“If you feel something touching you, it may just be me goofing around so I don’t get scared,” Tom Connors said, before heading down into the basement of the Palmerton Ambulance building Saturday night.

All joking aside, the director of the Carbon County Animal Shelter was ready to get scared, for a good cause.Last weekend, Connors joined members of Paranormal Sightings of Pennsylvania and about 20 members of the public exploring the ambulance building.The event was held to raise funds for the animal shelter, while giving amateur ghost hunters a chance to try the club’s equipment, which can cost hundreds if not thousands of dollars.There was definitely something unusual about the building, and the ghost hunting equipment seemed to confirm that.During one past exploration of the building, the group has heard whistling in the building. They also had reason to believe something or someone was moving items around inside the building.“The last time we came here, one of our members actually quit the group the next day, because she was so scared here,” ghost hunter Danny Strohl said.Strohl said that they had contacted multiple ghosts inside the building using their equipment. While of course some members of the ambulance company are skeptical, it’s thought that one of the spirits could be a past member of the company. The other is believed to be someone who owned the site when it was a gas station/car dealership.“We have a pretty good idea who is here, but we don’t want to identify them because their family still lives in town,” Strohl said.The best way of communicating with ghosts, according to Paranormal Sightings of Pennsylvania, is through electronic equipment. Ghost hunters asked yes or no questions while monitoring the equipment.Strohl asked the ghost — “Do we look like people?”The device did nothing.He asked another question, “Do we look like columns of light?”It lit up wildly.Ghost hunter Todd Weaver said that on one of their regular explorations — which will take an entire night — they will bring thousands of dollars worth of equipment.Ghost hunting has become more and more popular over the years. While the show that popularized the trend, ‘Ghost Hunters’ is going off the air, there are always new people interested, members said.“If I tell people my hobby is ghost hunting, they all usually have an experience to tell me about,” said Joanne Haas, Paranormal Sightings of Pennsylvania member.Connors said he can be counted among that group.He said sometimes, when he’s all alone at the animal shelter, the dogs will suddenly become agitated — something they never do if only he is around.“I’m open minded, I believe it’s very possible that these things happen,” Connors said.