GHOST HUNTER GETS HUNTED BY SENATOR
Eagle River Republican Sen. Lora Reinbold has made national news for challenging one of Gov. Michael Dunleavy’s appointees, focusing on his ghost-hunting hobby.
John Francis’ ghost hunting activities came across Reinbold’s radar, and she asked him about it in Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday as he was being interviewed for his nomination to the Violent Crimes Compensation Board.
Was he serious about the paranormal or was it a hobby?
“If it’s just for fun and all make believe, tell me that. If you’re serious and there’s investigative process and you believe this is real, I want to know that,” Reinbold said. “I really don’t want you to glaze over this because I think this is a real serious concern.”
Reinbold said tonight that victims of violent crime are emotionally fragile and she’s simply concerned about someone being on the compensation board who could take advantage of them, or influence them about their loved ones being ghosts.
Francis’s Alaska Ghost Hunting website says the team “never asks to be paid for an investigation. Every member of the AKGH team is passionate about what they do.”
But the business also presents itself as a group of serious-minded paranormal investigators that specialize in haunted locations, rather than UFOs, aliens, or mythical creatures. Francis has appeared on television shows on the topic, but said that his group hasn’t been very active recently.
Reinbold said she thought Francis had been less than candid in his answers and she does not plan to vote for him.
[Francis’ resume can be read here]
Francis is an active member on social media sites such as Stolen in Alaska, and Mat-Valley Crime Discussion, for which he is an administrator. He is dedicated to the repeal of SB 91, the liberal crime bill that many believe led to an uptick in crime across the state and his Facebook pages dedicated to crime-stopping have thousands of followers.
The Associated Press story about the interview of Francis has made it as far as the New York Times.
The hearing can be watched here, starting at 1.26 and ending about 1:39.
