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For as long as things have gone bump in the night, people have wondered about the existence of ghosts. In the past, priests and shamans were the ones consulted on matters of the spirit world. In this scientific age, there has emerged a new contender to help explain the unexplainable -- the paranormal investigator.

These ghost hunters aim to dazzle with an array of electronic bells and whistles such as EMF meters, night vision goggles and digital recording devices. Some of them seem to have a healthy skepticism toward their vocation, while others possess a fanaticism that's a little scary. But most of them will examine your haunted house free of charge, and maybe even get you on cable TV.

We've compiled a gallery of some of the big names in the paranormal investigation game. It's up to you to decide if these folks are real ghostbusters or fright-exploiting frauds.

Ghostbusters

    Mark Nesbitt is an author, historian and paranormal investigator whose expertise is the supposedly haunted battle fields of Gettysburg. Using a recording device he once captured electronic voice phenomena (EVP) of a confederate spirit giving a raspy response to Nesbitt's request for a "rebel yell."

    hauntedamericantours.com

    The President of Ghost Chasers International, Patti Starr conducts ghost investigations and shares her experiences with the paranormal on the college tour. The "God Called Me" EVP Starr captured in a Napa Valley cemetery is considered one of the most chilling ever recorded.

    Bob Cervilli, ghosthunter.com

    Jason Hewes and Grant Wilson are roto-rooter plumbers turned reality TV ghost investigators who rarely turn up hard evidence of paranormal activity, but whose program "Ghost Hunters" has captured some of the best ratings of any show on the Sci-fi network.

    David Drebbin, SciFi

    Poltergeist investigator William Roll has performed parapsychology research in top universities such as Oxford and Duke. He is most famous for being the lead investigator for the "Columbus Poltergeist" case (pictured) in which a photographer reportedly captured a photo of a telephone spontaneously flying about a Ohio home.

    jamesconrad.tripod.com

    John Zaffis Jr. is an expert in exorcism, and works with religious figures in the eviction of evil spirits from the possessed. In 2006, Zaffis claims to have participated in an exorcism in which a woman levitated from her chair with such force five that people were needed to hold her down.

    williamconstantine.com

    Often called the "ghost hunter's ghost hunter," New Orleans-based Gina Lanier has been researching the paranormal for almost 30 years. She claims to have come into contact with many ghosts, including one who lived in the Madri Gras float garage and unplugged the radio anytime he didn't like the music playing.

    ginalanier.com

    With his mantra "reality is not always quantifiable," Stacey Allen McGee is a paranormal double threat: excelling in both poltergeist hunting and matters relating to UFOs. The Alternative Realities Center founder is probably the go-to guy if you think your house is being haunted by a space ghost, on any coast.

    appalachianghostwalks.com

    Along with her late domonlogist husband Rick, Lorraine Warren founded the New England Society for Physic Research in 1952. The Warrens were among a handful of investigators allowed in the infamous "Amityville Horror" house. and it was their pictures and accounts which helped shaped the legend.

    The-echelon.net

    Ghost Research Society president, author, and paranormal media gadfly Dale David Kaczmarek analyzes photos and investigates haunted sites in the Chicago area. He rejects the Hollywood notion that ghosts are evil, and has found in his 30 plus years of service ghosts can be playful and mischievous, but never harmful.

    Ghostresearch.org

    Greg Meyers, founder of the Paranormal Task Force, was one of the lead investigators in the Sci-Fi Channel's "Children of The Grave" documentary. In this clip he brags of capturing a spirit who ominously tells him he "knows too much.

    Spooked Productions / SciFi Channel