appetite for the unknown was voracious. He began pulling together equipment to help investigations. He read about ghost sightings - along with logical reasons behind what people believe is contact from the beyond.

He’s investigated hundreds of reports - many of them with Paranormal Sightings of PA, where members have more than 200 combined years of experience.

“They call us for different reasons. Some are concerned because something scared them and they want to know what is going on,” Wargo said. “Other people have had seen things happening in their homes that they can’t explain and they want to know they’re not crazy.”

Weaver recalled how the group was summoned to a Lehighton home for an active presence. Using an electromagnetic frequency meter, members were able to communicate and determine something was there. They learned it was a girl, and referred to her as “Miss Molly.” As they investigated, they began researching the home and history. They found that she was tragically killed by a passing vehicle or a horse and carriage.

Miss Molly lived with her grandmother, and indicated that she was attempting to cross over and join the elderly woman. With the help of the group and a medium, Weaver said she did. At the very moment the group believed the crossover happened, Weaver caught a series of orbs - often thought to be visible evidence of spirits - on film, and recorded the voice of a girl calling to her grandmother.

“It’s amazing when you hear some of the recordings. It’s like when me and you are talking,” he said.

During another Lehighton area investigation, Weaver witnessed a water faucet turn on by itself. On a subsequent visit to the home, a walkie-talkie spun in a full circle - and no one had touched it.

Sometimes people are embarrassed to admit they are hearing or seeing things, Weaver said. Others will call the group to find out what’s happening.

“Once they have an answer, it helps them to cope more, I think,” Weaver said. “It feels good that you can help the living and the dead at the same time.”

The group researches from almost every possible angle, They don’t go into investigations assuming that there is a ghost. Members are open-minded and listen to each other’s theories and research.

Wargo said he’s had “plenty” of experiences he never expected.

“There are things that happen that are just beyond the realm of normal understanding,” he said. “Our goal is to understand what happens around us - both the seen and unseen parts of our world.”

Wargo holds that bodies are physical vessels for the soul, and when it leaves the body, it doesn’t immediately disappear or evaporate. It might linger for days, months - even years - before it goes to heaven.

“Ghosts might be sticking around because they have a message to deliver or watch over people they love,” he said.

They’re the types of ghosts who will interact with investigators, he said.

And they’re the cases that investigators see the most.

“Most of them are run-of-the-mill events involving loved ones who have passed on” as opposed to the object-throwing apparitions often depicted in movies, noted Wargo, who owns PV Paranormal press and publishes books on ghosts and the paranormal.

In addition to investigating reports and private homes, members have visited the GAR Cemetery in Summit Hill, the old Hauto Tunnel that connects Lansford to Hauto Village, and the former Welsh Congregational church in Lansford.

Weaver added that members frequently take trips to the battlefields of Gettysburg, and share tips and suggestions with other paranormal societies.

The group welcomes new members and can be found on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/paranormalsightingspa.